[Introduction] Start Ubuntu Project

[Patrick Asselman]

On 2013-07-04 19:18, Ali Linx (amjjawad) wrote:
> Dear members and users of Ubuntu and all its flavors,
>
> May I introduce myself?
> May name is Ali (AKA Ali Linx and/or amjjawad) and I'm a Team Leader
> in Lubuntu Team - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/amjjawad/ [1]
>
> I'd like to introduce a project that has been started since March,
> 2013 but I did not get the time to send it to all of you, plus, it 
> was
> on the early stages. Now, I think this step is important as everyone
> needs to be involved, IMHO :)
>
> 
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu/CommunicationsTeam/WOWLubuntu/StartUbuntu 
> [2]
>
> On the above link/Wiki Page, you will find all the details that you
> need to know as of now.
>
> Regardless of the technical details of this project, myself and my
> team (Lubuntu) think it is better that all the teams need to be
> involved. This project has two major advantage.
> 1- Provide a very good alternative for Windows XP Users.
> 2- Spread the word of Ubuntu and all its flavor.
>
> Personally, whenever I want to start a project, I try to play on many
> different lines. So, the big target is to reach Windows XP Users but
> at the very same time, it will be a great way to spread the word even
> to those who are using other versions of Windows like 7 and 8 :)
>
> It is time to reach to more people. It is the time to spread the word
> of Linux. It is time to show our real strength.
> Yes, we can do it. No doubt about that.
>
> If you are interested, you can find all the details
> 
> here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Lubuntu/CommunicationsTeam/WOWLubuntu/StartUbuntu
> [2]
>
> Also, please, feel free to contact me :)
>
> By the way, just to keep you up-to-date just in case you missed that.
> The Council of Munich City in Germany is planning to distribute 2000
> CDs of Lubuntu to the people of Munich.
> The French Government has started to use Ubuntu on their Police 
> Station.
> The Spanish Government is planning to do the same.
>
> All these good news should motivate us to do more and give more so
> let's have some fun, shall we? 
>
> Thank you so much!
>
> --
>
>  "All of us are smarter than any one of us."
>
> BEST REGARDS,
>
> AMJJAWAD [1]

An admirable initiative, very good!

If I may place one comment though: I would not communicate to the XP 
users that they need to choose between 8 options. They will not just be 
"dazzled", they will be confused! Just give them *one* very good option, 
which for them is probably the one that looks most like what they are 
already used to. If they like this enough, some of them will venture out 
to other flavours at their own intiative.

Most importantly, this one option should Just Work (tm) and Just Keep 
Working (tm), and also Just Do Everything They Want (tm).

What do XP users do? Browse internet, send emails, chat, download, 
create, view and print some office documents. Mind you, their friends 
and family will not all be switching at the same time, so if an uncle 
sends a powerpoint 2013 presentation it should Just Show Smoothly in 
"Smart Ubuntu" and not spend 30 seconds converting and then show half of 
the presentation in a chunky stop-and-go fashion. Now you and I both 
realise that this is not something Ubuntu can manage, but They Don't 
Know (tm) and They Don't Wanna Know (tm). Remember that!  So this will 
not be an easy task fixed with 90% marketing and 10% patching up a 
standard Ubuntu flavour, you'll need to do much more work than that.

What do they hate? Virus scanners, malware scanners, updates, and other 
'geeky stuff' that should really be under-the-hood instead of 
in-their-face. If you can make the install a one button click, after 
which everything will run smoothly, they will love it. If you ask more 
than 10 questions during install, they will start to sigh, no matter how 
easy the questions. If you ask anything complicated (network settings, 
partitioning, boot manager) you will at that point have lost them.

Remember that lots of people had to take a course to use Windows XP and 
still struggle to do simple stuff like sending an email. If you can make 
something that is attractive to those persons, you will have a good 
product.

You will need to do better than Windows XP, just as good will not be 
good enough! Not easy, but XP is old, so it *can* be done.

Please do keep us informed on this wonderful initiative :-)

Best regards,
Patrick Asselman