On Sunday 06 Jul 2003 2:55 pm, Adam Bower wrote:
My favourite atm is not to try and convince windows users with little computer knowledge to try things like Linux but get them onto things like GnuWin http://gnuwin.epfl.ch/en/index.html lots of people turn off when they hear about "operating systems" but many tend to stay alert when you say "free software" (unfortunatly for the wrong reasons) but all the same I think GnuWin is a good start for many people as there is so much on just 1 CD and many people will find something of use.
One of the serious points facing any attempt at migrating people across is that we must understand the target markets in much the same way as Microsoft has been so successful.
A few of you may cringe hearing that and think to yourselves "on God he's a suit" -- guess what, Microsoft is full of suits and they succeded where perhaps they shouldn't have.
Some people respond well to a guy in casual clothes doing a presentation over a suited person. Doing the presentation to the guy(s) making the actual decision is another problem.
I've always thought that other than IBM there really hasn't been any marketing done of Linux. They really needs to change.
The other thing I have noticed is how few people have heard of OpenOffice compared to how many have heard of Linux
I looked at OpenOffice 1.0, and whilst it worked to a point, I wouldn't want to try and wean someone off MS Office using it. OTOH, how many people use a function within MS Office that isn't bog standard functionality across OpenOffice/other OSS?
, that is another area that needs lots of evangalising is to get people running openoffice on windows and when their licenses or support for the OS run out (NT 4.0 has around a year left, as does win 98 I think) they have already tried free software and we could perhaps persuade a migration to Linux (of course there is a benefit here that they can use their old hardware while running free software vs using non-free software that will probably require a new computer)
When the Government figures out the TCO of Microsoft licensing for schools they will almost certainly introduce a huge pile of paperwork they will be needed to apply for various software packages to be installed in schools. This will have the effect of turning schools off from applying in the first place, and potentially restricting a student's ability to perform in the classroom. There could be room for invention here by OSS advocates...
In the meantime, someone might care to explain to the EDP that 'Open Source Office' is not a package but a merging of terminology. Once EDP/others start seeing more activity with OSS because of cost savings, sitting down with one of their technology journalists within their office and taking them through Linux-KDE-Open Office would be a good idea, let them see how they could work and understand the terminology a little.
Again, my thoughts alone.
James