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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/foss@beehaw.org

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cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/30719639 in !ask_experienced_devs@programming.dev

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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[–] anzo@programming.dev 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Many people struggle with usability. It's easy to set things up to get them started, and then you can showcase their use-case. Of course, they need to understand limitations (together with advantages, which you will showcase for sure). The issue is that you might end up providing long term support for them, and you can get tired of it. That's why is good to do this kind of things in community, I have participated in a hacklab and we wrote zines too. This also helped homogenize what we shared and supported, because everyone has their own taste and FLOSS is all about flavors (which is great, but also brings complications)

[–] anzo@programming.dev 2 points 6 months ago

Oh, one more thing I deem relevant. I have seen many people break this rule: don't recommend software you never used. Go for stable apps that have been long established on whatever their use-case is. The bleeding edge (and hype) can be lethal to newcomers!

Discussion between fellow "expert" hackers about why the latest new distro bundling x, y, and z apps is so cool is one thing and should be differentiated from promoting the adoption of, say, Debian or MX Linux.