On Monday 12 July 2004 01:37 pm, Lanman wrote:
Speaking of free, has anyone else been to http://theopencd.sunsite.dk ? Or am I the only one who knows about it? Nice ISO file with an easy to use install GUI for anyone trying to get Windows users to switch to Free software.
Nuff Said!
Lanman
I've been d/l'g new releases an makin CD's for those that are willin for a few years. Few takers, even fewer who actually used the CD's to install anything. Most all of which were victims of M$ viruses, but hopelessly cling to IE, and Outlook Express. I usually try'n give 'em a Knoppix CD too.
I'm firmly convinced the 90% of clinging M$ users are just that .... hopeless. One new laptop user (HP with XP) didn't even last a few days before he was infected. He refused the Knoppix CD sayin his owners manual warned not to try and use Linux on it. But when challenged, he couldn't find that part, admitted he just 'heard that'.
Tom; I hear ya Man! It's a bit different for me, and possibly for other folks too, because most of them ask for Windows (where I immediately go into my "you should consider Linux and this is what it looks like, and this is what it costs" - routine), but almost all of them try to get me to install M$ Office for free.
My reply sounds a lot like "Sorry! That's not gonna happen!", and that's when I show them OpenOffice, Trillian (replacement for MSN Messenger), Firefox, Mozilla or Netscape with only the web-browser component installed, and Thunderbird for email.
Then I start telling them the benefits of each, and they either get tired of hearing me talk, or they see the sense of what I'm saying. Most of the users out there ( or as I prefer to call them - Victims ) are just afraid of change, not of the actual programs themselves.
Something else I'm noticing is that a lot of my new clients are hearing about Microsoft's "issues" before they even come to me. Still others try to get me to fix their Microsoft programs while I'm fixing something else, and that's when I install the ones I mentioned above.
I'm constantly amazed (although I probably shouldn't be, by now) at how often I get calls from people who have virus-related problems! For the most part, they have no idea of the fact that the have to UPDATE their anti-virus definitions, and in fact many of them actually shut the damn things off because they get annoyed about the pop-up that's displayed when the update is occurring.
Needless to say, a lot of PC builders are probably kept very busy just from re-installs. I'm almost guaranteed a phone call from a Windows client 4 months into the warranty period. They don't run scandisk, defrag, or anti-virus updates, and can't understand why they see pop-ups or find spyware on their systems!
Thinking I could do my clients a favour, I created a document which I place in the "All Users" folder under C:\Documents and Settings, and you'd be surprised at how many clients go out of their way to delete it!
Anyway, I agree that the majority of users will cling to M$ stuff, until something drastic happens to change their minds. Until then, we shall have to console ourselves with the fact that we are the chosen few who were smart enough to go with Linux to begin with! Sigh! It's lonely at the top!
Grin!
Lanman
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