If you’re on the verge of installing Linux on the family computer, here are seven ways to ensure that you get a high wife approval factor.
- Get Your Ducks in a Row
Imagine you’re evaluating a new technology for your office. If the vendor stops in the middle of his presentation to fix a “glitch,” it stands out in your mind when it comes time to make a decision. Your family is no different. Make sure you test everything they may want to use and are ready for their questions. - Take it Easy
Introduce your family to the distro you believe to be the easiest to use and the easiest for you to support, not the distro you believe to be the best. Slackware, Debian and Gentoo may not be the best way to get the family started. - Take it Slow
Don’t just let them come home from work or school to find that Windows and their favorite programs and games have been replaced. - The Road Less Traveled
If met with the question,”If it’s better, then why didn’t it come with the computer?” Don’t offer a ton of technical details. Give factual reasons in a clear, concise, non-technical language. - Think Outside of the Box
Installing Linux on the family computer may not be the best way to introduce your family to it, but a Linux based PVR or home automation system might be. - Try Before You Buy
Install and teach them to use things like The GIMP, Firefox, Open Office and Pidgin in Windows so they can get used to them before you switch. - Suffer the Little Children
If you have children, you can point out the benefits of using a content filtering system like DansGuardian.
If you know of other ways to ease your family’s transition from Windows to Linux, let’s hear them in the comments.
2 Comments
I had the easiest time switching my family. The kids simply watched me on my Linux box, asked for it on their computers, and have used it ever since. And yes, they like the games available, since they have online Flash and Java, native games, ported games, and emulators they really don’t feel the difference.
My wife was the longest holdout. I dual booted Rad Hat (before it went corporate only) with her Windows and let her switch back and forth. She also had many free software ports onto Windows to play with, so she was already loving Mozilla and Gimp.
When I checked her computer and discovered the Linux system reported continuous uptime of six months without booting into Windows, I polled the household and we all became Windows-free that day!
That’s awesome. My wife still uses Windows on my… HER laptop, but I told her to keep it free of virii and malware, as I wouldn’t install Windows on it again. She loves MythTV and uses my Fedora 7 workstation from time to time, so I don’t think it’ll be a huge jump for her. She already uses pidgin, firefox and gimp.
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