How to help people to switch to Linux

Much has been said about switching from Windows to Linux. When reading a lot of the questions and comments on linuxquestions.org  I found a few following recurring themes popping up, that might easily be circumvented. 

Introduction

Please bear in mind I am no IT professional but I am a "prosumer" that has worked with computers since the early CP/M days on the Exidy Sorcerer and have been working with and supporting family and friends with all kinds of consumer level computers and small servers. In my daily life I work as a medical doctor and as such need to explain very difficult concepts to regular people on a daily basis in order for them to give an informed consent. This is not so different than talking Linux to Windows people: try to explain the Linux virtual file system to a lifetime Windows user..  Keep in mind, learning Linux IS difficult for most.

Recurring themes

1. People are focusing on the choice of desktop environment and are afraid not to choose the best thing.
2. People can't figure out what to do when they've installed Linux.
3. People can't install software they want to use

To help people that don't know Linux to get going seasoned sudo'ers have to keep a few things in mind:

1. For Linux people, choice is good. For most people however, choice is frustrating! They pretty much have the general idea of the things they want to do with a computer. It is nice that the Linux community came up with a multitude of distributions. For a beginner, this is just way too much.
   
   There are some distributions that have a UI sauce resembling Windows or Apple, however this might even lead to more frustration, because it  IS NOT Windows or Apple MacOS. In my vision it is even better to have a desktop environment that does NOT look like Windows or MacOS but is the best Linux has to offer, for example GNOME or KDE.
   
   That's why I always recommend to install Ubuntu: either Ubuntu using GNOME or Kubuntu will do nicely for the beginner.
   
   
2. Coming from Windows people know they'll have to invest a lot of time and energy installing things like antivirus, Microsoft Office, e-mail software and the like. In Linux, this is a much straightforward thing, as we know.
   
   To new users you should point out that their old software will not run on Linux. They will have to use LibreOffice or another Office replacement instead of the Microsoft thing.
   
   Also they should forget about antivirus, for now. Running antivirus IS quite good practice since it can prevent you to e.g. spread an infected document to others.
   
   That's why I recommend making a list of tasks they want to do with their computer and then, find the software that will make them do that.
   
   
3. No, Linux will not work with that exotic desktop scanner and no, Linux will not run that very special tool you liked on Windows.
   
   Linux has a smaller user base and niche software is hard to replace. I still struggle with that myself. So I do keep a Windows installation on a separate drive in my computer, just to do those special tasks once in a while.
   
   That's what I recommend doing: keeping on your old computer to run the software that still seems irreplaceable by any Linux counterpart.
   
4. Linux will not resuscitate that ancient hardware you don't want to part with.
   
   It seems that "reviving old hardware" is all the rage in Linux land. Sure, there are Linux distributions that will run better on old hardware than Windows 10 will. But still, old hardware is still OLD hardware. Linux is no magic wand.  
   
   That's why I recommend using Linux on newer hardware. It will really fly on a new laptop or desktop and one will have a ball compared to Windows 10.  

A polished Linux experience? Try a Chromebook!

Linux folks have known this from the start, but Chromebooks are Linux computers. They've been designed by Google with simplicity and ease of use in mind, and they're good at it. Nowadays you can also run all Playstore apps on a Chromebook. And while at first, they represented the bottom end of the laptop market, we now are seeing higher-tier Chromebooks entering the market. Because of market demand, I presume.

I have spent some time working with Chromebooks when they were the tool my kids used during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Of course the budget models are exactly that and they come with low-end specs. I had bought an Acer chromebook with a full HD touch screen about a year earlier and it performed quite good.

The added bonus of the modern Chromebooks that it runs your Playstore apps is also very nice. So your Chromebook doubles as an Android tablet with a keyboard. Given the plethora of apps on the Playstore I think this is a very welcome addition.

Lastly you can also run Linux in a container on your Chromebook - albeit  it must be a recent Chromebook with a processor that supports virtualisation (there are still other means but that is really not for beginners).

That's why I recommend buying a Chromebook when you want to get out of the Windows system and don't want to have anything to do with a command line.

Linux on a budget

To get on with Linux you can do it on a tight budget. A Raspberry Pi is a cheap and cheerful way to get started with Linux computing. The Raspberry Pi 4 is quite powerful and can be considered a lightweight desktop replacement.

The first Raspberry Pi set a trend towards single board computers (SBC´s) and now you can choose from a lot of different options. However in this case, the Raspberry Pi has by far the most community support and if you're a beginner, that is what you need. You can Google any answer quickly - which is not the case if you buy a different SBC.

The current Rasp 4 is the model 4. You can buy it in different configurations and with different options. The options that have all the things you need to get started are nice and not very expensive. Add a monitor and you're off!

That is why I recommend buying a Raspberry Pi starter kit when you want to dip your toes into Linux on a budget.  It might just be the thing you need for doing web browsing and some e-mail.

Conclusion

If people want to get out of the Windows world there are a lot of options. With those options a lot of questions emerge as well  with the aspiring or brand new Linux users. Please bear in mind that a clear path, stability, a broad user base, community support and clear documentation are very important to the new Linux user. These are aspects that for a beginner play a more important role than a wide array of choices.

Why Microsoft seems to embrace open source software

Recently I listened to an episode of the Late Night Linux show. The presenters talked about Microsoft making a strategic turn towards open source software. This looks to be a fundamental change in the Microsoft business model. The reasoning was that that this move is directed towards Apple.

To me, this makes not much sense. If you think of all the recent efforts made by Microsoft to dominate the bulk software and services market, most failed and they were all beaten by Google: Chrome vs Edge, Google vs Bing, Android vs Windows Mobile/Windows Phone. Only in the Office space Microsoft seems to hold its ground. And while the Windows operating system is bloated as can be, more and more Chromebooks are conquering the schools and premium Chomebook laptops start to appear.

In this light Apple is just a (profitable) sideshow selling about 12.5% of US laptops and about 14% of global smartphones (measured in volume). Now I am no IT specialist but I do know that in the long run volume counts and volume seems to be what Microsoft is trying to hold on to. And connecting to the increasingly open source world is the only way to go.

Why Linux is no substitute for Windows 7

Lately in the Linux community people have hyped the idea that following the Windows 7 end-of-life people should replace their Windows 7 installation with a Linux installation. I would like to show why this is a bad strategy for Linux as a platform and while understandable, this will only make people angry and suffer.

The idea

Linux can run on all kinds of hardware and this is one of the reasons why it is such a good software platform to build your personal or business IT structure on. It is reliable, it is stable and cost-effective.

This also means that Linux can run on older systems. You can install Linux on any old PC that now runs Windows XP or even older.

There is a trend towards 64 bit PC hardware. Recently Canonical announced that from the latest version (20.04 LTS) onwards, Ubuntu does not support all 32-bit packages anymore, only a select few. This does not mean all 32 bit systems are left in the cold, this does imply that in time, 32 bit PC hardware will lose Linux support.

The problem

People that are new to the Linux operating system tend to get frustrated when installing it to replace their Windows 7 installation. On the website LinuxQuestions.org a Linux loving community tries to support people that are new to Linux in their first steps in the open source world. And while they're trying to help the "newbies" often these new Linux users are put off because of various reasons and can even react agressively when they get answers.

Why?

A simple answer: these are the wrong people trying to install Linux!

While installing Linux is infinitely less complicated than it once was, it does require going through an installation process that needs some level of comprehension of how a computer actually works. And it needs some tenacity and some learning skills to get going with a new operating system. The software running on Linux is comparable to a lot of offerings on Microsoft Windows but not exactly the same.

So what kind of people still run Windows 7 on their main computer in 2020? Are they the kind of people that are ready to try something new? Are they the people that love to try out new software and learn how to use it? I guess not.

Moreover, the ageing hardware they're still using will never offer a good experience anymore. Old hardware running a new operating system will still be old hardware. And while it can still be usable, it might not meet the high expectations of people that now still run Windows 7 on their PC.

So what advice to issue?

People that are still using Windows 7 might be the ones that do not care what operating system their ageing PC will run on. They don't care for new software or hardware and probably don't want to spend money, time or effort. Some even admit this publicly.

In my opinion these are not the people to recommend using Linux to.

I would issue the following advice:

1. If they want or need to keep using their old software I'd recommend buying a new computer running Windows 10. Sure, it sends all your personal data to the Microsoft cloud. However that is the price one pays for this kind of pampering. Probably even good for them, because having a copy of all your data in the cloud gives some level of data protection. 
2. If they want or need a simple system that does not require investing a lot of time or money and can be learned very quickly, I'd recommend buying a Chromebook. They are quite safe but do not rank high on the data privacy scale. However Chomebooks are stable (they do run the Linux kernel, after all) and well maintained by Google.
3. If they want a simple system that does not require investing a lot of time but are wary of going all-in with Microsoft or Google, I would tell them to buy an Apple Mac. You plug everything in, flip the switch and you're in. The downside is that Apple currently charges just too much money for their offerings. 
4. If they want a simple solution that does not require investing time, money or any effort, any effort others are willing to put in will be a complete waste of time. When people themselves do not even want to put in much effort, why help them? I can only tell such people to buy a backup drive, install it on their current hardware and hope for the best.

The bottom line

The truth is that Linux is no perfect solution for everyone. It takes people that want to spend time and effort to learn a new computing experience. People that are using old hardware running old software for a large part are not those kind of people.

That is why Linux is no substitute for Windows 7.