Linux: ‘So easy even a woman could use it’

A local council in Germany may have found the secret to overcoming user reluctance to Linux handing out stuffed penguins and showing users that even a
woman can find her way around open source software.

The small southern Germany city of Schwäbisch Hall ditched Microsoft’s software in favour of open source back in late 2002. On Wednesday, Horst
Bräuner, the civil servant responsible for implementing the migration, revealed the tactics used to get the council workers of Schwäbisch Hall onside.

Undoubtedly the most controversial move on Bräuner’s part was the use of a woman to demo the software.

“We put the chairwoman of our workers’ council on stage in front of all the municipal workers, and showed her using the new system. After that, we
found that no man would say that he couldn’t use his PC now that everyone knew a woman could do it.”