A New Desktop Linux Tactic: Play Hard to Get

Linux users often debate about whether it’s a good idea to evangelize about desktop Linux or not. Many are quite enthusiastic to the point of misrepresenting desktop Linux as some cost-free version of Windows that also has no problems. Others have a quiet elitism that says, “I don’t really want the masses using desktop Linux. They’ll just dumb down the community.” Perhaps what would be best for desktop Linux is something in between, something that has worked in courtship for eons: playing hard to get or, as The Tao of Steve puts it, “we pursue that which retreats from us.”

You don’t have to be elitist and snobby about it. You don’t have to make it seem as if you’re better than other people who don’t use Linux. Just don’t try to sell it. Don’t seem desperate. Don’t try to convince people to use Linux any more than you would convince a potential suitor to court you. Don’t act like a shady telemarketer.

If you put forth this hard-to-get attitude, you may satisfy both the overeager evangelists and the passive elitists. Overeager evangelists (I know, because I was one a couple of years ago) shoot themselves in the foot by trying to convert everyone over to desktop Linux, even those who aren’t ready. Like a bad blind date, the conversion goes sour, and the potential convert goes running back to Windows. Elitists make even those who have an open mind feel too intimidated to make what could be an easy transition. If, however, you just honestly say, “Hey, it won’t be easy” but also don’t look down on “the masses,” you may see more people coming and staying than being scared away (or trying and running away).

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen people post angry threads in the Ubuntu Forums, because they felt misled by the slogan Linux for Human Beings and some tech news article hyping up Ubuntu in that “tired of viruses and spyware in Windows?” vein. Well, two years ago, I wrote a post called “Is Ubuntu for You?” and it’s still thriving. I still get people regularly responding that they have indeed found Ubuntu is for them. Almost all of the replies (whether Ubuntu ended up being for them or not) are polite and respectful because I laid it out honestly. I didn’t hype up Ubuntu. I didn’t try to make it seem as if Ubuntu is magic or will take away all your problems. I actually spent quite a bit of time warning people of the kinds of problems they might run into.

Give it a try, you evangelist or elitist. You may be surprised by the results.