On 29 October 2013 12:35, mick mbm@rlogin.net wrote:
At this stage I think the actual distro is irrelevant. What you need to do, as Laurie and others have said, is actually trial a few desktops with the potential users.
I'm sorry, but I don't agree. Maybe my "users" are different from the people everyone else deals with but they have zero interest in the OS, they just want it to "work". Sadly, examples of "not working" will include not being able to find things where they're used to finding them (despite the fact that when the same applies with Windows they'll just put up with it).
The best level of engagement I can hope to get from people is to try something, and go back to Windows (or buy new Windows hardware) if they don't like it. It's not that they don't have the time or money to look at other options (although both will be cited as reasons), it's because they don't have the interest. I had exactly the same inertia before moving the same people to Firefox years ago. Now they won't consider using anything else.
There need to be reasons to move, and "new and shiny" don't apply otherwise they'd already been on Windows 8. Since for the most part the OS is just how they locate and launch Firefox and Word/LibreOffice, it needs to do that and do it well, without presenting a learning curve that they'll jump off before they get started. Any level of maintenance tasks will be seen as a negative - a necessary evil perhaps, but I can't pick an option that requires more work that Windows does. The current (non-LTS) release of Mint, for example, might be excellent but it needs a re-install in only a few months time, and that just isn't going to work. Letting them trial it on a Live DVD isn't going to pre-empt this.
You never know, they might even like Unity. I've heard that some people do.
Indeed. And therein lies another problem with choice: I don't mind "supporting" one or two distros that I don't use, but if I'm not careful I'll get a dozen people using a dozen different choices and that isn't going to work out very well at all when they have a question I can't answer. Some of them may well "discover" Linux through this - realise it's not as bad as they thought it might be and go and explore. Otherwise will just settle into using it the way they do XP: launch Firefox and go to Facebook (or CBBC or whatever).
That's why, for me, advice from people who've done similar things for friends/family is more important than what these people might pick from a quick trial. I'm certainly not going to stop them exploring and finding/trying new options themselves - and might even suggest it - but I need to present a single "recommended" option if I want them to give this a go.
Mark