I explained the GNU project to a non-computer-toucher friend as the following two facts:

1. The GNU project has spent several decades building everything they do around a basic toolbox that is like an extremely-high-performance supermaneuverable fighter jet with absolutely no warning alarms, and somehow have managed to make it work by bolting one thousand additional boxes to the outside, all of which require an instruction manual to use. They do not see the issue here.
2. GNU has some very strong stances on some things. If you use a Windows computer, there are certain signs of this in files you write. If you send a patch in to the GNU project that you wrote using a Windows computer and you are not very careful, they will notice these signs. And they will kill you.