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THG On Migrating To Linux
inphinity writes "The fine folks over at Tom's Hardware have posted an interesting guide titled Migrating from Windows to Linux. In the first of what will hopefully be several parts, they describe what steps to take to back up critical data and move to open-source apps. All in all, a fairly in-depth and comprehensive step-by-step guide. As a nice touch, they've even included a downloadable checklist for confused people."
my compliments to the chef... er, writers! the guys at tom's have put together a good article there. to the previous reply: Mdk, RH, and Fedora are all considerably more "user-friendly" distributions. many of my friends dove in with Slackware or Debian and are extremely well versed in Linux now but for most people i still recommend RH or Mdk (i haven't tried Fedora yet)
A somewhat helpful article, but not too much meat and i hate clicking through so many pages during one article.
;)
i still maintain the best way to learn is to sit and watch a linux-savy friend do a few installs, ask questions, take notes, and keep them near when you try it for the first time. Sorry, but that's the best way
they've even included a downloadable checklist for confused people.
What if the confused people are too confused to understand how to download it?
Linux/Open Source/Anti Microsoft News
Debian's good for people who already have some clue about Linux, or indeed experience with *nix-alike OSen. Mandrake and SUSE (I have no experience with RH/Fedora) are both better suited for the first time user migrating from Windows. Less command-prompt stuff to begin with, a default installer which detects their hardware and doesn't ask questions that even a Windows "power-user" considers arcane, and a reasonable set of defaults for someone wanting to learn Linux with the minimum of culture-shock.
And dare i say it? Yes. Learn to use it before trying to install it....the knowledge gained from just using linux will be a great aid in learning to install it.
Use a live cd or friend's computer if you have to!
I would actually recommend Xandros. Pity that there isn't a downloadable version yet. They are coming out with one though. It'll probably be without the crossover office stuff.
Looking at the screenshots I was thinking the same thing! K3B is probably the closest thing to Nero Linux has right now.
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
K3b does everything Nero did last time I used it, but then again I haven't used Nero for quite a while.
IBM also published in yesterday's Red Book newsletter, a 9 steps program to learn how to migrate from Windows to Linux.
Windows-to-Linux Roadmap
As far as pure functionality goes, you can do anything in linux that you can with Nero. A lot of them are seperate tools, however there are a plethora of front ends that bring them all together. And if not, they script very easily.
I think the article is good and basic for a newbie. Most people who use linux or a windows Power user , will prolly know how to search for Music, and export their email settings.. or just use web basd e-mail. On thing they could have mentioned in the article are the ever growing Live CD Distros (knoppix) which have all the free software and basic harware detection already built in. I know the article is for a user transfer. I think that they should have mentioned knoppix and using a shared drive, for a time before 100% switching over. One thing to mention are they intending to install on a Fat32 drive, because they mention about creating a Folder, Migration folder 1. Make a folder to hold all of your files to be migrated. a. Make subfolders b. Use all lower-case names c. No spaces But thru my knowledge of newbie users, and Linux, Most will Format the drive to RiserFS, EXT2, and EXT3 and usually want to parttion the drive for "/" "Swap" "/Home" and more advantced "/Etc" "/src" etc.. // Distros like Xandros will auto partition a drive so data is saved, but they need to inform people about how dangerous a linux installer can be, by doing things without prompt. But if later, the article mentions this, all will be forgotten.. \\
-- Information, for the Digital age,
Canadian, Iam.
Back in the day (96'), I actually bought my first Linux distro that included 5 disk (~5 or ~10 bucks wasn't bad for dialup days) from Slackware and it included the best tutorial to date about how to install Linux. Yes it was hard because you had to follow directions and read but now, I can install any Linux distro from that knowledge. You will not fear what you understand.
If starting out and you really want to know Linux then try the slackware installation then moving onto compiling your own kernel distro. If you just want to run linux than Redhat is quite easy to install.
this felt like reading a The Complete Idiot's Guide to...
Here's a quick summary:
Choose Mandrake, Fedora or Suse.
Backup everything.
Download, burn isos and install Linux
List of hardware websites for drivers
Goodbye Windows.
No other email/NG reader I've ever tries even comes close.
Try "Pan" for news. It only does news, but it looks a lot like evolution. It's pretty badass.
For every annoying gentoo user, are three even more annoying anti-gentoo crybabies. Take Yosh from #Gimp for example.
You can easily disable MDK's automount, and in fact many people do.
"Question about Debian and its automatic upgrades: since I am likely to go on using laptops, would Debian eventually evolve to the point hardware won't support it if I just keep running a stable system, or would it respond more by installing only the refinements to the version compatible with that generation of hardware?"
You want to run Debian stable.
Debian doesn't worry about hardware, so it might upgrade you to some software which would run unacceptably slow on your machine. However, if you run Debian stable (and use the name 'woody' instead of 'stable') then your system will always pull from that one archive, which after about four years is generally left alone and no longer updated (except perhaps for security fixes, I don't know for how long those continue). This means you could have a perfectly stable system which keeps running just fine regardless of how Debian evolves. The down side is you don't get the newest stuff and are stuck with old versions, but if your hardware can't handle teh requirements of newer programs than perhaps you'll want it that way.
I want my Cowboyneal
I'll second the recommendation for Pan - it's a terrific newsreader and supports all the latest technologies.
Otherwise, if you're already using Firefox, why don't you try Mozilla Thunderbird? It's a great email client and newsreader, and it's definitely far more featureful and secure than Outlook Express.
Surely the best way to start out is to set your machine up with dual boot, so you can start using Linux, but still have access to all your Windows stuff if necessary. The article rather sounds as if you are going to completely blow away your windows installation, which I think is a very dangerous thing to do straight off as a newbie.
All the backup stuff is good, but you should really be doing this anyway on a regular basis. Although a backup is certainly recommended before doing anything as heavy as a new O/S install, it's much safer just to resize your old partitions and use the empty space to install Linux in.
This is what I did, and in fact I'm still using the FAT32 partition with most of my data on, simply because I can access it from both Linux and Windows. I haven't quite got replacements for all my standard Windows apps yet, so this way I can get the best of both worlds, and be safe. I'm surprised THG didn't recommend this.
Skiing? Check out The Independant Skiers Portal
If you want, you can try Slashdotting my feeble website, but here's my checklist:s tall.pdf
http://web.praeluceo.net/docs/LinuxIn
I install Linux on friends and family computers. I have only used this particular document once, and it proved fairly successful. Apart from some questions arising regarding a few terms I used in it, it was very beneficial to both myself (as the Installer) and the person I was working with.
Something to keep in mind is who you're working with. Your traditional computer user isn't going to know they have a Pentium IV 2.4 GHz CPU, with 256 MB DDR266 RAM. They won't know the brand or chipset of their NIC, or the size of their hard drive half the time. People know how big "C" is, but on most manufactured computers, that's only part of the drive, the rest is tied up in a "recovery partition". They are the same people that respond with "Windows" when you ask them what internet browser they use, or "Netscape" when you ask them what their operating sytem is (I have gotten both of these in various forms).
But that's just my opinion.