How Linux developers and the community can better attract new users

I often sit around wondering what Linux can do to help attract new users. Sometimes, I come up with ideas that are pretty obvious and tend to center around how those teams could better market themselves and their products. Other times, those ideas are kind of out there. And then there are moments of clarity when I realize some sort of fundamental change that could be made to expand the user base.

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One such idea hit me the other day. This idea came about from some comments made on one of my Linux 101 videos I posted on YouTube. The video in question was about Arch Linux and its slogan “Keep it simple.”

I realized there was a disconnect.

Let me explain.

Simple doesn’t mean easy

I like the Arch slogan. The problem with it is that it seems to be aimed at the wrong people. What do I mean? If you’ve ever installed Arch Linux the old way, you know how much of a slog it was. There was no point-and-click GUI, and everything had to be done manually. Eventually, someone simplified the process by creating a script to run that would handle some of the heavy lifting. The developers stuck to their slogan and kept things simple.

The thing is, who is it simple for? Imagine someone new (or new-ish) to Linux booting an Arch ISO, landing at a terminal prompt, and wondering why there’s no desktop. Sure, that’s simple. There’s not much to it, and it makes me think that the “Keep it simple” slogan is more for the development team than it is for the users.

Instead, they need to make it easy.

There’s a difference.

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The Arch text-based installer is simple. There’s not enough to it to make it complex. It’s basic, it’s easy to maintain, and it’s quick.

But it’s not easy. At least not for those trying Arch for the first time.

To me, simple equates to a simplistic approach, whereas easy means it won’t challenge the user. There’s a lot in Linux that’s simple. There are application developers who have finally realized that easy is more important. Not every Linux distribution has followed that same path. Some distributions try, and some (such as Linux Mint and Ubuntu) have succeeded.

But let’s go back to Arch for a second. If you know what you’re doing, the installation process is fairly easy. For the new user, not so much. Even if a new user were to get Arch installed, what’s next? The developers have stuck with their mantra on the desktop and kept it simple to the point where there’s no easy-to-use GUI for installing applications.

When you force users to use the command line, that might be a simplistic approach for the developers, but it’s not easy for the users.

Easy needs to be the goal

Users need to know, without a doubt, that they can install Linux, log in, and start using it with ease. Easy sells.

The thing is, most modern Linux distributions are fundamentally easy. Think about this: Someone creates a new distribution based on Ubuntu, slaps on a desktop environment that is immediately familiar, and even adds a Welcome tool to help new users get started. However, that Welcome tool is mostly just links to how-tos and various chat servers that are just complicated enough to scare away new users. All of a sudden, the Welcome app seems to be more geared toward those with a certain technological prowess.

What that Welcome app should do is immediately start with a video explaining how to get started with the distribution. It needs to show the user that the developers made things simple for themselves so they could, in turn, make it easy for the users.

That should be the goal.

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If Linux distribution maintainers made things simple for themselves so they could make it easy for users, it would almost sell itself because the average consumer doesn’t want even more complications in their life.

There’s a reason the company used the Easy Button marketing campaign a few years ago — because consumers connected with it.

If distribution developers would make this slight shift in their slogans, mantras, or way of thinking, it would make it far easier to attract new users. No, it’s not a surefire way of finally reaching that goal of world domination, but it would certainly be a great place to start.

So, remember…

Keep it simple so you can make it easy.