@Mux @hazelnot @afewbugs I teach tech, mostly to folks who tend to be older and less confident. The most common response to this proposal tends to be around the fact that, ironically, they trust big tech companies more, even if they hate them; if it's free - many assume - then it must also be worthless. They struggle on with a clunkier, more confusing Windows operating system because of this, when they could be using an OS more comparable to the one many of them use on their phone (essentially a free, open source OS with a simple software centre). I agree that we cannot underestimate the mass marketing of Microsoft that promotes their inferior product. I remember mentioning this challenge to folks who work on Linux, who told me "We don't have time or money to do publicity, we're busy working on creating a better OS." There's the rub!
@MediaActivist @Mux @hazelnot that's a fascinating point that the boomer generation in particular seems to trust corporations more than the alternative, which feels a bit perverse. My Mum for example prefers to eat supermarket vegetables and won't eat vegetables from the local farm box scheme or even the neighbour's garden because "you don't know how they grew them"! They do seem to believe corporate stuff has to meet certain standards of safety or something