Imagine this scenario...
User: Hey, you're a computer person, can you help me with my computer?
GNUser: Sure, I'll format your hard drive and install a fully libre OS for
you.
User: Um, ok. Can I still use Windows?
GNUser: Oh no! That would harm you. I will help you replace Windows with a
GNU/Linux distribution.
User: Ooookay. But I'll still be able to do my work right, word processing,
spreadsheets, email, browse the web, do my banking, all those things I spent
hundreds of dollars buying a computer to be able to do.
GNUser: Sure, GNU/Linux has software for all that.
User: Cool. And this Linux thingy, it will run better than Windows too, yeah?
GNUser: wellll... maybe, um, maybe not, um, it depends on exactly what
chipsets you have inside your computer, whether they are originals or
knock-offs, and whether there is libre firemware/ drivers for them yet.
User: Ok, so I'm going to have to learn how to use a whole new kind of
computer system, and relearn all the programs I depend on every day from
scratch. If I'm lucky, the computer will run as reliably as it does with
Windows or better, if I'm unlucky, it will run much worse, and I will spend
days on the phone to you, or searching the web, desperately trying to find
out why.
GNUser: wellll, yes. But you won't experiences the harms of being a
proprietary user, and society will benefit from your choice not to use
proprietary software.
User: But I won't be able to get as much work done, and I might lose my job.
GNUser: Maybe, but that's the opportunity cost of taking an ethical stance.
So, when do you want to get started on installing GNU/Linux.
User: Ummmmm, I'll... get back to you on that.
I'm not arguing that the ethics of software freedom don't matter. I'm as
passionate about them as any of you. But my experience trying to convince
people to transition to GNU/Linux, and supporting them when they do (starting
with myself) is that there's going to be a fear of migration pain.
If people subject themselves to that pain and end up with a computer that's
less useful to them, they see that as a bad trade-off, and banging on about
the ethical benefits doesn't change that. Lots of people having bad
experiences, and spreading bad word of mouth about GNU/Linux, increases the
fear of migration pain, and makes it harder to convince people to give it a
try. Therefore, anything we can do to improve user-friendliness, reliability,
solid hardware support etc make a very real difference to our chances of
success as a software freedom movement.
