Are you a Ubuntu Evangelist

[toogooda]

I converted to Ubuntu about a year ago now, and the first thing I did once I discovered how good it was, was to share it with my family, once the whole household had converted I showed my friends. I have now helped over 20 people convert over to Ubuntu.
It was easy just wait to they get done yet again by viruses and say to them "Just bring it around I will put on Ubuntu instead and you will never have a problem again"
I love the fact everything is free and I feel the best way I can do my bit to help is show it to others.
My wife now calls me the "Ubuntu Evangelist"
now that Ubuntu has reached the magical 1% we have enough critical mass that if we all do our bit we can edge past osx to be the number in no time.

Are you a closet Ubuntu fan or a Ubuntu Evangelist?

[Chronon]

I have only converted one person and it was to Fedora, oddly enough. I might see if she wants to switch over to Lucid when it comes out, though.

I tell people that I use it and that I like it. I don't tell them that they need to use it too. I probably mention Rockbox to people more frequently than Ubuntu, actually.

[MooPi]

All I gotta say is damn you must be an exceptionally persuasive person. I've only successfully converted a handful of folks. Give me your secret dude!

[cascade9]

LOL, way to bias a poll. The only way you could get more skewed results are like this-

I use ubuntu as a live because I like to look at pron sites so dodgy that windows would get syphilis
or
I share ubuntu with all my friends

Where is the option for 'I use xxxxx, I dont hide it, but I'm not trying to make any converts either'? If they want to use something different, they will, sooner or later.

BTW, I've got more than a few people to use various linux distros.....in part from the virus thing, but also because a liveCD is a great way to safely browse whatever site you want LMAO

[Psumi]

Neither.

[NightwishFan]

I do not force Ubuntu on people however I do not make it a secret I use it. Anyone with computer troubles or a budget PC setup with modest needs I offer Ubuntu or Free Software to. I find that it is unfair to tell them it will be suitable for all their needs because the average person needs Windows.

I am not saying that Ubuntu or other GNU/Linux operating systems are not sufficient, far from it. It is merely the fact that they will fight to defend lacking rights and freedom because they are dependent on what they know. When something in Ubuntu is different, it tends to be 'wrong'. Even people who dislike Windows think it is the only thing that could possibly be reliable. Windows is just what computers are.

On the other side, quite a few people I know actually have asked me how to try it. The majority of those now use it full time since it suits their needs better. One friend of mine had a legacy machine that had previously been a server. It obviously was not suited for gaming despite having good specs for the time. It was easily enough to run Ubuntu, and a good reason for doing so was that the Windows 2000 Server they had installed did not allow them administrative access. The Gnome Games suite ended up being a big hit with them.

My point of all this is that evangelizing Ubuntu intentionally is wrong and causes enmity. The phrase 'If you build it they will come' is perhaps relevant. Users will gravitate to Ubuntu, they just have to know the choice is out there. They do not need to be preached, those who are curious will naturally attract to it. What I am saying here is not correct on all counts of course. However, through experience I know people are more open minded when they make the choice for themselves.

[gemmakaru]

This is a tricky one.

I showed my uncle how far Ubuntu has come, he tried Linux years ago and gave up as there were things neither of us could resolve. He now has it installed and I have shown him a few tips to make it do some things he was asking about. He is really impressed but made the choice himself to go for it.

My friend would really benefit from it as her laptop just strugles so much with Vista. She doesn't know her wireless router password so it holding back until she finds it.

My parents may benefit changing but I am not sure how to get their scanner working, once I do I will demonstrate it to them and let them decide. I would work around the issues but wouldn't expect them to.

I already gave my other friend a PC which I had installed Ubuntu onto for him.

So yeah I am keen to get these people upgraded but it's up to them really. Does this make me an evangelist? I'm not sure, facilitator would be a better word.

[phibxr]

I have spread the word of Ubuntu to quite some friends over the years, and it has been my fathers primary desktop system since 2006. The last few years, I haven't even had to help out with the installations, which is good since I live in another country. :)

I'm also doing my best to keep Ubuntu news posted on my site, but judging from the statistics, most people visiting the site are (unsurprisingly) already running it or other Linux distributions.

[V for Vincent]

I suggest it to people who are looking for an alternative, but not to someone who's happy with what they've got.

[standingwave]

I showed my uncle how far Ubuntu has come...I posted about this a few weeks ago in the testimonials forum but it bears repeating here.

So my nephew gets a trojan, calls me up and says his computer is completely unusable. I'm thinking no big deal, we'll just boot into safe mode and run malwarebytes. Alas, the problem persists - can't run any programs including any browser, constant nagging to buy some removal tool, the usual crap.

So I went over there, booted the Live CD and brought up Nautilus and we could see all his drives and partitions. We quickly navigated to his windows user folder and found the folders he wanted recovered. We plugged in his brand new external drive, started the file transfer and then I asked him if he would like to check his GMail while the files were transferring. He'd been completely offline for about a week at this point.

He was like, "We're on the Internet right now?" I said sure, and brought up Firefox. By the time he was done handling his email and the files were done transferring, he was sold. "I want this," he said.

So we went ahead and did the full install. I set him up with 'restricted areas,' made sure everything (MP3, Flash, Java, codecs, etc.) was working and then we copied everything back from the Passport. While that file transfer was going, I gave him a short GNOME tutorial.

I could have rescued his files via the terminal or maybe Midnight Commander but why not give the person a little taste of the modern Linux Desktop? This is now my SOP for working on borked Windows systems in the future only now I have a thumb drive so it's always with me.

[NightwishFan]

When I have a thumb drive I also have a super grub, because it lets me boot from it even on machines with no USB boot support. (This method is better than 'just a CD' since the thumb drive can keep my settings and is faster overall, especially booting it with noop.)

[tica vun]

It's a software distribution of a computer operating system, not a religion.

[Psumi]

It's a software distribution of a computer operating system, not a religion.

/thread

(By the way, religion is against the forum rules.)

[NightwishFan]

Tell that to Richard Stallman. (Concerning free software) :lolflag:


Evangelism is a word and a concept and the connection is valid. It is very similar indeed. Open source is more a philosophy than something tangible, and I think some want to feel strongly about it. That being said, I agree, though I am not interest in forcing anyone to believe anything.

[Psumi]

That being said, I agree, though I am not interest in forcing anyone to believe anything.

:lolflag:

[Viva]

Yes I am and there is nothing wrong with that
http://ubuntuforums.org/group.php?groupid=615

[mamamia88]

no i really believe in keeping my opinions to myself unless someone asks

[louis--taylor]

I attempt to tell everyone who is interested about my 'strange' operating system about it in great detail :)

[RiceMonster]

Nope, neither of those.

[sudoer541]

I dont evangelize something that does not work for the average user.
I tried couple of times but I wish I had never done it!!!
I evangelized ubuntu couple of times and I was sooo ashamed!!! here is why:

1) New users could not use MSN's webcam service
2) Not many paid apps available for ubuntu
3) The use of command prompt scared the hell out of them
4) They could not sync their iPhones
5) unsupported hardware

So, I will never... NEVER evangelize ubuntu again...ill keep it to myself!!!:D

[NightwishFan]

Sudoer has a point. Though anyone who installed Windows from scratch without a driver CD will take Linux to heart with all of its device support.

[sudoer541]

It's a software distribution of a computer operating system, not a religion.

I agree 100%!!!

[sandyd]

nah. my friends/neighbors likely hear me screaming down the street whenever my tinkering screws up the computer;)

[sandyd]

Sudoer has a point. Though anyone who installed Windows from scratch without a driver CD will take Linux to heart with all of its device support.
I just had to do this for windows Xp.

It isnt fun when your trying to identify what is what and the only thing the device manager says is "unknown device..":mad:

[doas777]

neither of these options really fit me. I use ubuntu and I will tell everyone that I do. I donot however tell them that they should, as I don't wanna support it.

[HoboJ]

I don't hide the fact that I use linux. However I'm not out bashing people in the head with the fact that I do. Though I make a habit of mentioning it and if someones interested they'll question it further and I'll answer. So far my way has converted nobody simply because everyone I know plays PC games and we all know linux has **** all for game support beyond shoddy wine and one or two native games. :D

[NightwishFan]

Using Linux led me to give up gaming even though all my favorite games work flawlessly in Wine. I just see the badness of it now. I am far more productive.

[Chronon]

I dont evangelize something that does not work for the average user.
I tried couple of times but I wish I had never done it!!!
I evangelized ubuntu couple of times and I was sooo ashamed!!! here is why:

1) New users could not use MSN's webcam service
2) Not many paid apps available for ubuntu
3) The use of command prompt scared the hell out of them
4) They could not sync their iPhones
5) unsupported hardware

So, I will never... NEVER evangelize ubuntu again...ill keep it to myself!!!:D

The lesson you should take away is that there is no "average user". Each case is different and you should know what a person expects out of their computer before making a recommendation to them.

[dragonboss]

I've told almost all my friends that I use Ubuntu and most of them who have their own pc's have already installed it or are planning to install it. Why did they convert? Once they heard no viruses they liked it then asked more and i showed the 3d desktop and they were taken with it.

[beetleman64]

Hardly a day goes by when I'm not shot for mentioning that my friends' computer troubles will just go away with Ubuntu...

[NightwishFan]

Hopefully their troubles will, that is our goal in any case! It is the thought that counts right? Hey, perhaps it will 'just work'. In the cases that it does not, perhaps be a little more conservative.

As for desktop effects. I do not tout them as a feature because in my opinion they are just extra fluff. A clean organized aesthetic interface is a much better feature. For those who manage to get the desktop effects it is a happy extra.

[malspa]

Neither. Not a Linux Evangelist, either. Nor any other kind of evangelist. People have brains. Let them use 'em to figure things out for themselves. What's best for me might not be what's best for someone else.

[aysiu]

I know too many people with iPhones or iPod Touches for me to be a Ubuntu evangelist:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PortableDevices/iPhone

[nothingspecial]

No.

Because, I never saw the light.

I`ve been here since day 1.

[aaronchall]

I gently push it for people who I know are either

1) Tech savvy

or

2) Command-line familiar

For people who aren't, I like to joke about moving them to it, but I don't see it happening.

Also, I regularly post articles about it on Facebook...

[DjKniteX]

I got my cousin to try out Ubuntu, but since he got the disc his laptop broke, so he can't try it out, but I got one of my friends to install Ubuntu, and one of my other friends is considering about getting Ubuntu

[BuffaloX]

It's a software distribution of a computer operating system, not a religion.

You are obviously not a true believer. :p
But that's alright, GNU/Linux accepts everyone, as long as you respect the license.

[NightwishFan]

Not anymore, but I do leave the option open.

[toogooda]

I Just Love Ubuntu and still don't see how I get get so much quality at no cost. Free advertising for Ubuntu is the least I can do. If it means a bit of hand holding at first no problem.
A couple of the guys I have started off have now helped people of there own if it was Amway I would be rich! LOL