:How Windows Users Are Changing Linux And What We Should Do About It
How Windows Users Are Changing Linux And What We Should Do About It Dec 4, 2008, 11 :33 UTC (12 Talkback[s]) (5042 reads)
"But we see that Windows users are having an impact on the Linux community that we may not have anticipated. Windows users aren't used to choice. For them the array of choices that Linux presents is confusing.
"Let's start with the number of distros. How to begin to choose? Everyone has an opinion, but what are you to believe. So they go by heresay or popularity. They may want to try Fedora because they know that it comes from Red Hat and they have heard that Red Hat is big in Linux (servers, but they don't know the difference). They don’t realize that Fedora is not a newbie distro and no amount of arguing will convince them. Worse still are the ones that have an old copy of Red Hat itself and they want to use it on an old desktop computer and expect it to function like they have heard Linux is, modern and user friendly. Then there is Ubuntu. They use it because it is the one that most people are using. It is not surprising that our forums are full of confusion and in many cases frustration.
"So here is what I see as the problem. This frustration and confusion causes Windows users to say that Linux should be more like Windows. They want to remove choice and want to see standardization. Worse still, a small percentage wants to change Linux so that it is more like Windows. And we need to be prepared to address those statements and to protect what is unique about Linux."
