[NTLUG:Discuss] Open Source

[Steve Baker]

Robert Citek wrote:
> But linux isn't the only Open Source in town.  I too have had push
> back from introducing linux in various places.  However, I have been
> very successful in introducing Open Source applications on Windows,
> including Open Office, FireFox, Thunderbird, and Gimp.  And since all
> of those are available on PortableApps[1], it makes it really easy to
> distribute by giving them a CD or USB key with the software on it.
>   
That's a really important point.  I don't think most users recoil from 
Linux itself.
KDE isn't really THAT much different from the Windows windowing system
(double-click versus single click to launch apps is probably the biggest 
thing)...and
the underlying OS really isn't that visible to most users for most of 
the time.

But if you land them with converting from one desktop to another AT THE
SAME TIME as converting from IE to Firefox and Outlook to Thunderbird
and Photoshop to GIMP and WORD/Excel  to OpenOffice...and you make
them make all of those changes on the same day - well, it's bound to be a
major hassle for them.

However, if you can get them to stay on Windows and switch one application
at a time over a period of a year or so - then the final switch from 
OpenOffice+
GIMP+Thunderbird+Firefox on Windows ...to the exact same software under
Linux...well that's an easy switch.   Your initial reaction is "Hey - 
this is all
pretty familiar" rather than "I'm drowning in new stuff to learn."

So the answer (especially for corporations who want to make the switch) 
is to
do it one application at a time - and only when their users are using 100%
OpenSourced tools do you make the OS switch.

    Steve