[kwlug-disc] Top 7 Reasons People Quit Linux

[Bob Jonkman]

I wonder if the author has based the article on empirical data.  Has he
actually heard these reasons from people?  How many people? My guess is
that he's heard these stories anecdotally, and wrote an article based on
perceptions, not facts.

I too think the article is too condescending, and will turn new users
off Linux.

Either way, Paul has done a much better job with his Open Source
Handout.

--Bob.


On Sat, 2009-05-02 at 09:59 -0400, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> On Sat, 2 May 2009, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> 
> > On Sat, 2 May 2009, L.D. Paniak wrote: 
> >
> > > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> > > Hash: SHA1
> > >
> > > In light of Paul's sales pitch for Linux, it might be useful to look at
> > > the flip-side:
> > >
> > > http://www.pcworld.com/article/164205/why_people_quit_linux.html
> >
> >   i wish i could praise that article, but i can't -- it's really
> > pretty patronizing:
> >
> >   3. I tried Linux but I had to type commands!
> >
> >   OMG!!! Really?
> >
> >   But seriously. So what? Are you scared of the keyboard?
> >
> > when you're trying to make a case for linux, it's probably a bad
> > idea to intellectually demean the people you're addressing.
> 
>   by the way, before people think i'm over-reacting, that article
> would have been fine if it had been obviously tongue-in-cheek, written
> for other geeks, that sort of thing.  but it wasn't -- it sits below a
> sizable header that reads "PCW Business Center," suggesting that it's
> targeting *business* people, and i can't think of a single business
> person i know that wouldn't be put off totally by the unsympathetic
> and condescending tone of that piece.
> 
>   quite frankly, that's the kind of "evangelism" we in the linux
> culture can live without.  how that article made it past an editor is
> a mystery.  i'm guessing that KWLUG has numerous members who could do
> much better.
> 
> rday
> --
> 
> ========================================================================
> Robert P. J. Day                               Waterloo, Ontario, CANADA
> 
>         Linux Consulting, Training and Annoying Kernel Pedantry.
> 
> Web page:                                          http://crashcourse.ca
> Linked In:                             http://www.linkedin.com/in/rpjday
> Twitter:                                       http://twitter.com/rpjday
> ========================================================================
> 
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