I am going to start referring everyone I know to Ubuntu..

[presbp]

Everyone I know that isn't an avid gamer or isn't tied down by the proprietary software their work uses I am going to refer to Ubuntu. I already have one friend who says he wants to try it. Hopefully we can take some market share from Microsoft and get some more support for Linux.

[happy-and-lost]

Good stuff :)

Don't force it upon them, or they'll be put off for life.

[Brunellus]

don't oversell the system.

Remember that most users don't know how to use computers. They know how to use Windows. They are often unwilling to learn the difference.

[presbp]

my friend has asked me so if I don't play games on my computer is Ubuntu better.. I said yes. There is no way I am going to force it on them.. they will see it is better than Windows though. I only wish commercial games were available for Linux or I would completely rid myself of Windows.

[fuscia]

i thought the title of this thread said you were going to start refering to everyone you know as 'ubuntu'. now that i think about it, that might be a pretty sly campaign.

[lyceum]

Your list eliminates everyone. :D

My dad thought he could never move to Ubuntu, until he saw the price tag on Vista. He was shocked that all the things he could "only do on Windows" could be done on Ubuntu. Now he enjoys the freedom and the free games (the second part a bit too much).

The easiest was I have found to explain things to a new user is likening Windows to AOL. You think you are using the Internet with AOL, then you get access to the REAL Internet and see that you were trapped in AOL. With Linux/GNU you realize you were trapped inside Windows and now have access to your PC.

Make it fun! but don't be a zellot. :guitar:

[Kernel Sanders]

i thought the title of this thread said you were going to start refering to everyone you know as 'ubuntu'. now that i think about it, that might be a pretty sly campaign.

I thought that until I read it again too! :mrgreen:

[Choad]

Everyone I know that isn't an avid gamer or isn't tied down by the proprietary software their work uses I am going to refer to Ubuntu. I already have one friend who says he wants to try it. Hopefully we can take some market share from Microsoft and get some more support for Linux.
just make sure they realise that linux is NOT windows

alot of people get excited, thinking it will be a free version of windows with no flaws

only 1 bit of that is true, its free

its not perfect, and it CERTAINLY isnt windows

as long as they go in with an open mind, it should be a good experience for all

[Bezmotivnik]

Then be sure to turn your phone off for at least a month.

[dbbolton]

did you know that if one of your friends asks you for a linux cd, and you give your friend one such cd, you sign an invisible contract to be your friend's personal linux fairy until your friend falls off the wagon.

[fuscia]

best way to spread linux: act cool when you're using it and, when someone asks you about it, just smirk and say it would be over their head. they'll be using it inside a month. people don't like to be told that you're using something better, but they really hate thinking that you are using something better. (well now, that was jaded.)

[lyceum]

did you know that if one of your friends asks you for a linux cd, and you give your friend one such cd, you sign an invisible contract to be your friend's personal linux fairy until your friend falls off the wagon.

If you have the right friends and you fix it too fast they just pretend like they know what they are doing and ask someone else ;)

[Zuuswa]

There is a housing co-operative that my girlfriend lives in, and every once in a while they host non-for profit skill sharing seminars. For instance, next saturday there is a sewing workshop where they are teaching inexperienced people how to sew, etc. I am thinking about hosting a seminar there for people who are interested in ditching microsoft/closed source programming. Hopefully I can generate enough interest and help people find inexpensive and reliable alternatives to M$'s monopoly

[seijuro]

I only wish commercial games were available for Linux or I would completely rid myself of Windows.

There are some but not nearly enough. Unfortunately there will not be until Linux holds a bigger market share or cross platform programming really takes hold.

[BarfBag]

did you know that if one of your friends asks you for a linux cd, and you give your friend one such cd, you sign an invisible contract to be your friend's personal linux fairy until your friend falls off the wagon.

AMEN, BROTHER... AMEN! *draws attention to this message*

[Bezmotivnik]

AMEN, BROTHER... AMEN!
One of life's rules I discovered long ago is that negative advice to friends almost always bears less consequences for you than advocacy of something -- for which you will blamed in perpetuity. So, I say don't buy that, don't marry her and above all, don't use Linux if you're still going to be able to get hold of me by any means.

The longer I use desktop Linux (not just Ubuntu), the more serious misgivings I have about it. At this point, I don't think I would recommend it to anyone except as an experimental OS on an expendable system, and then only to very advanced users I didn't like very much.

[presbp]

yeah that is true they would ask for support from ME forever.. but then I would probably help them a couple of times and then refer them to the forums and all of the other readily available help sites. I think the biggest problem doing this is that most people that buy new computers come pre-packaged with Windows.. it is more trouble to switch operating systems than to tolerate Windows issues. One of my friends just said recently that he was getting a new laptop and I recommended Ubuntu to him and he laughed it off with his reason that Windows Vista would already be pre-loaded with it.

[floke]

Hmmm.
Have just sent a friend of mine a i386LiveCD of Edgy. Trouble is he's got an Athalon processor.
Should I send him the 64bit version? Will it blow up his PC?

Whoops.

[dbbolton]

Hmmm.
Have just sent a friend of mine a i386LiveCD of Edgy. Trouble is he's got an Athalon processor.
Should I send him the 64bit version? Will it blow up his PC?

Whoops.
i have two computers with 64 bit processors. they both came with 32 bit versions of windows. they both have 32 bit versions of ubuntu installed. no explosions. 64 bit ubuntu on a 64 bit machine = a little faster but compatible with less software.

[unbuntu]

Hmmm.
Have just sent a friend of mine a i386LiveCD of Edgy. Trouble is he's got an Athalon processor.
Should I send him the 64bit version? Will it blow up his PC?

Whoops.

lol...next time you will see a terrorist strap a laptop on his body with a 64bit Ubuntu LiveCD in one hand

[aysiu]

best way to spread linux: act cool when you're using it and, when someone asks you about it, just smirk and say it would be over their head. they'll be using it inside a month. people don't like to be told that you're using something better, but they really hate thinking that you are using something better. (well now, that was jaded.)
I know you're saying this tongue-in-cheek, but I think you're right on.

Best way to "convince" someone to use something is to say they can't use it. Forbidden fruit. A challenge. A dare. An ego in need of reasserting itself. You're far more likely to be successful by telling someone, "I don't know if you'd be able to handle it" because people will get intrigued ("What is this thing I can't handle?"), and once they get a chance to use it, they'll be surprised at how easy it is because they were expecting Ubuntu to be difficult.

On the other hand, as we've seen time and time again on these forums, when you pump up Ubuntu as easy and try to convince people to use it, they expect a miracle OS--some kind of Windows and Mac hybrid... but cost-free. Then, they get disappointed... and blame you for all their problems.