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What details/tools have you found help people transition to similar, open software from closed software, or think could help? (lemm.ee)

submitted 6 months ago by ALostInquirer@lemm.ee to c/ask_experienced_devs@programming.dev

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I'm thinking of ways to help people move from established software to more open, flexible forms that don't lock them to another organization.

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[–] ertai@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago

You would be surprised with how common it is for the lay person to have problems on their computer. I like to start from there, and suggest a free as in freedom software solution. Then, once their issue has been solved, I will talk about the free software movement, explaning that these are the reasons that have motivated the authors of the software solution I promoted. Hopefully this leads on to a discussion about freedom in the digital world.

[–] best_username_ever@sh.itjust.works 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

For programmers, WSL with Ubuntu is a good starting point for those who are scared of Linux.

[–] ertai@programming.dev 1 points 1 month ago

That is definitely not a good starting point. WSL is much more complicated and prone to breakage than running a distro directly. It litteraly changes the whole system to make Windows run on top of a hypervisor. A better way to try out GNU/Linux is to boot up a live environment on a USB stick or use a VM. Plus, WSL is only command line, and I would think that showing a friendly desktop environment is the best way to blow the assumption of GNU/Linux being hard/only for nerds.