Well, of course, I have to get into the main subject (Aaron's How to Kill Open Source on the Desktop) and state my opinion. The fact is that I don't care about the Operating System. I only care about Open Source and freedom. And improvement. By telling people about Firefox and OpenOffice, first I offer them better tools (Firefox is better than IE and OpenOffice is also better than MSOffice because you can get several different languages packages, for example in Canada where the 2 official languages are French and English), second I explain them about freedom.
The minute they understand about freedom (sometimes they don't understand) I'm happy because it's what matters for me. They won't switch to a Free desktop system, no, because this is not known enough and still has issues (games). My son uses Windows because he is a heavy gamer (he wants a new video card for Christmas). But he understands the issues about proprietary software and free software. The question, in his (somewhat humble) opinion is: will Open Source be able one day to produce a game like Half Life 2?
The average user is not able to install any software so he/she won't switch to Linux by themselves. Having PCs with Linux installed is a priority. I see that in real life as I am the sofware installer/repairer for several of my friends. When I tell people I am actually able to install any software, even on Windows, they have blank looks and their brains cannot process this idea (a forty-something mum being able to install software!) Provided with the machine all installed, people are able to use it easily.
So for me, Open Source software on Windows is a first good step, a necessary step to open awareness.
On a personal side, I am preparing my oldest daughter 18th birthday!
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