Be a lovable Linux person
This is not a blog post on how to be kind, etc. etc. This is in reaction to a Linux Journal article with the title “How to Make People Love Linux.” The article starts off by defining what a Linux person is. He/she is someone who not only uses Linux but will help other people with their Linux problems.
Then Shawn Powers also wrote the ways that people will want Linux:
- Fix their spyware problem. Share with them that spyware is one of the reasons you don’t use Windows.
- Admit that using Linux has a learning curve, but it’s one that you think is worthwhile.
- Show them Compiz. Microsoft marketed an entire operating system on worthless visual thrills. Compiz is free, and cooler.
- Give them a LiveCD. Offer to help them. Follow through on the offer.
- Remember Wubi, it’s an easy way to try Linux.
I do believe that the tips boil down to two things:
- Be more sensitive to other users’ needs and the things they’ve been used to.
- Don’t push them to use Linux right away. They’d feel like you’re shoving it down their throats if you keep pushing them and that’s unattractive.
- Be more open to other people’s thoughts and feelings. Really.
Someties you really need to be patient when they’re describing to you what they’re encountering. Listen and you’d see if you could help them out. Maybe something similar happened to you before and you could share to them the way you fixed your dilemmas. Even if you’re a new Linux user you could say something, definitely. It’s just a matter of patience and figuring out the pain points they experience and see if it sounds familiar.
Have you ever thought about how you could share your Linux knowledge and love for the software?
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1 opinion for Be a lovable Linux person
Colin
May 2, 2008 at 3:10 pm
This is interesting. I use Linux for purely selfish reasons (speed, simplicity, reliability) yet I often, in fact always tell everyone that I use it. But perhaps not enough about the why I use it. Pre Hardy, I must have been hesitant I think, but post Hardy, I would have greater confidence offerring it to my mother, unassisted, that I would Windows. This is a consequential milestone.
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