a "switching" team or section

[janbockaert]

We are having a discussion on the ubuntu cafe about first-time ubuntu users who get frustrated with linux not being like windows, and then start complaining about it here at the forum.

here is the url:
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=283631
and here is aysiu's thread about te pile of posts from people who keep telling him ubuntu is not desktop ready.
http://www.ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=1276564

During the debate, 23meg suggested to start a seperate team or section about users whining. I guess it was a joke, but i personally think it is a good idea. This is my original post, Artificial intelligence suggested to move it over here:


switching team
Quote:
Originally Posted by 23meg View Post
Maybe we should have teams to handle newcomer whining? A separate section?

Maybe it was a joke? but I do think we could do with a "switching" team / section. In my experience, linux-pro's (the ones that make this forum so great) have little understanding of the frustrations a fresh switcher encounters when he leaves MS. I have a friend (an uber-linux-pro) who kept telling me i should install fedora if i wanted to get to know linux. He was using fedora/ red hat for years and liked it very much. At that time, (fedora core 1) the only way to install programs, was by using the CLI yum in fedora. He did not understand why that was a no go for me. It could have been avoided if he pointed me directly to suse at the time (no ubuntu then).

Indeed, the linux- pro's should not spend time arguing with switchers that don't have a clue. The should not spend time hunting these switchers back to redmond, they should answer really important threads on this forum. And leave the pile to people (like me) who don't have the knowledge to hunt or fix bugs, but still kind of remember what it was to switch from MS to ubuntu/linux.

So, if anyone can start a team/ section called switching, let me know, i am in. (can i start a section myself?)

[Etiol]

Apart from the name, how would it be different from Absolute Beginner Talk (http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=73)?

[janbockaert]

We don't target beginning linux-users, we should target windows-users, who are looking for a ms-alternative.

You should read the original post, or the pile of posts that aysiu has collected. The guy who started the "Linux for Desktop = Wishful Thinking" thread could not have been helped with someone explaining how to install wine, and use it to install MS Office. He needed someone to explain him that you could not switch to ubuntu in 15 minutes. Instead, the whole linux community started bashing him because he was trolling the ubuntu forums (witch he was btw)

I think we are missing an opportunity here. There are a lot of people looking at linux as an alternative for an outdated win xp or an to expensive windows vista. But instead of showing them how they can have a painless switch from win to ubuntu, we hunt them back to ms, because we do not understand anymore where their stupid or arrogant expectations come from.

off-course, a simple how to switch stiky in absolute beginner talk could also help, but i think you can go much farther with this.

[ubuntu-geek]

Has anyone made a switching from windows to ubuntu (linux) guide? I don't see a problem with getting something going once we can get some documents in place to do so..