[Discuss] Community out-reach... convert the masses?

[dsr at randomstring.org (Dan Ritter)]

markw at mohawksoft.com wrote: 
> 
> I've been down this road before and it is difficult. Linux is not a drop
> in replacement for Windows. Just as Windows is not a drop in replacement
> for Mac. These are different systems with many similarities but quite a
> few differences. For someone to adopt Linux, we would need to know what,
> if any, deal breakers they have. You know, those cottage pieces of
> software that they don't want to change or give up.
> 
> I guess the question is this: Can we help non-nerds be Linux users? As a
> "user's group" shouldn't we help generate new users? Historically
> speaking, I don't think there has ever been more user friendly linux
> distros and better interoperability and usability.
> 
> Can anyone imagine a Windows 10 user actually converting to Linux?

Here are the stories -- anecdata -- of two people.

The first is my father, who stopped using Windows in 2002 when
he needed a new computer and I explained that I would be happy
to support him using Linux, but I didn't have much current
knowledge of Windows.

I ordered a laptop for him from System76, came over to his
house, and set it up. We went through all the things that he
needed and wanted to do -- web browsing, listening to music,
access to email, a spreadsheet program. He did things while I
directed him and he wrote down a bunch of notes on a pad of
paper.

Every so often he had some questions, and about twice a year I
would come over and run updates or solve some issue.

Eventually he was quite comfortable, and every computer he's had
in the last 23 years has run Linux. He avoids using sudo,
doesn't know the root password, and in recent years I've built a
Wireguard tunnel so I can ssh in remotely and help him out for
anything short of a boot problem or a network failure.

Let's call that a success for an ordinary user, modulated by the
fact that he had his own sysadmin on call.


Now, the second person is my mother. While generally less
technically inclined than my father, she was perfectly willing
to learn complex procedures if they served her purposes. She was
active on mailing lists, newsgroups and, completely without my
intervention or knowledge for several years, IRC. 

But she didn't want to change anything she didn't have to
change, so whenever I proposed Linux for her next machine --
"Dad loves it" -- she wasn't interested. I did get to install
adblockers, though, and that helped a lot.

I'm not sure if this really helps illuminate the potential
audience for Linux adoption, but I thought it would be helpful
to think of it as a process which individuals will judge by
their own criteria.

-dsr-