Bob Sutor, VP of open source and standards at IBM, has advice for Linux developers - do not copy Windows. True, I fully agree with him, Linux can be better than Windows only by being different.
However, it is a tricky situation for people who want to lead people to migrate to Linux. Typically there have been two profiles of users:
- the ones who are looking to improve their productivity by investing time and effort in software
- the ones who do not think of software any different than a hammer - just a tool to get things done.
Linux is quite appealing to the first profile, in fact, it wins hands down by offering thousands of possibilities for them. The trick is when you are dealing with the second profile. They really do not care if it is Windows or Linux, as long as they do not have do anything more to use it. Anything different gets objected to, even if it is better.
The only way to solve this problem is by educating them about the true advantages of Linux, perhaps more about advantages of open source. Linux is just the tool. To build a solution for them, either you can keep it simple by playing to their perception and copying Windows, or you can educate them and make the new thing simpler for them.
