What is Digg?1 Comments
- wallclimber, on 10/10/2008, -0/+2(This quote is from a comment below the article): "Very quickly that budding basic user becomes discouraged. That's when we tend to lose them and they go back to Windows."
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I can speak as one who has hit that stage of discouragement more than once, over the years, when trying to learn to use various GNU/Linux systems. And yes, I did fall back to Windows for a while each time. But that didn't dim my determination to successfully make the change. I recognized it as being part of the overall learning process.
The transition away from MS Windows compares to the struggle people go through to quit smoking. It often takes three or more tries to finally get free. It especially requires changes in thinking and habits, which almost never happens overnight. Determination is the key. I agree whole-heartedly with the article, in that people can and do learn new software all the time, even very complex software.
Another comparison to smoking is that once a person begins to see the damage done by the corporations - as far as slimey business and marketing practices - they begin to feel manipulated, betrayed, and absolutely determined to no longer contribute to those corporation's profits.
I believe the propietary software business model is every bit as slimey, and as dangerous to the tech industry today (and computers in general), as the tobacco industry has been to humans. Changing attitudes can seem agonizingly slow, but I am old enough to have seen plenty of changes happen. One of these days it'll be every bit as unpopular to admit to being a Windows user as it is to admit being a smoker. Of the two, giving up Windows is, by far, the easier habit to break.
So people who give up after an unsuccessful attempt to use GNU/Linux may seem like a lost cause at first, but there's every possibility that they will try again and succeed...like ME! :)
There were two things I kept in mind as I went along. One was the memory of how excruciatingly frustrating Windows was to learn, during those early years. Security-wise it was a nightmare! Maintenance-wise it still requires considerable care and oversight.
The second thing was seeing how the Microsoft Corp. conducted itself around the world, and how it had treated me as a customer. It failed badly on both counts. Which is why, when I made the final transition away from Windows, I never looked back. Even if I still found GNU/Linux to be frustrating (which I definitely don't, these days) I would never again consider Windows to be a viable alternative to fall back to. Those days are over.
Wallclimber (my nickname refers to my mural-painting days): Sharing knowledge and helping to change attitudes about GNU/Linux, one friend and family-member at a time.
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