What would it take to make you switch to Linux?

I just read this interesting article entitle "Would a prettier Prettier Linux make you Switch?"

It's from the founder of Ubuntu, one of the more popular distros and really got me to pondering this question. I think a prettier/better "eye candy" approach may persuade people to make the switch, on top of the other obvious advantages.

You can read the article hear on Life Hacker.

http://lifehacker.com/399163/would-a-prettier-linux-make-you-switch

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Permalink Reply by Chris on July 24, 2008 at 9:26am

For education purposes, I've already been using Linux for the last year. I was able to build a lab of computers out of old PI's, PII's, and PIII's using LTSP. The kids really enjoyed using it and had little trouble becoming familiar with it. I actually did a research project on it, and the kids said the desktop was every bit as easy to use as Windows (and one said it was easier than her Mac :) ) Their learning curve was overcome by their own curiosity within minutes.

The kids, with little prior experience, were able to jump in and use OpenOffice.org with little trouble as well. The desktop I used was the stock KDE desktop on top of Fedora. I'm probably switching it to Edubuntu this year--just because Ubuntu is my distribution of choice. The amount of software out there to be installed--easily and free--is amazing.

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Permalink Reply by Ian Grove-Stephensen on July 24, 2008 at 2:37pm

A while back I put this question to a friend who runs a school computer system (mainly Windows) and is a Linux fan himself. He explained that in every subject, each teacher has at least one piece of niche learning software that s/he rates highly and uses frequently. 90% of these are written in VB and only run on PCs.

The government here (UK) is trying to push schools towards Linux, but this issue of legacy software is what must be overcome in order to succeed.

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Permalink Reply by Steve O'Connor on July 25, 2008 at 7:35am

I think ubuntu is quite an attractive interface. Many of the apps are ugly though.

I take the old windows machines at school and throw linux on them. The kids really like linux box. My own boys, aged 9 and 12, are saving for inexpensive acer laptops with the intent of dumping Vista and putting ubuntu on them right off.

Personally, I need to see better multimedia software. GIMP didn't do much for me--last I looked. Audacity is not bad.

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Permalink Reply by Chris on July 25, 2008 at 3:45pm

Personally, I like GIMP--a lot. However, many of my former students (8th graders) really liked Tux Paint. Of course, they were comparing it with Microsoft Paint--but I thought it was interesting.

But yes, to your original point, I believe the kids will use whatever they have in front of them. One of the comments made by my students was that they were excited simply to have computers in the classroom. It really shows the engagement potential of the medium. They would not have cared whether the computers were Macs, PC's with Windows, Linux boxes, or even something else (ok, they probably would not have liked the DOS command prompt).

Of course, that's why we are all here--most of us understand that basic fact.