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Unpopular opinion: Pressuring / "convincing" non-technical family members into using Linux is bad behaviour. It means that family member is now beholden to you. They almost certainly don't know anyone else who knows anything about Linux, so when they have problems - and they WILL have problems - you are the only person they can turn to. You are giving yourself power over them, essentially for the sake of your own vanity.
@hedders I was fortunate with my Dad, he asked me to put Linux on, but then he also learned how to manage Linux.
But he was an engineer and despite not being a programmer, he'd learned in the past. So yeah definitely not a non techie.
He also decided to use tor.
But not every family member has that confidence or knowledge of being able to find out and learn about computing.
It's irresponsible to just install Linux and with no other support than you.
@onepict Right. If they're that way inclined, and can and do learn, then all well and good. It's the creation of forced dependency that gives me the ick.
@hedders we used to get customers that had some IT guy (part time) just install Linux.
Which could be a headache to sort out. We ended up not taking in random enquiries and gave prices up front.
Which is hard, because I want to help. But it helps no one if you don't charge businesses for your time.
@hedders But it really ticked me off, as it contributed to the perception by some other IT business that using Linux was unprofessional.
> I refuse to act on Windows machines.
And that is the problem right there, because that makes it about your ego, not their interests.
@hedders No. That's about extending the existence of an extractive business model.
If they feel like wasting money on it, they should see it through the end.
@hedders unpopular response maybe but people putting people on Linux are ALREADY doing all the problem fixing, malware cleaning, etc, for them.
@colin_mcmillen That's probably true. And when you're the de facto tech support for your extended family, it can be tempting to try to push your own choices and priorities; you might even convince yourself that it's in their best interests. But it does create dependency.
@hedders Indeed. I did free tech support for my parents age 12-30, and when I got tired of it I started sending them to local computer shops instead of forcing them to use something they don't know *and* still depend on me.
@colin_mcmillen Good move. Smart, sensible, and respectful of them and of your own time.
@hedders OTOH (and that's IME) if they are already entirely reliant on you (by choice) for Windows support, that's a direct path to switching them to Linux. Several years ago I simply stopped providing free Windows tech support to my family (because it's continuous, time-consuming and I had stopped using Windows —and thus being knowledgeable about standard issue solving practices as the OS evolved). My mother switched to Linux because she'd rather have me providing tech support.
@oblomov I can see that. But "I'm going to change everything about your computer for my convenience" is still a heck of a power play.
Do I wish my parents would move away from their ageing iMac? Yes, absolutely, it's a pain in the arse to fix. Do I have any right to tell them to? No. Will I still help them when their printer plays up? Of course.
@hedders it's not power play. In fact, as I have no obligation to provide free Windows tech support to anyone, family included, forcing me to provide it anyway would be the actual power play. I have simply stopped doing something that is unpleasant for me. My father chose to stick to Windows. My mother opted for the switch. I made sure that the switch was as smooth as possible, which took a few years of first weaning her off all the actual applications she uses, and then changing the OS.
1/
There were practical reasons why the switch would have been more difficult for my father (related to the kind of applications he was using). We did test things around to check if he could or could not, and he ultimately decided not to. For my mother's use case, Word or LO Writer made no difference, and she was already using Firefox and Thunderbird, which is everything she needed,. In fact, on the machine she was using switching to Linux brought significant practical benefits.
2/
Even more so, my mother has basically no need for technical assistance anymore, whereas she needed it much more frequently before when she was using Windows. If anything, the transition made her *less* dependent on my expertise than before. (She does still need help sporadically, but it's for stuff that she would equally need help with regardless of the OS.)
3/4
By contrast, my father from time to time still tries to bring problems with his OS up with me. Sorry, I can't help with that anymore (and I really can't, I would have to study the madness that the more recent Windows versions are. No thanks.)
Of course this is a very specific experience. I expect it to be different for anybody else. It highly depends on what people do with their computers.
4/4
@oblomov @hedders My partner uses linux after receiving advice from a friend to "use the OS that your tech support person is willing to support"
I had made it pretty clear that I was unwilling to support a different OS.
They chose to get an iphone the same as our child's, and that is the direction their phone tech support comes from :)
@oblomov @hedders OTOOH, this does mean you need to be more knowledgeable about Linux than they are. Or at least know when you don't know enough to fix a technical problem.
My main advantage in Windows is knowing enough to know when someone asks me a question if it is *well* beyond my skills, and they should just go to an IT shop.
@hedders I very strongly agree with you! And in a similar vein, I also feel the same about tech nerds forcing their TV settings preferences onto their parents without their knowledge (Eg motion settings, etc).
@hedders I suspect this is true in lots of cases. However, quite a lot of people I know literally have no idea any more about windows; the last version they used was 95, or something. What they are really saying when they suggest a member of their family tries out LInux is "If you want help from me, the only way I can possibly give it is if you run Linux... then I can help."
I think this opinion slightly assumes that anyone with Linux knowhow also has Windows knowhow, which isn't always true.
@hedders this is why I keep desperately trying to talk my Mum into using a Chromebook. Linux won’t fly, she won’t get on with macOS (the two OSes I can confidently support), and insists on using Windows, which I haven’t used in anger for more than 20 years
But, like you say, there are *many* people around who do know it, and can help her
@hedders Who do you thing they turn to with their windows problems?
Soon EOL Windows 10 problems for that matter.
"You've got problems with your Windows? You're on your own. Install linux, then you can come to me for help. And not centos or ubuntu!"
@hedders Boah, en vrai, c'est déjà le cas… Et quand ils me collent un Mac sous les yeux, qu'on leur a vendu car "plus facile", c'est moi qui galère un peu 
@hedders counterpoint: treating friends and family like free tech support for your infested Windows laptop is bad behaviour, and it's a reasonable ask to require that they use an OS that doesn't make you stabby if they want you to fix it from time to time.
Mark Nicoll 3.5%
@hedders
If they are already providing everyone with tech support for windows because they don't know how to manage that, I'm not sure I'd call that vanity. Especially with windows 11 undoing everything you do to keep it familiar for family to use, after every "cumulative update".
You're emphasizing "vanity" which implies self-serving motives behind "convincing" others to use Linux, and while it might be true in some cases, that's far from being the only possible reason.
Regardless of the many other reasons, I believe it's still possible to approach this kind of "potential dependency" situations with empathy and to provide genuine support and empowerment without exploiting others' dependence on you.
@hedders I agree. Comments in The Register from 'Nux fans are usually along the lines of " I haven't had to support granny since I put her on Ubuntu". Well my experience of 'nux is that I'm often forced to do stuff that needs the help of Mr Sudo.
As juxtaposed with the demure wisdom of issuing a public rallying cry of "don't force people to do things they're not capable of or don't want to do."
Not sure that opinion qualifies as unpopular.
@adelie … and yet, look at the other replies.
@hedders My mother was happy with handy linux. Stable, Well designed, plug and play. Less phone calls because internet stopped working or "disapeared".
@hedders I think this really depends on the family member's attitude toward learning something new. As other folks have also shared, I was the constant Windows tech support for my parents until I suggested switching, to which they were open as a way to improve performance. I put them on a simple, hard-to-break distro and explained how to use the graphical app store; have barely needed to help in the years since. No weird always-on-top search bars, no more printer setups...
@hedders This is a very weird take. The real power grab attempt in this picture isn't the relatives reluctantly doing familial tech support.
Technological autonomy is a collective endeavour. That means all of us experts have a duty to try to advise our friends as best we can. Sometimes that means advising them to use some proprietary thing, but more often it means the opposite (even though often that's setting ourselves up for more work).
Please don't shame us for doing right by our friends and families.
(FTAOD autonomy also means getting to choose whose advice to follow. Obviously "pressuring" folks would be wrong, but IDK where you're hanging out, since that's not what I've ever seen or done.)