How to Convince Anyone to Try Linux 

The main aim when trying to convince someone to try it out is to not make Linux sound like a cult or for people on the run from the government lol.

How to convince people to use linux: send them this video and make clear this is your intent.

I have many people contacting me over Windows 11 problems on brand new computers. Most recently a girl called me after buying a $1,300 dollar HP envy. Top spec from Best Buy. After the first round of updates, it's not even usable for what she bought it for. HP said there was nothing wrong with it so they wouldn't warranty it. Geek Squad could replicate the problem but had no fix. It was just a total joke. This is not a unique experience. I get calls like this all the time. And it's almost always a Windows 11 issue that caused it. Usually updates replacing the OEM drivers with broken ones from Microsoft. In the cases i've delt with, this is usually the reason 9 out of 10 times. Half of these people begged me to install something else on their computers. So how do you convince people to switch to Linux? You Don't. Microsoft is doing a good enough job of that on their own. LOL!!

How to convince anyone to use linux: Just say: "It does not have ads lmao".

My friends switched because they ALL know I'm a gamer, and I "had to use Windows because of the games". Recently, of course, due to the many things MS tried to do (ads, Recall etc) I actually quit using Windows after doing basic Linux gaming tests on a backup PC for about 3 months before migrating my main gaming rig. Once they saw me switch, a number of them also "tried Linux out". I never even persuaded any of them. All I said was I was fed up of Microsoft's tactics and now I'm on Linux. That's it. Oh, they're also all IT guys, so they don't really need a lot of help switching too... just hesitant initially.

“You don’t need to see his identification. These aren't the droids you're looking for. He can go about his business. Switch to Linux”.

you can't convince people to switch to linux, because in order to enjoy using linux you need to have a inquisitive mind, you need an independent personality, you need enjoy succeeding, and not last you need the mental strength to push beyond the anxiety phase in the beginning where you are afraid an unknown problem will come up and you will not be able to solve it using Linux. It is like convincing people not to be dumb. Nobody can convince you not to be dumb, you ether are or not. The reality is vast majority people are too dumb and weak to start using linux, and that is not about convincing. I know a guy that just got the first computer for his son, and he is so dumb that he didn't even want his son to have linux on his pc. A kid that is not used with any OS yet, and will equally adapt to anything will be limited just because parents are dumb and limited. So linux is not for the weak minds, is not dumb people, you can't convince them to use it.

The best thing to do is not to persuade or convince anyone to use Linux, but to publicise it as an option. The main problem is there’s still a general stigma surrounding Linux that it’s very buggy and hard to learn. People need to understand what it’s good at and what it’s not good at, and they can decide whether to switch based on their needs. Some people go around screaming in comments “just use linux” “windows is M$ bloatware malware” that doesn’t help, it’s just a vocal minority making the entire Linux community look like crazy fanatics and actually ruins its reputation among normal people. If any of you are one of them, stop doing that, just offer Linux as a choice to whoever it might be most suited for and people will switch as they see fit.

I read the title and my immediate thought was "why would I want to convince anyone to switch to Linux?"

I used to try to convince people to switch to Linux. But now I am at a point that I don't bother. Linux is not a religion. I am not trying to save their soul. I just use Linux on my computer and if they ask about it, I will answer their questions. If they want to give it a try I will show them how. But over all I just let them use what they want to use, and if they have problems, I suggest they talk with a friend that knows windows. If they want to switch to Linux to avoid this problem in the future, great. If they want to stick with windows yet rid themselves of a virus, malware etc I wish them luck in figuring out the problem and move on. I left Windows so I don't have to put up with the problems running windows brings with it. So I am not going to try to help them maintain their windows PC. Not my circus, not my monkeys.

Why do we want to convince anyone to switch to linux? Linux has an advantage over windows when it comes to security because of its less popularity in desktops and laptops. And I love that Linux has a learning curve which keeps normies out of the radar. Imagine spending so much time and money to create a gui based distro that caters to normies when we could have spent that time fixing bugs in Linux kernel.

Mike I kid you not it I really think if Linux had very polished modern desktop similar to macOS that was easy to use and looked pretty af. Most normies would switch. I made family members and other friends use Linux but it was three different desktop environments. Kde , gnome and then cutefish. And when I told them cutefish was still Linux too they couldn’t believe it. Normies just want things that look nice and just work.

I just got over an argument with my brother about switching him to Linux then this video popped up, perfect timing.

all what you said is correct, but hope to encourage people to work on their apps interface cuz some of the linux apps still look like the the 90's, it's cool, not bad but it's better to upgrade the UI's, like what blender did, to all devs: you could use glade, gimp or even blender for the new icons and themes.

Excellent video, Michael. Thank you very much!

When I was learning to ride a bike, my parents told me that the training wheels had broken so I needed to use the bike without them. (Tell them they have to buy a new computer when they drop support for windows 10 or they can switch to linux)... Just kidding, probably not the best way.

Video games, proprietary hardware support, proprietary creative apps (not necessarily Adobe, but things like Clip Studio Paint), and how many projects have already been started with them, are all reasons I still use Windows. And I have used Linux before, and enjoyed it.

One pragmatic argument would be that you escape the enshittification and some linux distribution are at a point where they are very low maintenance. Like Pop OS.

I assume most people won't see a need to switch as they're happy with what they've got and are busy enough with tech by just using it. Best approach might be to show linux as a more secure and privacy-respecting option and start with similarities of what people mostly use: a desktop with background and bar, an explorer with windows-frames to navigate and open and organise files and folders, and browsing the web. Everything else might be more easy as the users might be more tech-involved, graphics, videos, gaming, etc. Guess so

Ive been working it long time in sales, production and customer service and many kinda things, before my opinion was dont bother because we make money from this microsoft shit and its our money cow andt dont do anything else because of that; later fed up and study myself and gone only linux at home for good ; i dont really bother convince anything even now when these linux things are easy nowdays; but enjoy if someone get idea and try out and maybe stay

I am 69 years old. I spent years helping people with their computers. When I got into driving truck over the road, I stopped trying to help people. I simply didn't have the time. Now, I simply don't have the energy. As for attempting to convince someone to do anything is largely a waste of time and energy in most cases. I will make a suggestion once. The person will either choose to follow it or not. Shrug. I wonder how many people he is supporting on Linux today? Have fun, Michael.

Changing to GNU Linux is a personal journey, only valid for each people reasons.😮 Same as every other important aspect in life.

2:37 .. If you say so mr. KDE.

I have SteamDeck, which is a handheld console for playing video games. And imagine or not - the OS is Linux :)

Next time: what are benefits of linux?

Linux is pretty good, but one thing is 4k streaming especially netflix is still an issue, I know its more of a Netflix issue than linux, but I still like 4K HDR on windows than linux, but for am OS I prefer linux, so I dual boot linux with Windows, productivity linux, multimedia Windows.

Only one reason I don't use linux and I am waiting for years to get it corrected : "WIFI not showing problem in case of double boot" Wifi works in first boot and in 2nd it stops working, than after restart it start working again, what ever the reason is, problem exist.

1. Absence of VST plugins 2. Gaming

Instruction unclear, I showed them this video but they switched anyways.

I've tried to make people use Linux but they always switch back to windows

Until the Microsoft Office suite of applications, and some other major applications, are natively available for linux it will only be a nice player for desktops in organisations like larger businesses and government departments. Wine and/or linux compatible alternatives will not suffice until they can offer 100% compatibility for those major applications. Especially for all non-trivial, complex, work. Some European countries tried to change to linux desktops for their government departments and some are still trying it now. The best they can hope for is partial success.

I don't think switching operating system is good solution without good reason to anyone if current one works.

Don't get me wrong, I love Linux but unless someone says they wish to use and learn it, I don't try to convince them. If someone doesn't value their privacy or control over their computer, what does Linux have to offer them? Headaches when they try to install any apps that are not in the repos/flathub/snapcraft, or if they try to follow a tutorial on an issue they are facing.

What framerate is this in, 10FPS? I don't mean to be mean but it's kinda distracting my dude. Anyways, I always recommend installing Linux onto a fast USB 3 HDD. I keep one for use exclusively as a ventoy boot device myself, just a cheap amazon USB3 enclosure and an old retired SATA SSD. I then say they can just boot right into a working install of Linux without even touching their already existing Windows install just in case something happens, for peace of mind. The issue I run into mainly is my friends are all gamers, like myself, unlike myself they seem to all use games that are 100% not usable on Linux. My son plays fortnite and Roblox mainly, the latter of which recently not only pulled Linux support but also became actively hostile blocking user attempts to get the game working on Linux again. My good friend play a certain Anime game that uses a draconian DRM setup. Another good friend uses Linux regularly on his laptop as he is a security researcher but basically refuses to switch over for day to day use due to specific game compatibility, yet again kernel level Windows DRM. When the one game you love mroe than anything is unusable, it's a hard sell. Personally, I refuse to play anything that has an anti Linux stance. I don't expect them to actively support me but I hate it with a passion to the point where I will decline to play their game altogether if they take an active anti Linux stance.

Does it support dual monitors without more setup than Windows? Does it support Nvidia cards without extra steps? Can I operate the same software that I can on Windows or Mac without extra steps? Can I run all the games I can run on Windows platform with equal performance? Not some. All.

I've been using Linux since 2004 and honestly it is not for a lot of people. If you are a high end gamer, Linux is NOT for you. If you have Microsoft specific apps you have to run, Linux is NOT for you. If you are a creative professional Linux is NOT your best choice. For everyone else Linux is a decent desktop OS. Can you do all that other stuff with Linux? Sure...just not as well as on Windows or Mac.

How do you convince someone to switch from Mac to Linux?

A Linux missionary 😂

Why do people think Linux is so much harder than Windows? Windows never asks you to change a .dll by opening it in a text editor to add or edit lines just to get a hard drive to mount automatically on boot. I've never had to put in text I didn't understand into a terminal then log out and back in just to get fractional scaling to be an option on Windows. And windows has never had half my screen completely off the monitor when trying to use it with three monitors. But yeah, Linux is the easier choice. I think being HONEST about linux being trickier for SOME tasks would be better than completely lying and saying something as broad as "it's just easier" or "it's just better".

get it to freaking work for a desktop system server is great DESKTOP SUCKS PERIOD PROVE ME WRONG YOU CANT!!!!!!

Until you hide the terminal and promise they’ll never need to even know what it is, Linux won’t go mainstream.

I was convinced to try Linux, but Linux convinced me to not use it. What is still missing is edge case support for a lot of tiny things that can fo wrong on different distro's. Distro hopping is still a thing for a reason. I know that there are many distro's with their own purpose, and Ubuntu for x86 or Debian for Raspberri are good main options, but it's still (in my opinion of course) a wild west of all kinds of standards which is the power of Linux but also a problem. Not saying that Windows is standardized, but jt support nearly all of them eithout having to compile different sources or download new extentions to get things running.