Bad economy proves to be an unlikely ally

[BitTraveler]

The latest three people who I installed Linux Mint for had one thing in common: an outdated and crippled version of Windows, but no money to buy a new PC. One earlier install was because of ransomware (and no backup of any kind).

I would have loved to say that they wanted Linux because it is faster, safer or better, but that's not the case. In general people just don't care. Change is scary. Now, basically running Linux because they had no alternative, they start to notice its advantages and share their experiences with others.

We're talking just a handful of systems here, it won't make any impact on the statistics, but at least Linux Mint made some people very happy.

The economy is way worse now than when this thread was created, for sure!

[BG405]

I agree with that. This topic did come up in conversation in a Skype chat with my mate either yesterday or the day before (I don't know whether he's seen this thread, I'll post a link to it for him). It was mentioned that a lot of Linux/FOSS developers etc. will have more time on their hands to pursue these projects. So it's not all bad news.