Can someone help me find a way to convince my girlfriend,mother and sister who are currently windows users to switch to ubuntu and FOSS as i have done? i cant for the life of me figure out how.thanks

Hello!

Good luck with that! I assume they're currently Windows users. You could start by weaning them onto FOSS applications that run in Windows like Firefox, OO.o etc. Another approach is to refuse to support their Windows machines unless they at least agree to dual boot so that when Windows does inevitably go belly up next time they'll be able to 'fall back' to the Linux partition... And hopefully like it so much they stay there!

The question is: Would they benefit from it? Do they use the computer so much or in a way that makes Windows a poor choice? For many people, Windows is just fine for what they do, they get to use the popular programs (MS Office, Photoshop, etc.), and they're part of a bigger group of people who use the same OS.

If you're convinced that Linux is the best for them and you're not just doing this because YOU like Linux, I suggest commenting how (for example) you saw them installing lots of antiviruses, and commenting how Linux is much more resistant to them. If they seem interested in the idea of using a different OS that could suit them better, offer to show them how it works in your computer or from a Live CD.

The important thing is that you need to be sure they actually would do stuff better with Linux. Don't try to "convert" people because you like Linux.

EDIT: As the above poster suggested, you could try introducing them to free/open source software in Windows. But make sure that the alternative is actually better. Firefox is a good choice, as is Audacity (I think it's open source, but I'm not sure). OO.o, however is not better or easier to use than MS Office, so only use it if they don't have Office and don't want to buy it.

Many times I've seen FOSS "evangelists" use the argument "It's free!". But if I already bought Windows, or Photoshop, or whatever, I don't care if it's free. Keep this in mind.

Switching family to linux was easy:

"Sorry, I no longer have the time, or knowledge, to fix problems with windows. Learn to fix it yourself, pay someone else to fix it, or get used to linux."

They switched. (To kubuntu 6.06 -> 8.04 as it happened).

They didn't miss anything, except the viruses, crashes, trojans, pop-ups and all.

And my "Please, please HELP ME with this "£$% computer!" calls have dropped by 99%. From time-to-time I apply updates, otherwise it all runs sweetly.

Don't convince anybody to use linux that doesn't want to learn how to use a computer. So many people have enough trouble getting applications to function on windows that they would never be able to figure out linux. At least with windows the average user can muck around with settings or call tech support to be able to get internet and virus scanning working with in a few hours. Give them linux and they will never get anywhere. You will inevitably be doing everything for them.... but then if you are doing that anyway, I guess there is no difference.

I see it the samy way as lumak. For several years I supported linux machines for friends and relatives. I spend hours and days to give them a safe and robust tool.

Conclusion:
1. Todays people are interested in fast food PCs. Some of them don't even find the ESC key on their keyboard.
2. They need to be up to date with stuff shown in advertising media.
3. They don't need a safe system. What security does a regular PC user need for chatting, web browsing and text processing ?
4. For folks like us Linux is perfect. For regular users it is a challenge, honestly said.

Have a great Sunday,

Cheer, Mario

I suppose you enjoy getting spam in your inbox and having botnets taking down servers? If getting malware on your computer didn't affect anyone else, then it wouldn't be such a big deal, but now, if you can malware, you are most likely turning your computer into a zombie machine that can be used to do anything. Thats why people need computers that don't have malware on it.

I disagree .
In the beginning of linux Yes it was somewhat difficult to use linux
In this days a lot linux distros are up and running in a very short time.
Oh yes you need to learn how to use it .
But that is not specific for linux
But it is the same for every OS you are not used too

No.....

You have to let people do things their way....your job is to give them the opportunity to discover it by themselves.

In this house, I am the system admin and everything is Linux. Anyone is free to take a spare box and put Windows on it, but they choose to just use Linux. I'm not controlling or convincing anyone---I simply make decisions how I spend MY time: I make it very clear that "I don't do Windows."

Fortunately, the other users have simple computing needs and I have not encountered any pressure to set up a Windows system.

The main reason that people find Linux difficult (or convince themselves that they would**) is that they would have to UNlearn a lot of Windows ways. Starting from zero, the average person would maybe find Linux easier than Windows.

**Most people who tell you that they "can't" do something are really saying "I don't want to.".