2CPU.com » News » February 2004 » Selling your users on the migration to Linux

I noticed this great story over at C|Net. A civil servant in Germany responsible for migrating a municipality from Microsoft products over to Linux seems to have found the best ways to sell the change to his userbase.

"I became the most hated person in the municipality, but hey, that's usual," joked Brauner. "So, to people who didn't like it I gave away Linux T-shirts and stuffed penguins."

Once the migration was complete, though, there were concerns that the open-source software would be harder to use than Windows. Again, Schwabisch Hall had a solution.

"We put the chairwoman of our workers' council on stage in front of all the municipal workers, and showed her using the new system. After that, we found that no man would say that he couldn't use his PC now that everyone knew a woman could do it," revealed Brauner.

Heh, this is a good read.

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burmese Registered User Posts: 186 Joined: 2002-01-20

#26821 Posted on: 02/12/2004 09:42 PM One can only imagine what Microsoft will do to combat that. The FCC may have more than Superbowl ads to crack down on in the near future. ~\_/~\_O Burmese

AssKoala Anti-Zealot @ GATech Posts: 3302 Joined: 2002-01-02

#26822 Posted on: 02/12/2004 10:14 PM Originally posted by Jim_ "We put the chairwoman of our workers' council on stage in front of all the municipal workers, and showed her using the new system. After that, we found that no man would say that he couldn't use his PC now that everyone knew a woman could do it," revealed Brauner I can't see that flying here. So easy even a woman can do it... Don't let the feminists hear that. On second thought, that'd actually be a great way to kill support. Me Webpage | If you always think like an expert, you'll always be a beginner. | "A handful of knowledgeable people is more effective than an army of fools" -Writing Secure Code, 2nd Ed.

BiffStroganoffsky I play a tech on internet Posts: 1412 Joined: 2000-08-24

#26823 Posted on: 02/12/2004 11:26 PM Not just any woman, though, but the chairwoman so she would have also carried some clout. You could also look at it as a way of 'leading by example' and not just purely 'well, if a girl can do it...' thing.

AssKoala Anti-Zealot @ GATech Posts: 3302 Joined: 2002-01-02

#26824 Posted on: 02/12/2004 11:41 PM Originally posted by BiffStroganoffsky Not just any woman, though, but the chairwoman so she would have also carried some clout. You could also look at it as a way of 'leading by example' and not just purely 'well, if a girl can do it...' thing. I'll concede that, although the quote doesn't relay that at all. Me Webpage | If you always think like an expert, you'll always be a beginner. | "A handful of knowledgeable people is more effective than an army of fools" -Writing Secure Code, 2nd Ed.

jives BP6 User Posts: 2399 Joined: 2001-05-18

#26825 Posted on: 02/13/2004 12:20 AM Yeah I don't know if that bit of social engineering would work in the US. I'd probity go get a few trained Seals from the local zoo and show them that they could do it...however after I showed trained that seals real could do it why would I want the users again? I find myself in rare cases treating my users like trained seals, holding the little fish out for them..."now just admit you're dumb and this is all your fault and I'll give you the fish."

2CPU.com » News » February 2004 » Selling your users on the migration to Linux