Re: [Fsuk-manchester] the non-free neighbour asking for help dilemma

[Lucy]

On 05/05/2008, Tim Dobson <address@hidden> wrote:
> Ok it's not really a dilemma but:
>
>  I'm sure many people have been in this situation, and different people will
> have different opinions.
>
>  My brother's Windows XP computer has stopped booting.

[snip]

>  While, it seems relatively obvious to me the situation which I think I must
> take in this situation,
>
>  what would you do?

I would help him. It's the first step to regaining his trust and
opening up a dialog with him. Maybe you could suggest some
'improvements' he could make to his computer at the same time - AVG
anti virus or Open Office perhaps? If not, then you might be able to
sneak some free software in the next time he asks for help. It sounds
as though he, like many people sadly, will ignore any debate/lecturing
about the advantages of free software, so quietly showing him that
it's better (without him necessarily knowing in advance) might work
instead.