Convincing a school district to migrate from OS X to Ubuntu or Edubuntu

[CLIFFORD ILKAY]

Paige Thompson wrote:
> David,
> 
> I totally disagree with Clifford, that's just exactly the kind of
> mentality that has held Ubuntu back. Never be the last to stand up and
> say, its time for change. This morning I forwarded this thread to my
> boss, and he's ready to try Ubuntu on a computer here. So far in my
> efforts to migrate the school away from software that *they can't
> afford, *have been successful and *all* of what we have here today is
> comparable.
[snip]

I don't understand how treating people with respect holds Ubuntu back. I
think you're making a straw man argument. Nothing that I wrote suggested
that you should not "stand up and say, its(sic) time for change". I'm
just saying that you will be much more successful at having people
listen to you if you don't hold them in disdain for not recognizing the
"obvious" benefits of using Linux. To them, it's not obvious at all. Why
should it be? Most people have more important things to do than
understand the minutiae of computers. If you want to reach those people,
the way to do it is to become the person you want them to be, patient,
understanding, and open-minded and communicate with them in a way that
they understand.

By the way, I have been successful in getting the small school that my
children attend to start using Google Calendar, albeit in limited ways
at the moment, and to adopt Linux on computers used in classrooms. The
administration will continue to use Windows, at least for the time
being. Given the limited resources we have at the school, I prefer to
build incrementally on successes rather than attempt to change the world
overnight and fail. It has taken many meetings, a 30 page report that I
wrote, and lots of time, patience, and dedication on the part of all
concerned to make this happen. If I had approached this as an exercise
in convincing people to switch to Linux as opposed to finding solutions
to their problems, I would never have succeeded. If I had not approached
the people with whom I am working with respect, no matter what the
merits of my arguments may have been, they would never have been accepted.

The take away message should be that convincing anyone to adopt Linux is
not just a technical challenge where the arguments in favour of Linux
are self-evident. Like it or not, interpersonal and communications
skills trump technical skills. Someone who is skilled in the art of
"making friends and influencing people" is much more likely to convince
others of the merits of adopting any operating system, Windows, OS X, or
Linux than someone who isn't. Most people don't buy on logic. They buy
on emotion.
-- 
Regards,

Clifford Ilkay
Dinamis
1419-3266 Yonge St.
Toronto, ON
Canada  M4N 3P6

<http://dinamis.com>
+1 416-410-3326
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