Linux needs to grow. Stop telling people it's 'tech-y' or acting like you're more advanced for using it, you are scaring away people. Linux Mint can be used by a senile person perfectly.
Explain shortly the benefits, 'faster, more secure, easier to use, main choices of professionals and free'. Ask questions that let you know if they need to dual boot, 'do you use Adobe, anti-cheat games, or Microsoft Office', 'how new is your computer', 'do you use a Mac'.
And most importantly, offer to help them install.
They don't understand the concept of distros, just suggest Linux Mint LTS Cinnamon unless they're curious.
That's it, spread Linux to as many people as possible. The larger the marketshare, the better support we ALL get. We can fight enshittification. Take the time to spread it but don't force it on anyone.
AND STOP SCARING PEOPLE AWAY. Linux has no advertising money, it's up to us.
Offer family members or friends your help or copy and paste the below
how to install linux: 1) copy down your windows product key 2) backup your files to a harddrive 3) install the linux mint cinnamon iso from the linux mint website 4) use etcher (download from its website) to put the iso on a usb flash drive 5) go into bios 6) boot from the usb 7) erase the storage and install 8) press update all in the update manager 9) celebrate. it takes 15 minutes.
edit: LET ME RE-STATE, DO NOT FORCE IT ON ANYONE.
and if someone is at the level of ignorance (not in a derogatory fashion) that they dont know what a file even is genuinely dont bother unless theyre your parents cause youll be tech support for their 'how do i install the internet' questions.
haha right! Most people don't even understand that MacOS is a thing on it's own, they just think it's a Mac. They have never needed to make the distinction between software and hardware. If you were to suggest they "change to Linux", they won't have any frame of reference for what this means. Heck, most people still call Android phones "droids", or if they know anything, "Pixels" and "Samsungs" without knowing that "Android" is it's own thing. Macbooks have USB-C now but few users know that you can use an Apple charger to charge anything USB-C. It's like back in the 90s you would frequently hear people not making the distinction between "monitor" and "computer".
Don't get me wrong, I think consumer education is the only plausible way out of this proprietary mess, but the further society moves away from PCs having discrete interchangeable components the harder concepts like "operating system" are going to be to understand for anyone not specifically seeking out that knowledge.
Absolutely right. And it blows my mind that at this point people are getting less technologically literate, not more. Job security for us IT guys, I guess.
It's not all that bad. I'm sure there are as many youth keen to learn computers and they have easy access to all the tools they need to develop knowledge and skill
It's just as we have become more knowledgeable, more capable, the difference between us and the normal people seems incredible.
But put us in an area needing different specialist knowledge and we'll struggle like they do with computer technical stuff
We speak jargon. They don't know the words, or if they do they use them wrong.
Also it sucks for us in IT work; when you are in an agile team and the manager two levels up doesn't understand agile they do things like break up high performing teams (mine had been a team for four years - from the day the organisation decided to test agile) to share the people around so they can teach the others how to be high performing
Had they read anything about agile, they would know that longevity of a team is a good predictor for performances — but they wouldn't read about agile, it's an IT technical thing
I mean, two whole generations are growing up without using regular computers until they enter the workforce or go to college. When I was in highschool, I was told that the generations after me would mostly be more technologically literate than anyone was at the time, but with smartphones and ChromeOS it seems that the time to learn how to use a personal computer now begins far later than it was for us millennials.
There are so many basic things about using a computer that it is no longer to expect a high school graduate to know, such as how to use a printer (or what a printer even is), how to reboot a computer, what a browser is, etc.
education is so important
i was called into one office where they bought a backup external, like someone told them to previously. they took it out of the box, set it on the tower. and i guess, that was that. the magic box would now have backups of everything they did.
five years later, i got to tell them that there's nothing on it.
the pc was never configured to run a backup of any kind. hell, the drive was never connected to the pc.
so no backups of their documents, their spreadsheets, their mailing lists, their email, or their quickbooks (that part, they at least ran manual backups of, when prompted by the software, to a flash drive).
I bet that company hires lawyers for law technical stuff.
it's a church office, jesus does the legal shit.. and apparently the pc backups, too.
step 2 of this process involves making a backup. whether they understand how they did so or not.
I work in a decent-sized computer repair shop and this is a very accurate representation of what the average user knows.
Just in case anyone thinks this is over the top.
I'm fortnightly* helping some friends upgrade from win7 to more modern windows. They're smart people, one's an accountant, the other a school librarian. But since neither of their professions nor their hobbies are computer technical they need help
They're currently at the step "ring Microsoft to troubleshoot the licence"
*They host the d&d game
Honestly these people shouldn't use computers if they can't be bothered to learn the bare minimum ngl.
Or we need to improve IT classes and courses
I was thinking more "navigate to a file" type stuff. Understanding what admin privileges are, copying and pasting, stuff like this.
Often times when I needed to help a non-tech savvy person solve an issue on any OS it is some really dumb problem like them not knowing how to run some program as admin (no idea why they want to run a graph software that needs admin privileges to this day), opening the file manager, navigating to a folder to paste a file to it, or simply reading the popup instead of panicking.
At no point have I said going into a BIOS is basic knowledge. But if the people you're dealing with struggle with the most basic shit ever then you're not even gonna get to the BIOS part, and if they aren't willing to learn how to use a computer then they probably shouldn't use a computer.
You need a license to drive a car, and to get the license you have to pass a test to prove you know the basics of motor vehicle operation and the "rules of the road."
I really don't see why we couldn't/shouldn't apply the same logic to computer hardware.
Uh because innocent people don't die if a user doesn't know how to install an OS?
In some contexts having people who don't know what files are, what a folder is, and some other basics, do lead to people dying or lots of damage done.
Of course you'd expect people in these contexts to be trained but that's not always the case.
Also having no idea what a file is and not knowing the bare minimum of how a computer works in this day and age is unacceptable. It should be taught properly in schools (instead of teaching some very specific stuff everyone will forget, like what a bus is, and then jump to what excel is and how to use it, like they did in my IT class back in high school)
Don't get me wrong I'm very pro-tech literacy and education, especially with the tablet generation users that are becoming more abstracted from the system plumbing... but requiring licenses to use a computer?? Lol. If it's that important to the job, employer should provide training just like any other piece of equipment.
I'm not going to expect doctors to know how to get into a bios or cleanup a corrupted file system, they specialized in human biology - keep them focused on that, and I'll handle the OS management.
I don't expect anyone to know how to install an OS either, that's not the basics. But I do expect everyone to know what a file is, what file extensions are and what a directory/folder is.
Why? Those are just abstractions. Why do you get to decide at which level of abstraction is the baseline for a person to use a computer?
Especially considering most computer users are operating at a higher level of abstraction (i.e. phones/tablets).
You are not the average computer user anymore.
I don't consider them computer users because they aren't using a computer (yes I know they're small computers but they operate in a different way).
If they want to use a personal computer, the thing with folders and stuff, they should learn how to use that, otherwise, if they don't want to learn, they probably are better off not using a computer and use something else instead, like the aforementioned phone. If they absolutely need to use a computer, then they should (in absence of training or teaching at school) at the very least try and figure out how they can and should interact with this tool that costed you a couple hundred €s.
I never was the average user, even when I considered myself a dumbass who knows absolutely nothing about how to use a computer I was still considered a tech genius by people around me simply because I knew how to download something like a minecraft mod and navigate some folders to move said mod in the correct folder or simply install programs, while most other people around me couldn't even tell the difference between the browsers and the file explorer.
You realise there are people that are over 80 that only have a computer so they can check pictures of their grandkids on Facebook and that's it?
yes, I do, but that's not representative of the majority of the population.
So it's unacceptable for them to have a computer?
Yes it is unacceptable but less relevant.
I've encountered millenials who struggle with the simple concept that you can copy a file and paste it in a different directory. Zoomers my age who don't know what a file manager is. And more.
Not everyone, not even close to being a majority in fact, is an 80 year old that is completely incapable of learning basic concept. People must know the very basics of how to use their most important and omnipresent tool, such as what is a file explorer, what do we mean by file extensions, what is a file, directories, how to organize them, copy files elsewhere, why do we sometimes need to use admin privileges (and why it's dangerous), etc.
OP: Stop being elitists!
You: Just watch me!
Wanting people to know the instruments they're using ≠ elitism
Everyone should be able to use Linux but that ain't happening if you don't teach them the basics of how to use a computer.
Saying it's unacceptable that someone uses a tool without having interest in knowing the way it works outside of their limited usage fucking is elitism though!
I sure hope you know how to change the transmission in your car or have the tools to replace the bottom bracket on your bike or that you know how to replace an intake valve on your washing machine because it's unacceptable for your to own these things and used them if you don't! Heck, you must live somewhere, do you know how to build a house and maintain everything that can go wrong with one?
I'm not saying people should understand the inner workings. I'm saying they should understand how to use it or at least want to learn. I'm talking copy-pasting files, navigating folders, reading instructions, that sort of stuff. Read my comments before assuming my argument.
In your analogy it would be knowing how to use the steering wheel and the brakes and the basic rules of how to drive, and I sure as shit hope you know how to use them before you're allowed into the streets in your car.
It's like giving a book to a person who doesn't know how to read and refuses to learn how to read. They don't want to read, then they probably shouldn't have a book. They need the book for whatever reason? Then they must be taught how to read.
But they know how to use it in accordance with their needs, you're just mad that they don't use it to do the shit that you feel is adequate, that's elitist as fuck.
Until they have to ask me or tech support how to run something as administrator when they need to do something different for whatever reason. I worked with people in a lab, we do research on a lot of environmental and biological stuff, we sometimes use some quite advanced software, yet some of these people struggle with the most basic operations and they give up as soon as something isn't working, with the logic "I can't understand this so why bother". I'm talking even the installation (on windows) of new programs. And these people have to use WSL to run terminal commands for software made specifically for Linux, you'd expect them to at least understand a bit of the basics, but nope, it's seen as normal and/or a funny quirk to be illiterate instead of being trained on how to use a computer, at the end of my time there I managed to convert one to the Linux camp (the others want to switch when they get new computers) and he's well on his way to become the guy who will have to help someone run a program as admin or some other silly shit, and I hope eventually more of them will become literate, but it shouldn't have needed me or someone else being there for these people to comprehend computer basics, they should've been trained at the job or taught that in school.
There is no reason to not teach these people the very basics. Everyone will need to know what a file is and how to navigate folders at some point, or admin privileges, or some very basic troubleshooting, they should learn that even if maybe they're only gonna use it twice. It is certainly more useful than knowing what drivers, buses, etc are (yes, this is what they taught us in basic IT class to people not doing IT). Otherwise, if they don't want to learn that then a computer is likely not the tool for them.
If we want everyone to be able to use Linux or computers in general, we need everyone to learn how to use their tool. Without this you'll get a billion phone calls for any small problems by people who don't understand something basic, don't want to learn or look up how to solve a problem they think is impossibly hard, and eventually these people will get angry and leave in frustration. Linux is very much an operating system that can work for everyone, even a dumbass like myself or my old grandpas and grandmas, but if we want people who use windows/mac to switch to it we first need to teach them the basics. It is then of my opinion that the people who can't grasp the basics of how to interact with their computer and refuse to learn (this part is important) should use something else instead altogether.
I never talked about people switching to Linux as I couldn't care less about that (the closest of am from running Linux is owning an rpi for pihole, all 5 other computers in my house are on W11 and my interest to switch is zero because I'm computer literate enough that I know I don't want to make my life complicated just to be a contrarian) or people that use computers for work.
If you're angry that you have to offer support to people when you work in IT you should change field. You're like a mechanic that's angry they get clients to do something basic like changing wipers, either teach the person or do it for them, that's what you're paid for, if everyone knew how to do all the stuff you're helping them with you would be out of a job.
I don't work in IT, I have even said I studied in a field that has nothing to do with IT. I simply happen to know how to do basic stuff and therefore illiterate people think I'm some sort of tech genius (I am not).
IT people also won't be out of a job if people knew how to right click something.
Well I've got bad news for you, training and helping people is part of my job, I teach them and help them do their daily tasks and the same people ask me the same questions over and over again.
You say "they need to know even if they'll use it once or twice"? Well they will have forgotten when that happens because they don't use it often enough to remember and computers aren't something they're interested in in the first place. The computer is their gateway to the internet, just like a car is someone's way to get to work, the intricacies of how it works and how to do things that are unrelated to these tasks can be taught to them, they will not absorb the information.
that's a them problem. Doesn't mean we shouldn't teach people these skills. And I reiterate that these people should probably use something else that works better for them, not a computer then.
Tell that to the guy whose son was so influenced by grifters online that he cut off his dad's head.
Oh wait you can't because he's dead.
No, using the internet while being an idiot has literally lead to murder.
Should require a license to go outside or read a book too, they might meet a dangerous group of people or read something that influences them.
He just needed the TV to turn this way, should were require a college degree to be allowed to have a TV?
@SnotFlickerman
The about flies far but never hits the target.
Don’t support anything Google touches.
https://xkcd.com/2501/
https://m.xkcd.com/2501/
reminds me of !windows_help@iusearchlinux.fyi
gosh