Hmm, you know, I''m sure that 95% of the Windows dumb users out there would neither be able to install Linux, nor Windows or even DOS on their machine without blowing up the HD. It''s not Linux, it''s the installation process itself.
Once a good friend of mine (but very non-computer orientated) had f*cked up his Win98 installation. He asked me what to do, and I simply told him to reinstall Windows. Quick''n''fast standard anwser in such cases. He called back several hours later screaming ''My machine is dead, I can''t install Windows, it asks me on what ''partition'' I want it, but there is no browse button to choose the directory !!!''. At this moment I realized that reinstalling an OS is something totally impossible to an average Windows user.
Nothing specific about Linux. Windows is preinstalled on their machine when they buy it. If it kills itself, they have to call a tech support center to reinstall it for them (and pay $$$ for it). If Linux would be preinstalled on machines, then even newbies would be relatively safe using it (at least if they *don''t* know the root password... )
I''ll chip in with my Linux story. I work in an IT department for a bank, and my manager is extremely anti-Linux biased. When I tried to bring up the possibilities of using Linux for the helpdesk, he sneered saying "Linux is a bunch of crap". When I asked what he meant, he said he had tried installing Red Hat 6.0 on his windows machine at home a year or two ago, and he said it wiped out his FAT partition so he had to reinstall windows.
Now, I remember playing with trying to install Red Hat 6.0 with it''s non-graphical interface. At that time, I probably only had maybe a year and half of experience with WINDOWS under my belt, but I didn''t balk at installing Linux...even when it sked me to configure the Xfree86 settings for the monitor and vid card.
So the Help Desk Manager, with loads of AS400 experience and M$ experience can''t install Linux? But more importantly, this one failure colored his perceptions to such a degree that he refuses to entertain the notion of using Linux boxes (although our LAN depratment does use some internalized linux boxes amongst themselves....the bank itself doesn''t rely on any Linux servers).
I estimate we could probably save 2-3 million in licensing costs alone...not to mention the OS itself. And we just went through a restructuring because we had a shortfall of 1.8 million. 33% of our IT staff just got the pink slip about 2 weeks ago. What''s infuriating is our IT department''s unwillingness to even think about such a move. While perhaps administering Linux may be a bit more tough and require them to hire some more skilled personnel (or train some of us that survived the purge) I can''t see how this wouldn''t save our company money. Heck, we lost almost a full 2 days of downtime due to Nimda....and I heard our CIO say that everyday our core system is down, we lose a million a day.
Perhaps the saddest think is that our "help desk" is not very technically proficient...and these are supposedly people that were hired for their banking and/or technical abilities. Even Win NT4 is often a mystery to them, and I wind up telling them how the OS works or very basic networking principles. If these users have to be trained in Nt4 and Windows2000, I don''t see why it would be such a stretch to teach them about Linux as well (although admittedly the learning curve is much steeper)
The world has achieved brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount." - General Omar Bradley
quote:
Original post by Oluseyi Perhaps you should offer to install Linux for these people? Many areas have LUGs (Linux User groups, for the uninitiated) where they conduct monthly (or whatever frequency suits you) "installfests." You could tell people about Linux but explain that all that power makes it much easier to shoot yourself in the ass with a bolt of lightning (paraphrased), so "why not come to out user group meeting and let us walk you through it?"
Sometimes I do that but I point out that its best they install it themsleves, but if the person is not ready to learn no point in bringing them to linux.
)
. Yeah, that''s it, heh. 
