An interview with a 'normal' Linux user

We thought we would take the opportunity to start a series of interviews with people who just use Linux in their everyday lives. These are not people who are distro developers or kernel builders or Linux evangelists. Average, everyday people who have decided to implement a Linux system or two into their everyday lives.

Some use Linux at home, some at work. For business, pleasure and just getting things done.

Our first interview is with a guy who uses Linux on his home computer. His name is, get ready for this now, "Dude". ( I'm not kidding, that's his name).

PBP: Hey Dude, thanks for taking some time to answer a few questions.

D: Oh hey, no problem dude. I have a little bit while I wait for my girlfriend to get back home.

PBP: Ok, so tell us a little bit about yourself. Your name, where you work and how did you fit Linux into your computing world.

D: Uh, my name is Dude, dude. you already said it. Anyway, I am a self employed artist and I have a computer at home that my uncle gave me for my birthday a couple years ago. I installed Linux on that.

PBP: What kind of art do you do?

D: I do all kinds of artful things. I paint, mostly. I like to use all kinds of things like canvas and burlap, sometimes just clean white paper. It all depends. And then I like to use watercolors, oil based paints, whatever produces the look I want to give it.

PBP: Did the computer you received have Linux installed on it when you got it?

D: Oh no way dude. It had Windows on it. It still does, but I don't use it that much anymore really. Mostly just to watch Netflix movies online. They're kinda picky about that you know.

PBP: So did you install Linux on your computer, are you a computer hobbyist as well?

D: Oh not me dude. No way, I just like to get on, do my computer thing and get back to doing my thing. like painting. No, my girlfriend installed it for me. She knows all kinds of cool stuff like that dude.

PBP: Your girlfriend installed it for you. Which distribution did she install on it for you then?

D: Uhhh, dude, you know, I'm not really sure. Lavender knows more about that stuff than I do.

PBP: well, do the words Ubuntu or Fedora or Suse sound familiar to you?

D: OH, I got it. It's called "Ubuntu" yeah, that's it dude. It's pretty cool, it does all the things I want to do anyway, except play Netflix videos.

PBP: How long have you been using Linux on that computer?

D: Geez, you ask hard questions dude. I don't know, I guess Lavender did it a couple months after I got it.

PBP: So you've been using Linux for about two years then? I guess you must like it if it's still on your computer.

D: Not quite two years dude, more like maybe a year and a half. I think it's fine. All I really use it for is to put pictures I take of my artful things with this digital camera Lavender has. That way I can put them online. Well, Lavender puts them online. I play music on it and check email. Stuff like that. Like I said dude, Lavender uses it a lot more than I do.

PBP: So, would you say Linux is harder to use than Windows, the same, or easier to use?

D: I guess it's about the same to me really dude. I mean, its not like it's rocket science. You just like, click on a button and look for whatever it is you want to do. Pretty much the same in both of them as far as I can tell. Although, I can say Lavender doesn't get as harshed about things like viruses and stuff like that. She told me I'm only supposed to use the web and email and any online kind of stuff on the Linux part.

PBP: Thank you for taking a few minutes to talk about Linux with me Dude, I hope your artwork goes well.

D: Oh dude, thanks a lot. This was kind of fun and it killed some time and I would have been like bored and whatever just sitting here waiting, so no problem.

End Note:

Well, it seems that this guy isn't really a computer fan one way or the other. But at least he found that Linux wasn't any more difficult to use than Windows. Which I think is a good thing.

Stay tuned for our next interview. Hopefully someone in the business world.