Convincing the wife to convert to Linux

[IHeequ5i]

I'm trying to move away from Windows at home as much as possible. I'd been running Fedora since FC6 was current. FC11 destroyed my system and caused me so much grief that I moved to Jaunty last night. So far, no problems.

But I want to convince my wife to give Linux a try. I've told her that I will set her PC up to dual boot (she's on XP because Vista is evil) so she can play her games. I've told her that a lot of her games will run under wine.

But to no avail. So, my fellow Ubuntu fans, how do I convince a red-head with a double-helping of stubbornness to take the leap into this brave new world?

[Simian Man]

What benefit would it actually give her? Sounds like she is happy on Windows to me.

[starcannon]

Set her up with a dual boot as a "surprise" :)
Lock her windows firewall down to where it only allows the games she plays to connect :twisted:. Then she can do her surfing, email, etc... from a more reasonably safe environment. You all win, and you won't be battling windows worms, viri, trojans, etc... etc... etc... every waking moment :)

GL

[baseface]

stop trying to convince her and just let her use what she wants.

[gn2]

So, my fellow Ubuntu fans, how do I convince a red-head with a double-helping of stubbornness to take the leap into this brave new world?

The answer is very simple, you don't.

[ddrichardson]

But to no avail. So, my fellow Ubuntu fans, how do I convince a red-head with a double-helping of stubbornness to take the leap into this brave new world?
If playing games is what she does, trying to force Ubuntu on her will have a completely negative effect. So when it doesn't work out, she tells her friends about her negative experience and all you've done is dissuade a few people.

[SushiR]

But to no avail. So, my fellow Ubuntu fans, how do I convince a red-head with a double-helping of stubbornness to take the leap into this brave new world?

Have you ever heard of the freedom of CHOICE? If YOU choose to move away from Windows as far as you can, fine. Don't force your wife to give up what fits best to her. Obviously it's about YOUR benefit, not hers...

[geenux]

Explain her the free software philosophy, what she gains using Ubuntu (security, freedom...). After that, let her choose. But try to convince her at least to try it for some days.

[HappinessNow]

I'm trying to move away from Windows at home as much as possible. I'd been running Fedora since FC6 was current. FC11 destroyed my system and caused me so much grief that I moved to Jaunty last night. So far, no problems.

But I want to convince my wife to give Linux a try. I've told her that I will set her PC up to dual boot (she's on XP because Vista is evil) so she can play her games. I've told her that a lot of her games will run under wine.

But to no avail. So, my fellow Ubuntu fans, how do I convince a red-head with a double-helping of stubbornness to take the leap into this brave new world?

Let her keep XP for her games and all is happy in your marriage, or offer to buy her a huge flat screen and buy her a dedicating gaming computer, Xbox, Wii, Playstation or any other such system. You could add surround sound speakers for the ultimate gaming experience, then she would be more apt to using Linux solely for computing. ;)

[MikeTheC]

Get her drunk and nuke-n-pave her system.

Computer system, that is... :p

[alzie]

In an effort to maintain marital bliss...

My wife's computer is hers, I am not permitted to install any software or otherwise touch her computer unless it is broken and I am *requested* to fix it.

This is my mantra and it seems to work. If she wants something other than windows she'll ask for it.

My wife has approved this message :wink:

[heroidi]

show you'r wife compiz and open arena and some other games and she'll be amazed.

[HappinessNow]

In an effort to maintain marital bliss...

My wife's computer is hers, I am not permitted to install any software or otherwise touch her computer unless it is broken and I am *requested* to fix it.

This is my mantra and it seems to work. If she wants something other than windows she'll ask for it.

My wife has approved this message :wink:

LOL! U can't touch this!

http://ubuntuforums.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=120507&stc=1&d=1247173780
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJ2ZFVx6A4Q

[pastalavista]

Just wait until her Windows system gets too messed up and frustrating for her, all the while telling her how you don't need anti-virus or spyware checkers. How you can customize your Ubuntu exactly how you want it. Make her a USB flash drive installation, all prettied up for her... show her some Compiz effects and Linux games. Above all, don't take her Windows away from her. Let her play with Ubuntu at her own speed. She'll change her own mind.

[ddrichardson]

show you'r wife compiz and open arena and some other games and she'll be amazed.
Your wife must be very different to mine.

[Viva]

Have you ever heard of the freedom of CHOICE? If YOU choose to move away from Windows as far as you can, fine. Don't force your wife to give up what fits best to her. Obviously it's about YOUR benefit, not hers...

He's not trying to force her. Convincing somebody is quite different to forcing.

[Simian Man]

He's not trying to force her. Convincing somebody is quite different to forcing.

It sounds like he has been trying to convince her for a while though. After a while it becomes either forcing or flat out annoying. Perhaps he should be content with an OS that *he* enjoys...and a red-headed wife ;).

[HermanAB]

Install Ubuntu but change the Gnome taskbars to a single bottom taskbar and change the menu so it is a single menu, then change the desktop background to the familiar XP field of green wheat. She'll then be right at home.

[munky99999]

stop trying to convince her and just let her use what she wants.

Well ya this is the best way. Let her do what she wants to do. It also doesnt mean you cant make fun of windows endlessly and play prank after prank on her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYsq4fqbMG8

That one is superb. There are also many other superb options.

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/3028/crackedscreen1920x12802mj.jpg

For example.

[heroidi]

Your wife must be very different to mine.

lol i'm 15 years old this is how i converted the half of the albanians i showed ubuntu :p maybe it works with wifes too:lolflag:

[gn2]

lol i'm 15 years old this is how i converted the half of the albanians i showed ubuntu :p maybe it works with wifes too:lolflag:

One day you'll fully understand this acronym: SWMBO

[chucky chuckaluck]

Well ya this is the best way. Let her do what she wants to do. It also doesnt mean you cant make fun of windows endlessly and play prank after prank on her.

hey, yeah! you could even yell "winbloze sux!" from the couch in the middle of every night for the next twenty years.
:guitar:

[monsterstack]

People round these parts are not keen on Linux advocacy, it seems. Then again, if the lady plays lots of games, Linux is not the best choice any way. Still, balls to the naysayers; I've introduced Linux to plenty of folk who now use it quite happily.

[Viva]

People round these parts are not keen on Linux advocacy, it seems. Then again, if the lady plays lots of games, Linux is not the best choice any way. Still, balls to the naysayers; I've introduced Linux to plenty of folk who now use it quite happily.

Evangelism is a part of using free software, as long as you do it in the right way.

[monsterstack]

Evangelism is a part of using free software, as long as you do it in the right way.

Well sure. You just have to pick the right targets. A user who doesn't do much more than surf the web, check email, create and edit a few documents and play a few simple games makes an ideal Linux user. And these such people are precisely the ones I help out.

Attempting to get hardcore gamers to switch is a lost cause, unless all of their games can be made to run efficiently in Wine. Still, the blog of HeliOS had a great post (http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2009/07/as-toya-boy-turns.html) about this subject just recently,


Again, appearing in a little yellow bordered box on his desktop: "How's that Windows system working out for you now sport?" For good measure, I opened about 12 incidences of his desktop calculator and choked his 2 gigs of memory to a crawl.

By then, the kid had caught on. The sound of initiating applications was still dinging on his computer. He all but flung his laptop onto the love seat and came stomping over to the where we were seated.

"You put a virus on my computer?"

I just smiled at him.

"No pal...YOU put a virus on your computer. And it's a trojan, an OLD trojan. A Power User should know the difference. If you had any kind of protection at all, it would have warned you. You were dumb enough to click on a program given to you by a complete stranger so welcome to the world of social engineering Dilbert."

[MaxIBoy]

That HeliOS guy is a fruitcake...

[monsterstack]

That HeliOS guy is a fruitcake...

Aye, but his articles are always fun to read.

[geekygirl]

Life is so much more peaceful with a boyfriend who is an Ubuntu user :P

[Arup]

Let her use it for a while, guide her through and she won't ever go back to anything else, at least thats the case with my wife who won't have any other OS on her system.

[ddrichardson]

People round these parts are not keen on Linux advocacy, it seems. Then again, if the lady plays lots of games, Linux is not the best choice any way. Still, balls to the naysayers; I've introduced Linux to plenty of folk who now use it quite happily.
Linux advocacy, as far as I can see, doesn't extend to forcing it on someone who doesn't want it.

[nothingspecial]

Here`s what happened to my wife -

Wait till her computer gets messed up.

Install Ubuntu and make it all nice for her using the themes here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=930865&page=6)

Suffer 18 months of "stupid ubuntu"; "why can`t we have windows like normal people?"; "wouldn`t happen if we had windows" etc etc

I noticed the change when she called it her computu a few months back - the name has stuck.

She came home the other day and said

"My tutor at college says I`m going to need windows next year to run some of the programs"

"oh, get windows then and you can pay for the anti-virus etc"

"but I don`t want to. I won`t know what I`m doing and anyway I like Ubuntu"

"bet we can get whatever it is working anyway"

"good"