[wellylug] WellyLUG rekindling

Mark Foster blakjak at blakjak.net
Tue Mar 19 11:19:35 NZDT 2013


On 19/03/13 01:52, Colin Templeman wrote:
> on 17/03/2013 20:44 Daniel Reurich said:
>
> > Conversely, I have successfully migrated a number of users from
windows to
> > linux, and Debian at that with little more then a few questions and a
> > follow up phone call or visit.
>
> Oh I have too (my 80 year-old father amongst them).  I think the lynch
pin is
> prior use of FOSS software like Firefox/Thunderbird/LibreOffice which
makes
> the underlying platform irrelevant from the user's perspective.
>
> But in your reply you haven't actually said what the prime motivator
was that
> made them want to switch to Linux?  For the aspirations of the LUG, it's
> targeting these aspects rather than casting the net wide I believe will be
> more productive.
>


I realise in your previous email that you weren't cribbing from me -
it's just that we're on the same page! :-)

If there's no graceful way to have Windows users 'leap' onto the
alternatives, one can at least introduce them to the concept of openness
and port them to cross-platform solutions which will then make the jump
between OS's pain-free.

I have always appreciated the freedom and flexibility that Linux has
given me, but the truth is that whilst i've been using it server-side
for specific applications since I was a teenager, i've only been using
it as a desktop for a few years.   The reason is that for a raft of
reasons, i've had (or needed) Windows.    The reason I was able to move
to Linux was a mix of general familiarity, the support of the LUG's and
some of the key players in answering my questions and dealing to my
headaches, the major progress Linux has made in supporting Desktop
hardware and Software in the last few years - and the fact that I've
been actively preferring 'open' applications and formats for a long,
long time (Netscape -> Mozilla -> Firefox/Thunderbird for example.  I
used 7Zip? Instead of Winzip. I use The Gimp instead of Photoshop or PSP
(learning curve as a former PSP user, but for my modest needs, i've
managed).).

I don't have issues moving data from OS to OS, I don't have issues
accessing older documents because they're in formats I can still read, I
(generally) use filesystems that're universally readable and writable.  
And I make use of cross-platform applications, such as the likes of
Firefox, Libre/OpenOffice, Pidgin.  My UX is consistent between Windows
and Linux, excepting the nature of the CLI and some technical
configuration details obviously.

Regretfully i'm still stuck with Windows for some specific web apps I
need to use (ActiveX or Silverlight-which-doesn't-work-right-in-Linux)
and some Games.  Steam for Linux is great.  Now we need the major
vendors to actually develop for all platforms.

Mark.


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