Am 26.07.2011 18:26, schrieb Stuart Tanner:
How do we as ambassadors and as members go about doing this? Overcoming all these myths that Linux is hard or Microsoft Destroyed it?
That´s a /real/ issue. I tried to convince some friends about Linux. The only problem, is that for them, Linux is just a operating system for nerds and geeks. And that´s just a very friendly answer. Do you know Heise.de? It´s a German computer news network and I thinks it´s one of the trolls´ capitol. That people call you "too poor to buy a *real* operating system (like WIndows)" is kinda normal their. And yes, such comments stuck on people´s mind. We have to promote openSUSE, right? So, we have also to promote the *whole* FLOSS-community. Every project benefits from the other projects. I mean, Linux never ever became so popular without GNU. But at the same time, GNU never ever became so popular without Linux. The same with KDE, GNOME, Mozilla, OpenOffice.org and Apache as well. So, speaking for openSUSE means actually speaking for the whole open source community. I´m part of this community, because it´s the /best/ way to create software, and it´s the fairest way between consumer and producer. But it´s also a matter of the heart. I love working together with people over the internet, and I like being part of a movement, that can make the world a better place. And we´re just doing our hobbies, we´re "just" creating software. So, promoting openSUSE && Linux is a thing I love to do. Nevertheless, it´s kinda difficult to people who are convinced about Microsoft and Windows. It´s a real challenge to me to convince these people about switching to openSUSE. And yeah, there are a lot of issues that need to be covered. Driver problems but also problems of acceptance. I know people, who are thinking Linux is a operating system for geeks and nerds, but nothing for the mainstream. And there are some people who still haven´t any clue about Linux and even don´t want to because they have zero knowledge about what Linux is, or what an operating system is. That´s not the problem here. But imagine, these people still have the insolence of mocking Linux as "an do-it-yourself-operating system for people without real hobbies or real life". Okay, it´s their good right but if these people then still call *you* as a Linux-supporter a hobby-less mother********* bastard, I´m really disappointing about that. But I think I´m a bit away from topic. So, the only *real* solution of breaking the myths against Linux is something like the Truth Happens campaign was. i´m afraid to say, but the best way is to put Linux into the mainstream and establish Linux on the desktop. Yeah, actually, the desktop market is just _one_ part of the comprehensive place of selling computers, but it´s (at least for the next 2 years) still the market, which is most used by users. I don´t think, that Microsoft will be successfully on the tablet market, and I don´t believe that they will change something about Linux´s success on the server market. And on netbooks, I see a really bright future for Linux too, because it´s free, it´s flexible and it´s running on cheap, low-level hardware as well as on the world´s strongest super computers. So, the best way to make Linux accepted by a wide crowd is to put it into the mainstream. And this means, to cover normal users issues, like a not running printer, or creating a DSL-configuration. And I can understand that most of us nerds think about such problems not very positive. I don´t either. Quite frankly, I hate covering such issues, because I often have to fix Windows-machines. And that´s very painful to me, and I´m always lucky being back on my Linux-machine. But for these people, Windows delivers the best solution, because they can get help by almost their whole family. And be serious: How many people do you have in your family who have enough knowledge about Linux to act as a hobby admin? I haven´t any person in family, and I often try to convince them switching to Linux. But the problem is, that they´re so used to their Windows, that they don´t wanna switch to Linux, *even* if Linux would fit their needs better. And yes, you need to understand these people. I can´t this every time easily. I often just end up quitting my talk about Linux and go back to my room, where my beloved openSUSE-machine is standing. Yeah, it´s very bad behavior, but sometimes I lost the motivation to do that. Yeah, sometimes I just want to scream because I´m really disappointed about the ignorance, some people have. Long post, without long meaning. The situation is simple: Beside the need of mainstream-support we need some understanding about real world people´s problem. I spend very much time inside my room reading e-mails, answer them, or reading issues of other people, but if I go out to the big blue room, all the issues don´t count anymore. There some people who just want to *use* their machines, and not to work and work forever on them. Don´t want to configure them till they die. We also have to support these people, even if it´s kinda difficult. They don´t care, what´s new in Linux 3.0, they care about how they can write a document with LibreOffice. So, the best way to break these myths is to create a Linux-system that´s easy to use and can be understand by almost everyone. And of course, we need the support of the major computer companies out there. Sorry, for the long post, but I was currently under way. -- Kim Leyendecker (kdl@k-dl.de.vu) openSUSE Ambassador, openSUSE Wiki Team DE HAVE A LOT OF FUN! http://www.opensuse.org Have you tried SUSE Studio? Need to create a Live CD, an app you want to package and distribute or create your own Linux distro. Give SUSE Studio a try. http://www.susestudio.com -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse-ambassadors+unsubscribe@opensuse.org For additional commands, e-mail: opensuse-ambassadors+help@opensuse.org