How to explain Linux to non-techies?

[stig]

Hi, I know someone who writes the occasional half-page piece on IT for a technical magazine aimed at food industry professionals. The articles are pitched at people without much IT knowledge but who have to use PCs in their work and use them at home. He has covered things like sources of useful information on the net, alternative browsers, and various bits of advice to help these people.

I am trying to get him to write a piece about Linux, to show that there are other operating systems besides Windows. He knows nothing about Linux so I wrote some notes for him, outlining a few differences from Windows and highlighting some benefits. The difficult part is "thinking" yourself back into when you were a Windows user yourself!

I've given him links to the Ubuntu web site but I would like to also provide links to some good web pages that explain about Linux for people who have no IT background - information designed to attract these people to give Linux a try and to eliminate some of their terror at the idea of moving away from Windows. Nothing deep and technical!

Do Ubuntu users have any web sites they would recommend for this purpose?

[Tomosaur]

Point him to:
Why Linux Is Better (http://www.whylinuxisbetter.net/). It's a nice introductory site, more or less aimed at newcomers to Ubuntu, but it's pretty much universal in its explanations of things. It doesn't get too technical, but it explains lots of important differences.

[dasunst3r]

I would also give him a LiveCD (or VMware Player disk) to try for himself.

[Brunellus]

Hi, I know someone who writes the occasional half-page piece on IT for a technical magazine aimed at food industry professionals. The articles are pitched at people without much IT knowledge but who have to use PCs in their work and use them at home. He has covered things like sources of useful information on the net, alternative browsers, and various bits of advice to help these people.

I am trying to get him to write a piece about Linux, to show that there are other operating systems besides Windows. He knows nothing about Linux so I wrote some notes for him, outlining a few differences from Windows and highlighting some benefits. The difficult part is "thinking" yourself back into when you were a Windows user yourself!

I've given him links to the Ubuntu web site but I would like to also provide links to some good web pages that explain about Linux for people who have no IT background - information designed to attract these people to give Linux a try and to eliminate some of their terror at the idea of moving away from Windows. Nothing deep and technical!

Do Ubuntu users have any web sites they would recommend for this purpose?
if you're making a business case, software freedom makes sense.

Free Software means that you don't have to pay anything extra (on top of hardware!) when your business grows. Contrast that to the difficulty of managing compliance with Microsoft's EULA as your business gets bigger, and how your prosperity easily becomes a targed for MSFT's profit margins.

[stig]

Tomosaur, thanks for that link - it looks a very useful site.

[As a side comment, I think undersells linux a little in the site's section on publishing/printing under "Why you might stick with Windows". I know there are problems with lack of CMYK for colour, but a vast amount of professional journals and books are black & white on the inside and could be done with Linux OK.]

And dasunstr3r, yes I agree about giving a live CD. In this case we are on the other side of the world so I have suggested he downloads and burns one or sends for one from Ubuntu.

[Yossarian]

I told someone once that Unix was the Bob Dylan of operating systems, when they asked me about FreeBSD. That's actually why I picked my avatar.

[Adamant1988]

Live CD is the equivalent of a risk free demo. They're wonderful advertisement tools and should be embraced by the Linux communities in general.

If you're trying to convince a friend to try things, the first thing you need to explain is that it is NOT windows and that there WILL be some differences. That is first and most important, with that knowledge they (hopefully) won't be expecting a windows clone. usually a friend or family member is willing to let you tinker with their computer provided they believe you are knowledgeable about what you're doing. So it's probably just easier to show them.

[bobbybobington]

getgnulinux.org (http://www.getgnulinux.org) is an awesome resource. It explains linux in an easy to understand manner.

[xoai]

I think the most important thing when you explain Linux to non-techies is making them feel comfortable and familiar. Try to express by what they already known. For example, with smb does not have much IT knowledge but he has used Windows we can use "Windows language" to explain. Some books with titles as "blah blah for a nutsell" or "blah blah in 21 days" are also good. And give him some keyword to search on Google. Alway google before asking anything. Researching by self is better.

[Brunellus]

I think the most important thing when you explain Linux to non-techies is making them feel comfortable and familiar. Try to express by what they already known. For example, with smb does not have much IT knowledge but he has used Windows we can use "Windows language" to explain. Some books with titles as "blah blah for a nutsell" or "blah blah in 21 days" are also good. And give him some keyword to search on Google. Alway google before asking anything. Researching by self is better.
it's important to make them understand they're not running windows, though. Otherwise, you'll get no end of grief as to why thier windows software won't run.

[stig]

My thanks to all those above for helping me!:)

[aysiu]

If it's a magazine article, I wouldn't sell Linux to non-techies. Why would you?

If they're non-technical, they're not going to want to bother downloading, burning, installing, and configuring a new operating system. They're not going to want to edit the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file to get their screen resolution working.

And you can't really say, "Well, buy a preinstalled Linux computer," because they won't see the point of that either, since most preinstalled Linux computers are, ironically, more expensive than Windows-preinstalled computers.

Instead of selling Linux, I'd sell open source programs. Get them comfortable with the idea of open source. A Windows user who's hooked on Firefox, Thunderbird, OpenOffice, GIMP, Audacity, and GAIM will naturally and more easily migrate over to Linux:
http://www.opensourcewindows.org/

[stig]

Aysiu, thanks for that suggestion. Perhaps the writer I am referring to should do an article on open source first. He could still do one later on Linux for those who are willing to go further.

I don't agree completely with your view that non-techies would not want to make the effort needed to try Linux. I am talking about people who are non-techie in IT terms but are technical in their own sphere - most are scientists by training like myself (a scientist-turned-publisher). Of course, there are those who will never make the effort and will simply buy a PC with whatever OS is pre-loaded and , as you rightly point out, will buy the cheapest.

But I know there are others who have heard about Linux but don't know where to begin and just need someone to give them some help. I think the objective here is not to convert people to Linux so much as make sure they at least know there is an alternative to Windows and that it is possible for people like them to use it - if I can install and use Linux then most of the scientists I know can do it!

But, yes, getting people onto open source first is a good idea.