content: Honestly, the Linux community is not very kind or helpful to casual users. Sure they start off helpful, but once one too many "newbie" questions get asked, they turn hostile and start with RTFM and "do your own research on this problem" type "help". They are supportive until they feel like the user is just being lazy when instead they are just in over their head. This is one of the biggest reasons why Linux doesn't fly with the regular users. They don't want to learn how to configure and maintain Linux because that's not part of what they need to do. They simply want the OS to be invisible for the most part so they can browse their web sites, create some documents or consume some media. Casual users are consumers not producers. When SHTF for them, they don't want to figure it out and learn because they are consumers. They like Windows and MacOS because they don't have to understand how it works. Linux is very hands on once you get into it. Sure the out-of-the-box install of whatever popular distro will work for them, but when it encounters problems or requires some changes, the whole thing goes to shit for the average user. The community doesn't want the burden of supporting these users even though it promotes Linux to them as a great alternative to MS/Apple. This is where paid support comes in. They's rather pay someone to fix it than do it themselves. It's like car repair- you can DIY it but most people don't because that's not their interest or area of expertise. They pay mechanics to do it so they can simply keep on driving rather than understand how their car is put together and works. This is why Linux adoption outside of techies will always be minor. The community makes this happen.