People like closed and predictable environments. The step is not to tell them to “get over it” but to instead show them carefully why things are safe. Also to be able to hand them a machine and go “here, it has Ubuntu” because, even though we know it’s easy, asking someone to put it on their computer is not goingnto happen.

Part of why people use Windows, too, is for compatibility. Why would someone go through all that just to end up not being able to use what they know? I’m not even saying they shouldn’t, and may the alternatives are actually better, but now it’s getting weird. And even asking them to pick a distro I mean which one do we decide is “the distro for the public”?

Again, I’m not saying people in this computer age not knowing how basic computer stuff works is a good thing. It is the reality however, and while it needs to change I’m not sure how to go about it.

If people are paying someone to “install” their printer, why would it be different with Linux.

With printers spesifically I'd bet people don't need to pay for support with Linux as much. Sure, there are models which just won't work, but in general my experience is that printers are mostly plug'n'play with Linux.

A few months ago I did a helpdesk gig on one local small business. They consume a lot of paper due to requirements on their business and they have some fancy KonicaMinolta photocopier. They guys who installed the printer had struggled for hours to get that thing to work on their Win10 machines. I did what was requested and they asked if I could print out notes I wrote for them for reference but immediately started to wonder if that's feasible as the printer was so difficult to install. It took less than a minute for my mint-laptop to locate the printer and start using it. No idea if the printer company techs were just incompetent or if the software for it is bad, but apparently I'm now some kind of tech-deity in their office...

Did you set it up for her? A normal person is not going to grab a USB and get Linux going on their own computer. And then there are all the distros where even savvy people can’t agree on what’s best and will be like “oh Mint and Ubuntu are both good options” and even having to choose and commit would be a big deal for most people, especially if they don’t have anyone who can help them with it.

It’s not about actually using it so much as it is the barrier to entry. I know that we know it’s actually not that difficult or crazy, but the layman sees basically any computer stuff as magic.