Re: [Trisquel-users] Using Linux causes girl to drop out of college

[mithrandiragain]

I think the major problem is that people who go from Windows to GNU/Linux  
need to realize that, although they can do 99.9% of the things they did on  
Windows (web, email, word processing, videos...,) G/L is *not* Windows.
    For example, in the video I noticed that she had put her Verizon CD into  
the computer and got an error that said something like 'setup.exe can't  
execute'. The woman obviously had no idea that .exe programs don't run 'out  
of the box' for G/L because it's for Windows only. Of course, neither she or  
the reporters know this. She probably didn't even need the CD if it was a  
average router, nor the 'Network Manager' it included, but nevertheless this  
was an error to her because it worked before on Windows. She was also not  
aware of the fact that she didn't need to run Word because of OpenOffice.
    The response from the 'community' is extremely disappointing, although  
not altogether surprising. I wonder how many of the 'users' who attacked her  
were really G/L users.
    If it's default installation people want (obviously not in this case) a  
major computer maker (Toshiba, Acer, Dell) that sells a whole line of  
computers seriously, like in popular retail stores, would over time increase  
G/L's popularity.
    Anyway, the solution is not to spend years trying to write Windows  
compatibility into the kernel itself (possible, but not probable or smart,)  
but to do the best we can to correctly educate users of the differences,  
advantages and disadvantages. Otherwise, what's the point?