Campaign to get Windows 7 users to upgrade to Linux?

This may be a little broad, and may probably rather be addressed across distros (but I have to start somewhere), but considering Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7 in 2020, is there any plan to create some kind of campaign, or at least website, to encourage users to switch to a Linux distro?

I mean there are still 35% of Windows 7 users, and likely many of them do not want(ed) to upgrade to Windows 10 and have their reasons for doing so. The task would be to present an alternative/that Linux is an alternative.

I personally do always recommend/link to https://computefreely.org/ (by @snwh), which is a great website! However, it is quite general and does not address the support ending for Windows 7.

Are there any ideas/already planned initiatives?

Cross-posted:

Sounds like you have an idea. I was a Win 7 Pro user for some time, and for that OS family, it was by far my best experience. I use the MS based products in my business, only when necessary, and am down to about three must haves that are proprietary with no reasonable expectations of an opensource/free software alternative popping up. I too was reluctant to move to Win 10 more over ā€œmessing with the setupā€ than the often mused privacy concerns. So this year around mid point will mark my 28th year of using some variant of a 'nix OS on my personal system, whether Unix, Qnx, QnxRTOS, Solaris, OS/2 (still POSIX compliant), or Linux in several flavours, including bought licenses for RedHat 5&6. I have never turned back and my point in support of your idea is that my preference for a 'nix variant OS was initiated by a simple conversation with some peers from a company I was installing automated equipment at. As a direct result of that conversation I bought a Slackware CD, yes bought it because 10 bucks was way cheaper than 150 bucks and I wanted to support anyone who was willing to freely hand out their stuff for my computing convenience. Nowadays, installing Linux is no different than the proprietary counterparts. Exposure is the only barrier of meaning.

Linux isnā€™t an OS, so one cannot possibly ā€˜upgrade to Linux.ā€™ That said, there
is an ongoing campaign to get users to Upgrade from Windows.

See http://upgradefromwindows.com/

You know what I meanā€¦

Yeah that link could be helpful, and the images are nice, although I personally do not find FSFā€™s site very user-friendly (if you are coming from Windows as a user).
That said, maybe the FSFE is the right one to organize such a thing. However, then theyā€™ll only promote their ā€œendorsed GNU/Linux distributionsā€. And sad they donā€™t use HTTPS.

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They do use HTTPS, they just donā€™t automatically redirect. That said, the
upgradefromwindows.com redirect does not support HTTPS. Additionally, there
is no issue with navigating their website. The FSF has one of the best
websites of any of these types of organizations, from a usability aspect. I
agree that it is unfortunate that they only promote those distros, however we
will soon have a Fedora Remix which the FSF can endorse. I am working on that
currently, in fact. See https://git.splentity.com/millennium.

I think this is a waste of effort. Focus on where there are clear measurable wins, not on some nebulous ā€œLinux is better than Windows 7ā€ campaign.

Spoken like a true pragmatist. I would say that the Fedora Community Ambassadorā€™s should be the ones to jump in on this type of topic, if they still exist. Personally, if I hadnā€™t had a casual conversation with an Engineer at a plant I installed some automated equipment in, I may have not found out about Linux until much later in my life. Switching to it back then, even if only for my own personal PC was a huge pain at first. Today, it is a walk in the park, so to speak.

Upgrading to GNU/Linux is a great idea, and I think itā€™s a cause well worth
promoting.

Youā€™re right in that one cannot ā€œUpgrade to Linuxā€ however, as it is not
possible to run just Linux, your system would kernel panic and hang. You have
to run an operating system on Linux for Linux to be useful.

But your right about focusing on more important things.

So also asked the FSFE they may really the ones, who can make it happen.

Iā€™ll mention the idea to the FSF, they did a similar campaign shortly before
and during the XP end of life mess. Theyā€™ll almost definitely do one again.

Well, since weā€™re sharing ā€œLinux origin storiesā€ :wink: I had a laptop that I bought with Windows 95. When Windows 98 came out, I upgraded. When 98SE came out, I upgraded. And when Windows ME came out, I upgraded.

Well, letā€™s just say I followed the upgrade instructions. Then I formatted the hard drive and re-installed. I could not get Windows ME to work on the thing. I ended up with Windows 2000 Pro and Red Hat 6.2 dual-booted.

Iā€™ve only ever had Windows ME work in industrial terminals, basically mini pcā€™s, running proprietary solutions. Basically HMI solutions for industrial PLC controlled and PC controlled and monitored equipment. It makes me get a knot in my shoulders thinking about it.

It got me into Linux :wink: I should add that my day job was also exploring Linux, so I had an excuse to learn about it at home.

Windows ME only got me frustrated enough to grab ANY other solution for my customers. I had already been using Linux for some time by then.

I donā€™t need a campaignā€¦ I changed visually XFCE to Win10; Is a experiment with various users; people using Firefox and MS Office. The new version of Libre Office offers a similar GUI of MS Office 2016; In Vlc exists a skin similar to windows mediaā€¦ One day searching and reading documentation of other linux distributionsā€¦ Maybe I do some rpms.

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To get people to switch cold turkey is difficult. I doubt any of us switched like that. Myself, I did a gradual switch, kinda eased into it. My daughter started last year during a LinuxFest event. I asked her to sit at the booth and do art using Fedora. Thatā€™s what she did for 2 solid days while the attendees watched.

Later, her W10 computer crashed. I spun up a quick Fedora system on an extra box I had laying around. She did get her W10 computer repaired by has not gone back to it.

She is now comfortable using Fedora for all her needs. She uses Fedora for digital art and social networking with all her artsy friends around the world.

The way to get people to convert is simply by building relationships and being there when things fail. I donā€™t feel like I converted my daughter as much as I feel met an immediate need.

We used to have a group here in Portland that met every month to get people up and running with Linux. I think we converted a lot of folks back then.

To get people to switch cold turkey is difficult.

I donā€™t agree with this sentiment, it can definitely be done without issue.

I doubt any of us switched like that.

I did, and Iā€™m sure many others did as well. You donā€™t have to be a power user
in order to use the GNU/Linux operating system.

Myself, I did a gradual switch, kinda eased into it.
My daughter started last year during a LinuxFest event. I asked her to sit
at the booth and do art using Fedora. Thatā€™s what she did for 2 solid days
while the attendees watched.

Sounds nice! :smiling_face:

Later, her W10 computer crashed. I spun up a quick Fedora system on an
extra box I had laying around. She did get her W10 computer repaired by
has not gone back to it.

Glad to hear it.

She is now comfortable using Fedora for all her needs. She uses Fedora for
digital art and social networking with all her artsy friends around the
world.

Itā€™s great that we have simple distros like Fedora providing users with
comprehensive DEs such as GNOME and KDE, which are easier to use than the
proprietary alternatives.

The way to get people to convert is simply by building relationships and
being there when things fail. I donā€™t feel like I converted my daughter as
much as I feel met an immediate need.

I agree with the abstract idea represented here. We should, rather than trying
to tell users only of the Freedom aspect, show that we provide a more
economical and more enticing product.