InstitutionalLinux

Revision 2 as of 2006-11-03 21:39:05

Clear message

Summary

Ubuntu should be promoted on public domains such as universities, government offices etc.

Rationale

  • Connect new users to Linux via promoting Ubuntu usage in public domains such as libraries, government offices, working places (offices), and universities.

Use cases

  • Before: towsonu2003 is a university student. He never used anything other than Windows in his life. His university is also using Windows. So he will not be using Linux because he is not familiar with it... There is no reason for him to switch.

  • After: towsonu2003 is a university student. He never used anything other than Windows in his life. However, his university is using Linux. He gets familiar with Linux by using university computers, and switches to Linux because he no longer wants to keep switching between Windows and Linux for his everyday work.

Scope

The feature asks to promote Linux / Ubuntu use in the following areas:

  • Libraries
  • Government Agencies
  • Universities
  • Working places
  • Other public domains

Implementation

Outstanding issues

  • Public domain is resistant to Linux due to misunderstandings of Linux costs.
  • Public domain is resistant to Linux due to its (obscure) financial ties to Microsoft.

Discussion

The Origin of This Spec

My girlfriend wrote me the following email so I can send it to Ubuntu users and developers. I decided that it should be properly documented for implementation. So this spec is hers:

Dear Linux creators, improvers, and users,

I am writing this email to explain to my boy friend why I refuse to use Linux instead of Microsoft in spite of my political support and appreciation of Linux and my despise of Microsoft and Bill Gates. I believe what I write here might help you formulate some strategies to challenge the Microsoft monopoly and to turn more and more people into Linux users.

I have to be upfront from the beginning that I am a computer dummy, which means that once I learn how to use a computer program I want to stick to it. I insist on using Microsoft in my computer simply because Linux is not widely used in public domains such as libraries, government offices, working places (offices), and universities. Although I live together with a computer geek who is literally in love with Linux and who is never tired of asking me whether I would like to try Linux at least once, I still say "no" because I do not want to deal with using two softwares in different settings (I can hardly use one). I sometimes use my boy friend's computer, which works with Linux, and I usually get lost because I do not know where to look for what. The point is that, if Linux were used in the public domains mentioned above, I would easily say, "Screw Microsoft, I am going to learn Linux and stick to it" (yes, I have to stick to one thing). But I cannot use Linux at home, and then use Microsoft at work and school. It is just too much for a computer dummy like me! So what I suggest for you Linux "policy-makers" is that if you want to spread Linux to the world, go from top to bottom, for instance, from universities to students, or from cities (government agencies) to citizens. This does not mean that you should forget about individual Linux-lovers, but rather you should put more effort into extending the public domains where Linux is the main language of computer.

* I feel that this is never going to happen until Linux becomes more popular. The institutions will say the same as above, but in reverse: "Why should we confuse are users, who are more likely than not using Windows? We don't want to make their lives difficult!". So we need to get vendors to ship with a Linux option, and the starting point for this has to be the EU. They are the ones who have taken action against Microsoft previously, and they are the ones who will do so again. -- ["T Smithe"] DateTime(2006-11-03T21:39:05Z)

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