Its not that "the need for the users to have a friend that they can goto with their questions", but rather Linux users need more friends. Lets admit it, we don't have many that we've met in person.

As technology develops, older systems become obsolete and non supported. For example my company uses a piece of equipment that was developed for Windows 2000. This company has since gone out of business. Now my company struggles with software that requires Windows 2000 and hardware that doesn't support Windows 2000. As time goes on we all are forced to upgrade, unless you buy plenty of spare parts. Sadly there is no places to stop in the computer world.

I've learned that many people will move to Linux if the have the right help. In the past year I have helped over a dozen people with their Windows addiction, and now they are happily running Ubuntu 8.10. In the end it really comes down to users having a friend they can goto with their questions.