Turning people to linux, Its easy!

Operating Systems & Open Source Linux
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Okay so as I was saying yesterday, where I work is approaching linux, so I decided what would be a good test? to try it on people who don't know what Linux is.

Okay so this was tested on both my girlfriend and her dad, the test bed was an old dell desktop, single core 3Ghz 1GB RAM 80GB HDD nothing amazing by any standards, I installed Zorin OS 8 /w XP desktop design.

They had never used Linux before outside of android, and there PC had a boot race with mine once (Linux v Windows) so they where as new as they come.

I left the PC running with Zorin OS, and let them roam free on it, see what they could do and they where rather impressed by it, the fact they can do everything that a standard user needs, without worrying about Anti-virus programs and security issues, Without 200+ updates that will take hours to install etc. (I did use apt-get update/upgrade before they tried)

Lets say this, the XP machines her dad sells are now been replaced with Linux, he says he will still sell vista though (Sigh) but you got to offer them something. (He only sells this because he has no w7/w8 licenses) some will be going with Zorin Core, others with Ultimate depending on power of the system.

So yes, if you wish to convert someone you know to linux and they are hardcore windows users, just show them it, chances are they will be impressed, don't go for anything too advanced such as Arch or Gentoo, just something basic.

And don't be surprised if you get this question "What about drivers" lol, as we all know, if there is no main driver for it, someone has made an open source one and its already in the kernel.

A list of which distros to replace what Windows system.

XP - Lubuntu, Linux Lite, Zorin OS 8 Core, Vector Linux, Arch, Gentoo

Vista - Zorin OS 8 Ultimate, Manjaro, Sabayon XFCE, OpenSUSE, Fedora

If your PC is from the W7 age or above, you wont have an issue running something really heavy such as Ubuntu with GNOME or KDE.

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Elementary OS is a good choice for newbies too. It comes with the Software Center to install Steam, Drivers, VLC Player, and other applications. 

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After waiting about a month since my last failed attempt at installing linux (it was really just a comedy of errors), I installed Sabayon 14.01 w/ Gnome  and it's working really well so far. I think my battery life is suffering a little, so I probably need to play around with some of those settings. And I don't think its detecting my GTX 760m.

Still, I have to stick with winblows on my desktop because of gaming. And since I have an Intel k-series CPU, virtulizing windows inside Linux isn't going to work. Really makes me wish I had gone with an FX 8320.

I feel like the biggest hassle with Linux is installing and configuring it. Once you have all the programs, drivers, etc. that you need, it's really smooth from that point on. It's just sometimes hard to get there in the first place, especially if you have no idea what you're doing.

Oh, and on a final note - I overwrote my win7 install on my netbook with Sabayon XFCE, and it ran amazingly! And this is on a 1.66 Ghz Atom w/ HT and 2 GB of RAM. Combined with the ease of installation, I think it's great for new users who have older computers.

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Elementary OS may scare of people who only know windows, and at a basic level, this is why I am sticking with Zorin OS, Although I may try elementary OS just because it looks so good :)

I would install Sabayon also, but Rigo is not as user friendly as something say Software centre, where people can just click and install easily, although to someone who is willing to learn, Sabayon is a brilliant distro, good at gaming also :)

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It's really not that easy.

If literally all the layperson in question does is browse the web, then they can be safely directed towards a user friendly distro, but the minute they decide they want to run something that is not in the software centre, you have to tell them how to update the list of software sources and use a package manager.

You're gonna tell them it is simple and maybe even direct them towards a youtube video or an article explaining the process, but a lot of people just will not go into that.A lot of people treat computers like they would magic. They have gotten used to GUIs, but anything they can't instantly recognize they treat like something inherently incomprehensible and potentially physically dangerous to them.

And when they can't work it out for themselves or make you do it, they'll take it to a PC repair shop where the technicians will tell them their computer has been infected by a virus called loonix and charge them an arm and a leg for an installation of Windows Vista.

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Installing programs in Linux is usually a lot easier than in Windows. No need to hunt around the Internet. Just get it via dnf/apt-get/pacman etc. Plus you know theres no shenanigans going on with the files.

You have to know the name of the program but that is no different in any other OS.

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(did not notice at the time how old this thread was, nor that it was necro'ed. LMAO, sorry.)

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Best necro ever.
Claps.

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How does this happen so much? Are peeps digging for hours till they find something old?

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