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Re: [school-discuss] Death of Windows?



Bill Kendrick wrote (in part):
> On Mon, Jun 22, 2009 at 12:01:20PM -0700, jj2kk4@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> I'm curious (and I realize the answers here will be mostly from a K-12
> point of view), but what kind of stuff are other folks out here doing
> to try and make FLOSS more understood by the general public?

Being the "computer guy" in my own small circle, I frequently get asked for
help by people having computer (Windows) problems.  I help them, if I can,
and always explain how much better off they would be and how much money they
could save with Linux.  I give away CDs (sometimes whole computer systems)
and do Linux installs for free -- sometimes involuntarily -- i.e. after a
rebuild of their windows stuff, put Linux on a partition and invite them to
try it.  Sometimes, Windows just can't be saved and they don't have the
disks to reinstall - so I give them back a working computer, usually running
Mint.

When I got sucked into the tech support vacuum at our church/school several
years ago, I finally just dragged my feet and let everybody's XP die from
entropy, declare that Windows is dead and offer to set them up with Linux.
That was after I'd converted the computer lab to Edubuntu and was getting
rave reviews from the students.  Finally, the last holdout (a hard case who
ran the school) begged me to set her up with a Linux desktop.  Now that I've
sort of won, I make sure I'm the best tech support for them that they can't
afford anyway.  In turn, they have been converting their own circle of friends.

It's a hard sell when all the stores sell are Windows computers, Windows
games, and Consumer Reports declares that Linux is only suitable for
lightweight uses.  Sigh.

Andy Figueroa