So you want a system that is easier for new Windows users to swallow? Try Ultumix Linux. 75%+ of my customers have switched to it.

Boy, for someone trying to appear not to be a total geek you sure talk the talk.

Btw this reminds of a fantastic “missionary guide” I found on the web once. It had a lot of the same advice, don’t be pushy etc. But it also had one golden nugget your list doesn’t have, namely as the last point in the list it said “But remember: you are not God, you only speak for him”

Hey .. A really nice article,
and have you used all that on me ??

Compiz surely works like a charm .. especially when they start oooh did you see how Vista does this and that ..

sometimes it’s intriguing to say a thing or two about the extra open source can give but Microsoft and Mac can’t .. “Bah, I would change that for you, if only you’re a Linux user”

btw, you can add two to your converts .. as second step converts

Hard to get people to move to linux when alot of applications simply dont run under wine :/ Linux needs proper windows emulation.

I’m sorry, but there’s still a huge software gap. What open source programs fill the place of photoshop (don’t say gimp), illustrator, (and all the other adobe apps)? What about sound editing… audacity? yeah. right.

And speaking from personal experience, when you try to install something new, with no available binaries, it typically takes 5x longer. Make’s fail and you end up spending time googling problems and posting to forums… time wasted. Period.

Time wasted – True.

I also get that feeling from time to time. But then I see how I struggle to get something installed in the ibook of my parents and just wished to have my portage at hand.

Yes, it would have taken 5 times longer, but I wouldn’t have had to look, I’d just have told them: “Let’s have a tee and some cake, or write the mail you wanted to write for a few days now, and it will be finished.”

Instead I had to install this, which needed that, which I had to find first, and at the end it took far longer.

When there isn’t an ebuild or binary avaible, it will take time, though. That’s right.

Illustrator – Inkscape?

And yes, GNU/Linux is behind MacOSX and even Windows at many things, but Freedom is an important motivator for me.

And it can do most things regular users need. Only powerusers of the graphic or video or gaming league are still really stuck with their platform.

The best is to just let to your friend the dual-boot (and by default, let the PC boot on linux, of course).

Then, juste ask him about what are the most important task he need to do (surf on the web, modify his word documents, connect on messenger, check mails…) to assist your friend configuring all if necessary.

Yes, now my mother is a geek!

I have found a Linux equivalent for every program that I need as a web designer/developer. The only trouble I have ever had was finding my flavor. (FC)

GIMP is definatly a replacement to photoshop

unfortunatly most photoshop users aren’t perticularly computer literate

gimp has the advantage that everything can be done from menus and as the tools are in sperate windows if you use a multi montor setup you can place the tools on 1 screen while you maximise the image you are editing on the other which is a great advantage over photoshops single window interface

i have yet to find a feature of photoshop that is not in the gimp and have never found a feature that preforms less well in the gimp than photoshop infoct most filters i find run much faster in the gimp than photoshop as the code is streamlined much better

and i still don’t see why people are scared of the commandline

it is much easier to give howtos with cmd comands than a hundred million screen caps and information about click this then that then the other. telling someone to eneter the following commands in order is much simpler. especially when you can tell them what a psoitive response to each 1 will look like

Great article. I’d love to convert friends to Linux, and might have been able yo convince them if I’d actually gotten any Linux disrtro to work on my Acer 3025 lwmi laptop :/
I tried the latest Ubuntu, I so wish I could use that.

This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever had the displeasure of reading on the internet.

Johnny: I agree.

@gareth: GIMP is NOT a replacement for Photoshop. You come back to me when I can build my full slate of news graphics in under 20 minutes in GIMP like I can in Photoshop. By the way, one of the most particularly annoying parts of GIMP is the lack of one window.

As for Linux.. I just converted the girlfriend’s nephews to it. We gave them an old computer that I had laying around (what geek doesn’t?) on which I loaded XUbuntu. They picked it up in no time at all! Actually, come to think of it, the girlfriend has been using a desktop with KUbuntu on it for a while now and seems to get around just fine under it.

-A

sudo make install -lessgeek -moreoutgoing

^– “make install” just copies the files after compilation, it shouldn’t accept compilation parameters :/

the parameters should go to configure or in the makefile

For those complaining about the differences between gimp and photoshop, have you ever actually sat down and tried to figure out where everything is, and then realized it’s possible to do whatever in the same amount of time when you know where to look? Perhaps? Just think about how it was when you first found photoshop, after years of probably using ms. paint. Big difference no? Also there’s gimpshop if you absolutely cannot compromise for the one-window/different menus.

is there any way convert a friend from linux?

@aaron:
You could try showing them how quickly your windows registry can self-corrupt, or how your brand new Windows Vista takes 512mb of memory to run the GUI alone. Also you could convince them by showing them how your Mac can… well…. look pretty I guess?

@aaron – no

For those afraid of converting to Linux because of missing Photoshop, there’s one really nice alternative, I would say 1:1 copy of Photoshop. It’s called Pixel image editor – http://www.pixelimageeditor.com

[...] flames, sparkles, and lots of things animating in 3d for no particular reason. In a recent article HOWTO: Convert A Friend To Linux the author’s best advise is: “Whenever you wanna dazzle a potential convertee, fire it [...]

It’s time for the Linux community to join forces with the Internet community and show that Linux can be more than an imitator of commercial operating systems at the desktop.

http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=561&doc_id=141641

That was funny! Great article!

I think the title should have been:
“HOWTO: Port A Friend To Linux”

Just don’t expect to be able to play any decent games, or find decent apps to replace the ones you have in Windows.

*cough* foobar, ventrilo, eac *cough*

No, WINE and CEDEGA don’t count.

[...] read more | digg story [...]

That was a very interesting article. I am running Ubuntu 7.04 right now (Yes, that’s right, i am not using 7.10; it crashes as soon as the X server tries to start and not even the Magic Sysrq key can save it ^^) It has given me a hell of a lot of problems on my laptop (random tty crashes, glx going out, broadcom wireless card not supported, you name it) but i am thoroughly convinced that Linux is capable of being much better than windows; I’ve used it before on a crappy 800mhz processor (FC5) and it was very stable, the only issue i have with it now is supporting my hardware and i doubt that will last for very long.

I will say one thing: GIMP IS CONFUSING. Then again, i find photoshop confusing, too. And can we please not talk about Mac? Its like the mutant of Unix and it is disgusting to thin about. Some experiments should be kept behind closed doors.

i sure converted one of my friends …
he used to be a friend … but we are not on speaking terms anymore …
but hey thats another story …
main point is … i have one under my belt … hehe …

[...] HOWTO: Convert A Friend To Linux | Royal HeHe2-ness Warning: You should proceed with caution using this Howto, if you do not know what you are doing you could damage your relationship with Friend 2.0 or totally break it. (tags: linux humour howto funny) [...]

Even better: show them how to turn 1 PC into Two using Linux. Give this funky live CD a whirl. 2 users at the same time on the same PC using a Live CD http://userful.com/live-cd/ (It even worked on my laptop!)

This is definitely something you can’t do on windows.

George

BTW, there’s also a version for ubuntu
http://support.userful.com/wiki/index.php/How_To/Desktop_Multiplier_on_Ubuntu

HowTo: Convert a Friend to Linux…

An approach to introducing people to Linux and converting them over: “I tried to summarize my experience in conversion, while adding some tongue-in-cheek humor at the beginning. So far, in two year I have successfully converted 6 friends to Linux, and…

@ avo: Try Dreamlinux for on the Acer.
—————-
I have indeed managed to convert a handful of friends to Linux. Even the dumbest one has been able to adapt to Linux. I’ve used Dreamlinux for the conversions. Compwiz does indeed grab their attention. XaraLX and Inkscape are ok-ish substitutes for Corel but they’re not quite there, yet. As for Photoshop, it runs charmingly on Wine.
You gotta catch those friends when they’re all gullible and sad: When their Windows installations are badly infected (which happens quite regularly). Offer them a permanent solution. A solution that has 4 desktops and just cant get infected by downloads, ever. Tell them a little about the various desktop managers; they won’t understand. Tell them that the concept just doesn’t exist in Windows but in Linux there are different “kinds” of explorer.exe thingies. And that programs run in parallel so that if the desktop crashes, it won’t effect the browser and stuff like that. Also mention that there’s no need to hunt for software all around the www when using Linux. Synaptic (or whatever you use) does it automatically. Then show them an example by using Synaptic to install VLC (most Windows users are familiar with VLC). Also add that VLC was originally a Linux program and was ported to Windows rather recently.
Hopefully, it’ll get your friend to think about it. The next time his/her Windows gets infected, run the routine again. Offer them a dual boot. Tell them that they’ll at least be able to access their data and connect to the net till they get their Windows repaired! They usually take it.

Nice HowTo. I’ll admit that I’ve been a bit fanatical on people when I’ve tried to convert (leading to only one miss), and in about a year I’ve converted 3-5 (I forget) people, though I’m starting to mellow out now, just a little. (I actually started carrying an Ubuntu CD around with me, just in case.) What I like to do is show/tell the convert all of the default applications that come in Ubuntu and how they have Windows counterparts that cost $100 or more. OpenOffice is usually a hit, because they get a PowerPoint, Excel, and Word Processor all at once. Then there’s Gimp, and if they liked MS Paint I point them to KolourPaint. When the mention gaming, I say that a good number of games are supported through Wine, and if you have your Windows CDs you can always dual boot.

The more advanced people I’ve already converted I point in the direction of a more expressive and personalized flavor of Linux, as Ubuntu is starting to get a little bloated. I’ve been running Gentoo for a good while, and though the initial install period can be irritating to wait through the compiling and customizing, the end result is worth it.

[...] Read it here. [...]

I have been using Linux for over three years now. It meets my needs and has been great teaching me about programming and operating systems. All of my computers for the last three years have only ran Linux. My daughters and grandchildren have had no other choice but to use it and have had no problems with it. They like me prefer it. I am looking for a cheap used laptop right now that I can put my interest of the week distro on and play with it leaving my main computer stable . As far as the command line , that is where I started . When PCs were starting to be available for the general public that is all there was. If you wanted a program you wrote it yourself. Then microsoft drove most of the other operating systems to extinction. The system and tools became too expensive and closed for me to continue my exploration. About three years ago I built my first desktop and installed linux on it. My first interest in computers was rekindled. It has been a blast and I am busy making grandchildren into little hackers. Don’t forget to convert older people to this modern and powerful operating system.

[...] Convert A Friend To Linux [...]

[...] segnalarvi un simpaticissimo e utilissimo articolo sull’evangelizzazione al Pinguino, mi aspetto qualche commento e magari due righe su [...]

“@gareth: GIMP is NOT a replacement for Photoshop. You come back to me when I can build my full slate of news graphics in under 20 minutes in GIMP like I can in Photoshop.”

@adam: How long have you used Photoshop vs Gimp? Maybe you should give the gimp a fair try.

For me the GIMP is a lot easier to use and I get things done in a shorter amount of time. Take a simple rounded rectangle. In Photoshop I have to select the Rounded Rectangle tool located within a bunch of other tools that had I not known it was there or closed out the menu by accident it would have been imposible to locate, then select the Path icon and change your radius at the top of the screen, now move back to middle of the page and draw your rectangle, Next go to the other side of the screen and select your new Path inside a list of tabs you might never find (of course this assumes that your path window was open in the first place), Finally select Load Path as a selection… WOW did everyone follow that?

For reference the Gimp is a simple “Select -> Rounded Rectangle -> select the desired radius -> click ok”

Of course I’m not truly bashing Photoshop, and in all fairness started with the gimp and have more experiance with it. Although the $500 price tag of Photoshop with no gain for me has alot to do with that.

Back on subject. Great Artical! It was a lot of fun to read… You may want to also add, expressing to your would-be converts the difficulties you are having getting Linux to do something it was never designed to do (like run your toaster) will only generate a resonce.. Well if your having problem in Linux, what chance do I have of successfully running Linux.

@gareth, when Gimp has adjustment layers, better transformation tools, support for color modes other than 8 bit RGB, a better history functionality, the ability to use the half-dozen commercial filters I use, or the ability to work directly on a 3D model, then you can tell me it’s a replacement for Photoshop. Until then, no. It’s a very well made graphics editor for the hobbyist or the professional that just needs to throw together some clipart for presentations or websites.

I sound harsher than I really am; I actually admire Gimp for what it is. But I get tired of being told it’s everything Photoshop is, when it isn’t.

> Just don’t expect to be able to play
> any decent games, or find decent apps
> to replace the ones you have in
> Windows.

> *cough* foobar, ventrilo, eac *cough*

> No, WINE and CEDEGA don’t count.

Well, as to “decent” games, I’ve been pretty happy with nearly everything ID software has made, and now that they’ve been nice enough to Open Source the Quake III engine, there’s only getting to be MORE decent games for Linux. I’ve enjoyed Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory a great deal, and I’ve actually got a native Linux Quake III Arena in a collector’s tin with Tux (the Linux mascot) embossed on the lid. It cost me a grand total of $15 at a time when the Windoze version of the same game in a cheesy little cardboard box was selling for $50.

There’s also a whole world of nifty Open Source and Freeware games and even a few decent commercial games that have Linux versions available. A little web searching goes a LONG way toward finding what you need, and most of it is easily installed from your Linux package manager once found. (Also, there’s all the slick emulators for various consoles, arcade machines, older computers, and such with literally THOUSANDS MORE games.) Because of these facts, I’ve really not felt at that much of a loss for games.

Also, although you say “Wine and Cedega don’t count” the simple fact is that they have given me access to those (VERY FEW) Windows games I feel any urge to play which just do not come in native Linux flavors as yet. (The occasional MMORPG springs to mind. Lord of the Rings Online, anyone?)

As for finding “decent” apps to replace the ones I had in Windows, the honest truth of the matter is that I’ve found SUPERIOR apps to replace the ones I used to waste money on in Windows, and guess what? The apps I’ve found are ALL FREE. LEGALLY! And free as in Freedom as well as free of dollar cost.

The few apps you mention I’ve got replacements for as well:

* foobar – This one’s a media player for those who don’t know. I use Kaffeine with the Xine engine, but there’s also VLC as well, and these two are only the tip of the iceberg. (For those who are more into music than video, you MUST give Amarok a try. Best music manager on ANY platform.)

* ventrilo – Voice chat while gaming. Try TeamSpeak. Comes in a native Linux flavor, and has a native Linux server as well. There’s also Skype, and Gizmo, and several other Voip programs which (at least on my machine) also happen to work fine while gaming.

* eac – Exact Audio Copy? There’s only about a ZILLION decent CD rippers in Linux including the aforementioned Amarok, and every single one of the ones I’ve tried can rip to any format you care to use. Ogg, MP3, Flac, and a host of others. So I can’t rip to .wma or other locked down unusable DRM’ed formats… So what? I’m happy being able to drag and drop my CD’s onto my iPod and head out the door.

(By the way, my iPod ALSO runs Linux.) I’ve been free of the Windows shackles for about 7 years now, and it’s only getting better as time goes by, so before you regurgitate mindless FUD that you’ve been fed (such as Linux can’t do this, Linux doesn’t have that), you might like to actually LOOK at Linux with a fair eye and an open mind and decide for yourself. Linux actually has and does a whole LOT more than you might think. You could actually find that you might (*GASP*) LIKE it. I did, and I don’t regret erasing my Windows XP one little bit.

One final note: I happen to work in the IT industry, and deal with Windows and Mac machines on a daily basis, and not one time have I had any trouble exchanging files I’ve created on my Linux box with users of those alternate platforms, nor has it hindered me in my side-job of web design (to the contrary, it’s actually been of HUGE benefit to me having Linux on my machine). I also carry around a Live Linux mini-CDRW (pocket sized) which has been endlessly helpful in my IT work rescuing files and repairing damage on crashed Windows machines. (I’ve not yet needed such a thing for the Mac machines I work on, as the OS X discs have decent recovery tools built in.)

I spent 30 sec reading part of this. Standard stuff. I stopped when fun was poked about installing Linux and all kinds of devices not working (wireless, printing, etc). Obviously this person has never even installed Windows let alone Linux. I spent the weekend (…WEEKEND…) installing Windows on a middle-aged laptop from a standard distributor. Nothing worked. There were no drivers provided by the Windows install. I had to scour the internet to get everything working (still a couple of unkown devices in Device Manager which I cannnot identify). The superiority of MS is not in their product, but their monopoly. Hardware providers make the drivers for Windows…while most less qualified people understand that as “Supported by Windows”…-

sudo make install -lessgeek

try to use it again, It didn’t work with you !!!

“Linux needs better Windows emulation”. No, it doesn’t. The Mac OS has no Windows emulation apart from the Mac port of Wine (which isn’t as good as the Linux one), but that doesn’t stop people switching to Mac OS X.

“By the way, one of the most particularly annoying parts of GIMP is the lack of one window.”. I can tell right there that you’re using Photoshop on a Windows PC. On the Mac version, there are as many windows as in GIMP.

Also bear in mind that most users of Photoshop are not purchasers of Photoshop…

Funny article and I can support all of the proposed strategy. Put in some eyecandy, make the people give you their computer and install it for them. Ask what they want to do with it. Install wine (full install is complicated!), don’t tell them that you have. First question: »Do you want to game on this computer at first?« If they want, just wave off and tell them to come back, when they need a real computer. To be true most games will run on Linux but you will always end up with complains when they hit one that does not. And they will.

Some additional eyecandy is kiba-dock or gkrellm, by the way. Try that. Awful cpu hogs, but nice. Apple users will be happy.

I am doing that conversion to Linux now not only on friends but on customers too. So my list of convertees is much longer than I counted. Must be 20 to 30 people, some of them over 80 years old, some of them just 13 and I never had a customer or friend that went back. True.

But an additional advice. Don’t prositute your knowledge. So don’t be too snooty to take money for your work. And it is work. I don’t talk of friends of cause. Friends should not pay anything. But even friends have to accept that you help them and don’t do it for yourself (even if it is like that for you!)

So charge them an fair amount. And here -yes- the customer will see why Linux is so much stronger then Windows. A customer usually has to pay one to two hours of installation for Linux and has a full working system. I certainly do not count compiling or waiting time and thats the reason you should make your client bring you their computer.

For a Windows system you need minimum one hour just for installing the Windows system itself. Not one Antivir, Office, Photoshop, Mediaplayer (DVD), and the lot. For this they pay a Minimum of 4 to 6 hours. And there is of cause the risk the system will not work at all. For Vista does not run on many systems cause of lack of drivers.

So my advice: charge them. Fair but make clear that you are helping them, doing something for them not the other way round. So the system is theirs, not yours. You can’t support 30, 40 or 50 system for nothing. It will eat your time. Even just the phonecalls. Charge the?. It’s a service you do.

Hard to get people to move to linux when alot of applications simply dont run under wine :/ Linux needs proper windows emulation.

That’s what Cedega is for. And you can get it included if you buy (yes, “buy”) Mandriva Linux Powerpack, for example. Each Windows program can be then sandboxed and run independently from any other programs (think: .EXE’s can be infected by viruses). And the emulation should be only a last resort when no other free/open alternative exists. Because we want to be freed, right?

For other uses I’d suggest virtualization (VMWare or VirtualBox) or maybe an installation of React OS (even though it’s not fully finished yet).

@d–
“I’m sorry, but there’s still a huge software gap. What open source programs fill the place of photoshop (don’t say gimp), illustrator, (and all the other adobe apps)? What about sound editing… audacity? yeah. right.”

Three applications is a huge gap? What about the insanely *huge* gap on commercial platforms like Windows? You have to pay for essential third-party software that should have been part of Windows. What do you get for an editor? Notepad? Stop kidding the world. If Adobe doesn’t want its applications running on Linux, it isn’t Linux’s fault. You’d be surprised at the number of people that pirate Photoshop and lack ethics. These people have no right whatsoever to complain about the GIMP or its shortcomings. The GIMP is under development. If there’s a feature that you’re sorely missing, /add it yourself or get someone to add it/ and quit whining.

“And speaking from personal experience, when you try to install something new, with no available binaries, it typically takes 5x longer. Make’s fail and you end up spending time googling problems and posting to forums… time wasted. Period.”

And what do you do when an installer fails on Windows? Aren’t you at the whims of the vendor? You end up waiting until THEY decide to fix the problem. Isn’t that time wasted? Get real. If there’s an application that you think needs to be available as a binary that already isn’t, make one and distribute!

Free software ftw.

-Hein.

[...] HOWTO: Convert A Friend To Linux [...]

i really appreciate the work you did here.
definitely will use it and spread it to other geek-friends

thanks for it..

[...] (hey man,you don’t need to add a respsitory to source list!!! ) for more information read this article! Tagged with: [...]

Frankly I find it easier to convert people who are computer clueless. They want basic things, easily done. For them a very simple Linux install will do everything. Setup a cron job for automatic security updates and you’re done with their tech support forever.

@SirYes: “Because we want to be freed, right?” Well, no. First and foremost, I want to do whatever it is I need to do on the computer. I don’t consider my computing a philosophical issue. It’s a means to an end, in the form of earning me money, and a diversion, in the form of goofing around. I know that makes me something of a odd duck by the common Linux ethos I hear expressed, but Linux is going to have to accept that 99% of the people do NOT see their computer as a philosophical statement*. I see most of the goals of the linux movement as generally positive, and involve myself with it for whatever reason, but when my needs and linux philosophy conflict, philosophy will /always/ lose for me. Every time. Always.

@Hein Messeir, what “huge gap”? It’s rare a program I run on Linux that I can’t find ported to Windows. Open Office, or Star Office if you want to feed the Google monster, are freely available for Windows. So is AbiWord, The Gimp, Inkscape, Scribus, Blender, Wings3D… Plus free windows-only software, too, such as paint.Net. Since my job does NOT require perfect format compatibility for office documents, I’m free to use all these programs without paying a cent. I haven’t owned a “commercial” word processing application, spreadsheet, etc, in ages. And as opposed to Linux, when a free application is NOT good enough for my needs (Say, The Gimp), a commercial application is readily available to fill the need. No, telling a graphics designer to learn to code his own fixes to his graphics editor is not a valid answer, sorry, thanks for playing. Even if they knew how, which isn’t likely, I don’t know many clients of mine that would accept “Sorry, the free software I use to avoid paying money to a big corporation couldn’t do X, so I had to spend 2 weeks reprogramming it. You didn’t need this stuff on any particular deadline, right?” as a valid excuse.

And yes. 3 software applications (It’s actually more) can be a “huge gap” if those programs are significant enough.

Also, the whole piracy thing? Another person tried that tactic too. Red herring, seriously. And not even a particularly good one.

[...] bookmarks tagged howto HOWTO: Convert A Friend To Linux saved by 11 others     thesunpilots bookmarked on 12/30/07 | [...]

Great post! Wonderful comments. I’ve learnt quite some useful things from here. Cheers.

[...] First of all you need to have a Friend first to convert before attempting to convert. And in order to have a Friend you need to have a Life right? Let me try to make it simpler for you my fellow geek: Now you have a package named whatever-3.42.tar.gz, what will you do? Untar it, then configure, make, make install right? But you will need a compiler first right? Now think of Life as your compiler, all of us have Life, but we need to recompile Life first using the -lessgeek and -moreoutgoing flags in order to create Life suitable for Friend. So in Life directory do the following: Read more at hehe2.net [...]

really funny!!!

Fixing things in Linux can be a nightmare many times. And also there is a huge software gap. The software may be free but they are not productive. Here is an interesting article on this http://goodbutbad.blogspot.com/2008/03/can-we-live-with-linux.html

I am working exclusively on GNU/Linux for 3 years, now, and I do think that I am productive, and so is my software.

That might be, because I study physics, and many other physic students also use GNU/Linux.

I think the problem is rather: GNU/Linux does not yet offer the tools for everyone to be productive.

First ask someone, if he/she thinks that you can work productively with GNU/Linux, then switch.

Most people just want their browsers to work, their mailclients to check their mail and their music and videos to play.

Fireforx does the browser part.
Thunderbird/KMail/(insert Gnoem tool) does the mail part.

Media:
- Mailattachments can be opened by open office (works out of the box).
- media files are opened by Kaffeine/Totem/Amarok (works out of the box)

wmv files do create a few problems, but not many.

One “problem” is with “cool new things” for windows. They often aren’t usable (that’s stuff like some flash games and similar small gadgets like a feng-shui program on cd or similar), but if they get really popular the chances are good that someone will write a free alternative.

Same problem for games, but without the fix. There only wine can help.

Now you see, if linux had something such as bootcamp (Though i dont really know what it is, but heard of it), im sure everything that runs on windows will run on linux, and linux will be more accepted.

Well you guys make good points but however you have been deceived in your view of GNU/Linux software and what it can do.

I designed Ultumix GNU/Linux 0.0.1.4 and it has all of the software anyone will ever need to do any productive project or home use or whatever. This software was not previously available or installed correctly.

You can run any Windows program on Linux if you pay $60.00 for Cedega. Cedega is a program that will run any windows program and cross over Linux will also do the same. Wine is the free version of this and it comes in Ultumix but it only runs Windows 95, 98, 2000, NT, ME, Software and some XP software. The real question is do you need Microsoft software? NO! With Ultumix the software you get is enough to do anything you want.

I don’t really think IO’ve been deceived.

My Gentoo offers all I need.

But it doesn’t offer all my wife needs (and at the same time far more than she’ll ever need – I just didn’t install all that).

So sadly your post sounds more like weak advertising than like real information.

Besides: GNU/Linux does have a “bootcamp”.

It’s called multi-boot install and was avaible for quite a long time.

It means, you simply install a windows alongside your linux, and when you really need a windows program, you just switch to windows.

It also have something far better: Wine. Wine emulates the Windows API, so that Windows programs can directly run on GNU/Linux.

That one is something I didn’t use yet, though. I don’t want unfree software on my computer, so why should I install windows programs?

I mean so i can have a .exe on my linux desktop, run it or right click and run it as an emulation for windows, and it will do what ever the emulation software does then runs as if my linux was a windows machine, or as the program was deisnged for linux.

@Arne: Yes it is just advertising, I really don’t know why I am tolerating it, maybe if he pushes is, I’ll have to take action…

Whatever you guys think. All I’m saying is I made sure that I put all the video editors, audio editors, office, bla bla bla, that people would ever need into Ultumix. And the start menu has an all programs, accessories, layout. So really you can’t complain much. Yes it can run Windows programs. There is also a hack for it where you can install XP in Vmware and have all of your windows programs automatically start using the Windows shell instead. I’ve seen it but never done it because I already have all the free software I need.

“When we have enough free software at our call.. Well kick out those dirty licenses ever more”

That’s what I’ve done.

Actually Justin, I think the more software you have the bad. You know security, performance…etc. More does not equal better.

@Justin: Having all software won’t help (people can have that very easily).

Sorting them in such a way, that people instantly know what to use when would be more useful.

And the line is:
“We’ll kick out those dirty licenses” with no condition anyhow. Regardless of how much software we have at our call, we’ll work on kicking out those licenses.

And that’s because the philosophy behind that line is “proprietary software steals the freedom of people. Better not do anything than contribute to an unfree project.”

Anything below that is a compromise (which I have to take from time to time, too, but which I try to avoid – for examply by throwing out the nonfree ati-drivers last week).

“More does not equal better.”

In open source it does. The more open source you have, the less security issues, performance issues and other bugs all round we have. You think linux would be at the state it is now if it wasnt open source? I doubt it would even have a proper GUI if you had to pay for it.

@Jay: Where did I say “More open source code does not equal better”??

All I said more applications you have bundled in your distro doesn’t mean better. In fact the more applications you have the more often you will need to update, debugging …etc. Generally it’s best practice to install what you need. Why don’t you just go to Synaptic and click on every piece of software there and install it?

I dont think he means bundled with distro, i dont even think he said that.

“All I’m saying is I made sure that I put all the video editors, audio editors, office, bla bla bla, that people would ever need into Ultumix. And the start menu has an all programs, accessories,”

He has a distro called Ultimix, and he put everything into it. Or at least thats what I understand.

Your correct. I did put a bunch of software in Ultumix but I have diffrent editions. Ultumix Standard Edition, Gamer Edition, and Ultimate Edition. Each have more software than the last. Basically I got sick and tired of installing all those packages on a customer’s computer instead of just having them there and working. Yes friends working. I worked very hard to make sure that the software all works so that you don’t have to worry about a particular system rejecting it unless your system does not have enough RAM HD space or is not Direct X 9 complaint.

Here you want to see what I’m talking about? Here is a brief demo of the Gamer edition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUMZdGwnC3I

It just makes it easier for Windows users to convert. They don’t have to install anything and it all works. Thats what is important.

I like the idea of having different editions of the Distro for different kinds of users, but maybe you should somewhat change your advertising style…

Justin, with all due respect, piss off. Noone wants your crappy OS. Stop advertising.

Jay I guess someone should tell my over 40,000 users that they don’t want my crapy OS. I’ll stop talking about it here I just thought it was a good way to convert people. Thats why I made it.

40k hey? How many does Ubuntu have again? Oh thats right.

Hey Jay I am going to state some FACTS here so don’t be offended. They are not directed at you. Back when I wanted to join Ubuntu LoCos and help promote GNU/Linux by starting a LoCo here they got really angry at me for supporting multiple Distros. They said that we all must support Ubuntu or else. I asked why. The answer I got shocked me to no end and I got it from several people. They told me that the reason we should only promote Ubuntu is because the choice of distros confuses people and that it all needs standardized into Ubuntu. I’m sorry but my customers don’t like Gnome. Neither do I. Further more I don’t want to be part of a one world order. Oh wait that’s Microsoft. Just Kidding. So I set out to make a Distribution by Previous Windows users for Windows Users. If you don’t like it don’t install it.

As for Ubuntu I think they need to get a handle on the animal that is LoCo before it gets out of control and undermines them.

I switched to PCLinuxOS. PCLinuxOS got mad at me understandably because I made a mistake and accidentally put win32 codecs in my distro. They also got mad at me for using libdvd. I’m not sure why. So I cut that out and still they were mad.

Here is a present day Fact as of today. PCLinuxOS 2008 HE…
Includes: Wine, w32codecs, dvd playback, ntfs,…

Wait a second! Something does not add up. Fuzzy math.

Before I left PCLinuxOS completely and gave up on their community they told me they had come up with rules on how someone could make an OS without going threw what I went threw. Part of those rules was not using Illegal codecs. They are announcing that they are using them!

Now one more really good point to make after stating all of this is that Your going to hurt a lot of new Linux converts by getting them mixed up in all of this. They enter forums and IRCs and get caught in the cross fire of this. Not to mention how bad it makes the GNU/Linux community look as a hole. Richard Stallman does not like this. I have e-mailed him personally and we talk back and forth. He does not like any of this.

So do try to knock it off. It does not matter who is right or wrong here.

You used childish foul language such as crapy in your post. I’m sorry but that does not help anything. I don’t need to explain myself. My goal is to help people and yes I want to make people happy and not step on toes but when I’m not doing anything wrong I stop caring if it means I have to sacrifice a good product. Richard Stallman and me don’t agree on the use of Adobe flash player and other things but thats ok. We still get along. Linus does not agree with him either but they get along.

GROW UP for the sake of the new Linux converts.

Now you know im not gona read all that. And your OS is besides the point. What we’re all telling you to do is, fuck off. Advertise elsewhere.

@Justin: Please keep your own language in check, and don’t pull Stallman in here, when he isn’t needed. He’s got more important things to do than helping your argumentation.

If you look at what *I* wrote, you’ll see I did never say “Your distro is bad” or anything similar.

I just said: “Your advertising is a good deal too blunt.”

Why do you jump at people who say things intended to offend you?

Or to put it differently: Why didn’t you react to my post with backup information, why Ultumix is good and where it helps to convert people, cutting out the advertising language so it can be read as information?

I see that you’re pissed off by Ubuntu (I don’t like the “one distro to find them, one distro to …” mindset (you told about) either, but I doubt that all Ubuntu people have it. I’m not active in Ubuntu, so I don’t know much about the internals (I don’t even know what LoCo means – I assume Local Coordinators or so), I just installed it for my wife, because my Gentoo might be a bit too much for her).

You’re pissed, and that’s OK. I think if I had walked your way, I might be pissed, too. But it doesn’t help you spread your Distro to other people.

Get a grip on your emotions – get a sandbag and hit it when you’re just a bit too pissed (I do that from time to time, and unless you tested it yourself, it might be hard for you to see how very good it feels to just let out the anger at that 15kg sandbag). But stop, before your knuckles bleed

And I know I sound like a pseudo-wise great grandfather now. That isn’t intentional. I’m learnign my way in life myself, and I might just be wrong about it (and also about anything else I think I know), but I write it anyway, because I made some errors myself, and I want to help others not to walk into the same trap. And if what I see right now is only a necessary transition to even better ways to live, then I can at least help others reach that transition with less harship than I had.

Well I do have to say Jay’s latest post does not impress me but I do see where your coming from. Your right about my video being blunt about the OS and my post but thats mainly because I’ve been criticized in the past for having lengthy videos and articles. I’ve faced a lot of Internet Trolls and button pushers. I just figured that stating what I did about my previous experiences in negative communities would help prevent further outbreaks. The thing is if you get involved enough you will see a distro war going on that is just stupid. It will make you say I thought we were all working towards the same goal?

That was the point I was trying to make. I’m not pissed off really but I’m just trying to get threw. Now that I know I can’t get threw to Jay I won’t try because it will just make things worse. It’s just too bad innocent people get caught in the cross fire.

In our small developing community we basically have next to no rules that would exclude anyone. People that have been kicked out of different communities like the PCLinuxOS forums have came to our quiet little corner of the internet for support. Some claim they have been rejected because they can’t spell very good. Others just say there is no method or madness to it. I don’t care because everyone is forgiven when they enter my forum unless they try to make people mad.

One of the greatest obsticals I face is being a Christian. A lot of trollers discriminate against me and attack me for my faith. You might ask why I don’t just take it off my site? Simple. Freedom of expression and because it’s part of my religion and morals to spread the word of Jesus Christ. Richard Stallman was kind enough to help me with that too. He is very wise. He told me to set up an FAQ that answered people’s questions and it would stop and so it did.

I’m taking a great risk by stepping out again and trying to educate people about the exclusion and devision in the GNU/Linux community that we want to ignore.

Ubuntu LoCo is a federation if you will that wants a (Ubuntu LUG) Ubuntu LoCo in every state and then wants sub locos under that state loco. I was very interested in this idea but when exclusion was part of it I was not. In the public forums they deny this but in their mailing list anything goes. I don’t know if they have changed and I don’t care if they have. Basically I’m paying attention to what communities reject innocent people and I’m boycotting their distros. Why do you think I only work with Linux Mint? There the only ones that have embraced me and my friends without shunning us.

You sprading the word of christ will sadly keep me from ever trying your Ultumix. But heck, you’re free to do whatever you feel best with your distro.

I won’t take part in anything which openly spreads christian faith (which for me is mainly characterized by oppression) into our community, as long as there aren’t really pressing reasons for doing so. Christian faith is discrimination and exclusion to me.

I don’t have a problem with some members of a community trying to spread their faith, but as soon as the whole community dedicates itself to only one faith, I’m out.

LOL! Religion. Don’t even get me started on that fairy tale.

I should try Gimpshop. The Gimp definitely seems less intuitive to me than Photoshop did. It would certainly be nice if wine ran everything.

Most programs run by wine aren’t free, so that’s no solution for me.

It also isn’t part of the problem, because it allows people to use unfree software in a free environment, but it also isn’t a solution.

Having a free replacement for any unfree software is mor of a solution to me.

Hey, come on. Compiz might be a resource hog, but installing it with an old rv250-based ATI graphics card IS a geek job.

[...] More info. [...]

[...] Howto Convert a Friend to Linux (my first break) [...]

[...] PS: Almost a year ago, Rami shared with us his experience on this subject in a tongue-in-cheek article titled Howto Convert A Friend To Linux. [...]

Don’t preach GUIs. Don’t preach. *Use* the CLI. Show others how to use it. It’s cool. It’s smart. It’s simple. I think that it is better for humans to become more intelligent that for software to develop to a state where we are not required to think.

As a web designer I use GIMP on a daily basis and have no problem at all producing every graphic I need, but perhaps you are just comfortable with the Photoshop interface. I know of two fixes that might help with that, and I’m sure there are others besides those two. The first is called GimpShop (a quick Google search should find it easily enough) and is a project to rearrange the menus and tools to be more familiar to Photoshop users. The second fix is to use XNest to run GIMP in a single window (if that’s what you really prefer). Personally, I agree with the person who mentioned putting the tools on one monitor and your graphic on the other. I really like the multiple window interface for that reason.

I agree, I love Linux and used to use it full time, but I had to stop due to the lack of good audio and video editing software, I had to switch back to Windows. Also, I have never been able to compile programs from source code, thankfully I was able to find most programs on GetDeb.

[...] PS: Almost a year ago, Rami shared with us his experience on this subject in a tongue-in-cheek article titled Howto Convert A Friend To Linux. [...]

[...] my years &#111f L&#105nu&#120 adv&#111&#99a&#99y, I am usuall&#121 ask&#101d a v&#101&#114&#121 basic qu&#101sti&#111n “w&#104at mak&#101s [...]

[...] wars with others, push it down other’s throats (which we don’t condone,) blog about, work feverishly in converting, and finally “vandalize” our [...]

[...] Howto Convert a Friend to Linux (my first break) [...]