I just want to +1 the issue that OP brings up. I'm now an experienced
GNU/Linux user. I'm still far from being a UNIX greybeard, but I have made a
commitment to using only free code if humanly possible. I'm willing to put up
with a certain amount of broken software, confusion, and filing bug reports,
as an investment in a future where everyone can use nothing but free code.
In my experience of arguing for adoption of free code software though, the
"open source" people appear to be right about one important thing: most
people's primary software concern is that it helps them get their work done,
and doesn't sabotage and distract them. Even once they start to understand
software freedom issues, they're just not willing to trade a computer that
works ok for one that doesn't. I wrote this satirical blog post summing this
up just before I first tried Trisquel:
http://www.coactivate.org/projects/disintermedia/blog/2012/10/22/brick-seeks-free-software-foundation-endorsement/
There is still proprietary software in the world, not because proprietary is
what people *want*, but because proprietary software companies at least give
the appearance of *listening* to what people want, and offering it. If we
seriously want people to shift to GNU/Linux - and particularly to an
FSF-endorsed distribution like Trisquel - we *must* do everything we can to
make the experience at least as user-friendly as Windows or OSX, and ideally
more so. That applies to the quality and reliability of the software provided
(in the core distro and in the repos), the user manuals and documentation
provided, and the friendliness and helpfulness towards beginners on user
forums like this one.
Obviously this is not just up to the Trisquel community. It's something the
whole software freedom movement must take seriously if we actually want
people to change their software use habits. Of course, if we just want to
remain a marginalized minority, and feel superior to other people, we can
just keep retreating to the claim that ethics are more important that
software that works, and sneering down our noses at people who prefer a GUI
to a terminal.
