More context:
It's estimated that a staggering 240 million PCs currently running Windows 10 aren't "capable" of upgrading to Windows 11.

As you know, those PCs can easily run any flavor of #Linux. It's a massive opportunity to get people away from Windows (and its increasing invasion of privacy), AND prevent literal tons of e-waste.

I told my mom and my little brother that they should at least give Linux a go before they consider buying new hardware.

My brother could possibly use the upgrade anyways, but my mom only uses the PC for browsing the web and occasionally edits a document or two using LibreOffice. Both of those activities are great under Linux, so yeah 😄

As a recent convert to...well, no, let me change that to recent adoptee of Linux (I've always been favourable to Linux even when I wasn't using it) I think technically we're pretty much there apart from the more specialized use-cases you invariably see haunting 'Move to Linux' threads. (But muh fotoshop/vijyo editing!)

Changing people's minds will be the nut to crack. There's also a lot of crusty stereotypes and old junk information out there that needs destroyed.

But an even bigger challenge than that will be readying some Linux spaces for the influx of more casual but more demanding users. Still pockets of Elitism out there that we'll need to either abrogate or funnel folks away from.

Gonna have a think myself for some solutions to this.

Excellent point. I think one thing that could make this transition viable is commercial software. We have seen Steam/Proton prove this out for gaming, my question is, how do we get more productivity software to follow suit?

I don’t think commercial software replaces FOSS to be clear, but I think if your goal is to bring in businesses transitioning from Windows, it’s easier if it feels like they aren’t giving up as much.

My laptop: Has TPM 2.0
Microsoft: Get Fucked no Win11 for you.

Me: Ahh, OpenSUSE on all my computers then.

This makes community outreach and education just that much more important. A lot of people can't afford to buy new computers for a software upgrade, and it'll generate tons of unnecessary e-waste if we don't repurpose those old devices

I've been thinking about running a class at my local makerspace on fixing old laptops and installing Linux on them. The area we're in is pretty low-income, so especially if we can find a good way to reach local folks I think it could be pretty good

The biggest work the Linux community has to do is not be condescending to Windows *Average End-Users* who WANT to get away from Gates-Of_Hell but find every tentative enquiry towards Linux and the various different types met with sneering, derogatory or just plain hostile responses.

This isn't all of the Linux community, but it is FAR TOO MANY, and they're more vocal than those encouraging people away from Windoesn't with offers of support and actual help.

I feel like the discourse around Linux vs Windows has always been "Windows bad, you dumb for using it". Clearly this helps no one. Familiarity is comfortable, maybe we can spin it in a way that acknowledges the good times they had on windows, and Linux is, while not being Windows, can be a great tool too.

I'm not a writer, but I feel compelled to help. What can we do as a community

there, I fixed it for you :)

In all seriousness, I think we need to just tweak our messaging a little bit around that event. Instead of saying that Microsoft is forcing people to buy new hardware, let's say that they're forcing people to move to Linux. Because this is the easiest and most ethical path, and also the cheapest, which (gestures "in this economy?") matters for a lot of people.