Psychological mental Wall, Icon Association one stop poster

[Mangar]

Here is a challenge for some of the most knowledgeable people. There is a bad mind set for windows users to over come the Linux culture. If there are any Military people or people that travel to other countries may understand what I am getting at.

You don't Learn Chinese by flying to Hong Kong. Most people do not know NOR understand the lingo of Linux terminology. Shell, or use IRC, Mint-Z-Mate, carbon Etc...
If people can not understand the lingo they will never bother visiting Linux Country.

How hard would it be for a Technical Guru to put together a Flow Chart? You know the square I what to install Linux 1st arrow do you have a 32 bit system, 2nd arrow you have a 64 bit system.
those arrow can go on up to
1. Do you like to listen to music on your machine y/n then show a list of option click and install
2. will you be doing media video clip editing y/n then show a list of option click and install
3. Will you be image editing y/n then show a list of option click and install

I put my kid as a test in front of a PC gave her the install thumb drive I asked her to find me something like Jasc Paint Pro, or you know Web Expressions
She does know what those are and has used them, problem she completely looked right past the equivalent software for mint. However she found the browsers real quick.

If Not a Flow chart maybe even and/or one of you guys making a table that has ICON badges that are used with windows on one left column, and the right column ICONs that show what linux can do

Real real stine age example:
-------Linux OS icon ------
Web browsing
(Chromium) + (term. install)
(Fire Fox icon)

Html
(Notepad ++) + (Wine Icon)

Actually the more I think about it, Just the Linux breakdown and colorful Icon would make people look it over.

Believe it or not window users can identify those ICON badges better then reading a text.

Sorry to say the Linux community is very very technically savvy via words that completely go over the heads of windows users.

I asked her friends if they every heard of Linux, one answer yeah they are those green screens computers from the movies (aka war games) my dad told me about :p
next I ask those kids if they think they could play games they all said NO!.... Music? they said NO! ....

Linux has a bad rap, most kids are not going to read a text wordy article, but make a desk top wallpaper or html image that people can see all the ICONs Linux mint can do.
People know more about phone app icons then they do about M$ windows, use the tools of marketing to get Linux understanding out!!!!

The psychological advantage is people will associate "graphical ICONs" like phone apps. That thought plants a seed "Oh I know that one and this one, Whats that one?
By this point you will have something like 30-40 graphical Icons with 10-15 they will associate with.

NOW they might even look into "How do I download this.. this...Linux Mint thingy?"

TEST: Ask a kid off the street what can linux do?
1. shrugg their shoulders
2. Put a poster card/image in there has with all the ICON badges that Linux can operate
TEST: Ask same kid again!
1. Oh it does Fire fox, Gimp "I saw that on the web, it does music "Cool"
tell them to keep it.

Do you get where I am going with the association block young kids have and even adults?

(I asked about 20 more adults at a power station thinking these are some tech savvy I&C people, Linux? they herd about Linux years ago, Really, they are still around? What they make OS's?)
*plants hand on forhead* Come on Linux Community people outside are really isolated, we need simple education tools to wake them up!!!

ALSO: Icon traverse language barriers better than a 14 page tech manual what Linux can do. You can display an Icon like phone apps under a big Linux MInt ICON and a Russian English or Spanish person would understand it completely.
Or if they did that shirt thing one big Icon and all the tiny Icons that Mint can do.

[Shunjoss]

I asked her friends if they every heard of Linux, one answer yeah they are those green screens computers from the movies (aka war games) my dad told me about :p
next I ask those kids if they think they could play games they all said NO!.... Music? they said NO! ....

Your people live in a cave.
And what you say is what windows do with their tiles, simple big image to easy recognize.
But there is plenty of icons in mint, I don't understand. And you can customize as you like, for example with cairo you have a deck with icons.


Is this not good ?

[DrHu]

(I asked about 20 more adults at a power station thinking these are some tech savvy I&C people, Linux? they herd about Linux years ago, Really, they are still around? What they make OS's?)
*plants hand on forhead* Come on Linux Community people outside are really isolated, we need simple education tools to wake them up!!!

That's really a joke
--not only does business pay attention to Linux and its applications, they use them; and regular people are fully aware of alternatives to Microsoft products, or Android would never have taken OFF vs. Apple IOS or Windows Phone(s)

Also you are picking the wrong group: entrenched users in one field are not likely to be paying any attention to any services or applications or OSs outside their chosen environment
--plus a power station is a unique environment: not a normal business (unlike any common office you could walk into..)

If we are down the most people(kids) won't/can't read text, but want a collection of pictograms (ICONS), that they may associate with some function, that they think it will do
--then we are really in trouble

That's why NASA dropped the idea of PowerPoint slideshows show anything important
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/14/magazine/14POWER.html
--of course for administration/business types slideshows work well

And if one does use slideshows, then dumb it down to the simplest terms (talking points) and keep as a minimal set (no more than 3 bullet points per slide) as part of the presentation..
http://www.edwardtufte.com/bboard/q-and ... _id=0001yB
http://www.shkaminski.com/Classes/Hando ... rpoint.htm

[all41]

Believe it or not window users can identify those ICON badges better then reading a text.

Didn't work for Windows 8

[DrHu]

There is another issue, I think..
--people don't normally respond to anything outside their own interests or if very influenced by advertising (anything outside the most trendy/new products/gadgets)

Lots of pretty good beginner guides exist for Linux OS, including various books
--if a person doesn't find that exciting, I can't make it exciting for them no matter what I try

• The truth in advertising is, you can't sell anything to everyone
  --they have to perceive some benefit or it should tweak their interest in some way
  Hype/or overhype , comedy and sex -- beautiful women draped around autos for example: nothing to do with the product itself -- for products or product launches have been long time sellers of ??what (whatever it is ..)

The better product doesn't always win in the marketing game
--sometimes it is the first simple attempt that works, then everyone else has to sort of match that first try (the leader)

Anyway all this has nothing to do with a user experience of Linux OS or anything related to OSS

• WE can let the user(s) decide and be satisfied with that result
  --no need to chase the dragon

• As to the KID test idea
  --that only works for toys
  Don't depend on the KID to direct you to what will work for you
  --especially if you are not a KID

OK, I'm done.

[frodopogo]

"Your people live in a cave."
"This is really a joke."


That's pretty rude.

Are you sure you guys don't belong over at Arch???

I had HEARD that the Linux Mint Community was friendly.... or was that a myth???

First of all, I'll admit that the OP's English isn't the best- but are you so sure you really understood him well enough to actually dismiss his ideas?

I myself do sense this weird paradox going on.

Linux Mint is one of the user-friendliest distros there is. The problem is that so many of you are programmers and can use Terminal so easily that you don't REALLY understand how GUI users really think.
For you, icons are an attractive OPTION. For GUI users, they are ESSENTIAL.... AND as the OP points out, icons are far more intelligible for people of different language groups.
That's why restroom doors long ago went over to ICONS.

Possibly what he's saying is that too many Linux icons are abstract. Some distros are starting to call things like File Managers "File Manager"... "Nemo" isn't at all intuitive- it's JARGON. And in the same way, an abstract icon is NOT intuitive, but something visually representative would be.

If this is such a primitive way of thinking.... why bother with GUIs at all???

I feel strongly that Clement Lefebvre and his closest associates get this, or Mint wouldn't be as user-friendly as it is- but some of you guys I wonder about.

[Shunjoss]

Sorry man, maybe i was in a bad day but i was so chocked by this sentence.
It was the cliché of the 80's computer.
I only use the gui as i'm not familiar to the "shell(?)". I use apt sometimes.
The icons set are common now, this is pretty much the same as in windows... But anyway, a logo is associated with a software, for example mozilla : nothing tell you what it is in fact. Even with a firefox icon you can't really guess.
You know this because you know what you are doing (browsing the web in this case). You can say that computing is something we learn this is not intuitive only apple wants you to think that.
OS's tends to simplify it and this is great(when it takes not too ressources). Also the more i use mint the more i dislike windows 8 modernUI (I liked it at first, because it was a nice way to maximize your screen having all these hidden bar).

Mint 17.1 is elegant and simple (and fully functionnal and stable), it is why i use it.