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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."
Let me be the first of many to mention TheOpenCD. First switch to OSS under Windows. Once you're used to the apps, its easier to make the leap to a full Linux desktop.
I have dual-boot RH9/Win at work now and have not booted the Windows OS in 2 months. Most of what I need is:
Gnome
Evolution
OpenOffice
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 have a downloadable checklist for that too.
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.
... that's all fine but does it have bar graphs? Whenever I read anything at THG, my attention span flips over to "Goldfish" mode and I NEED the bar graphs! Nrrrgh! *twitch*
Hate me!
By putting so little on each individual page.
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
Mandrake 10.0 is the distribution I'd recommend to anyone! It is still community, hence a bit buggy, but the official version will be out in May and will be ready for general use.
I have tried many distros, including SuSE, Fedora, Severn, Slackware, Knoppix, Debian, Ark, Lindows, Phat, Dragon, LFS, G/CX and yes even FreeBSD which isn't even a "Linux", but out of all of those i chose Mandrake.
Why? Because it works. My mouse, keyboard, desktop, cdrw, dvd-rw, printer, scanner, digital camera, sound, tv card, alien beacon, toothbrush and nuclear reactor all work with Mandrake linux. Tell that to XP, who BSOD'd on me when I plugged in my digital camera!
Software is installed with ease, Hardware is configured with point and click! If you wanted the ultimate distro for both begginners AND experts (I have used linux for nearly three years) then get Mandrake!
I have a fetish for traffic cones
Because of the lack of GUI tools for every configuration I needed to make, I had to do it myself.
Through this course I learned a whole lot more about the internal workings of Debian and Linux distros in general.
But that is the whole point. Most folks don't want or need to learn about the internal workings of their OS. They want to send email to the grandkids, print the pictures from their digital camera, browse the web, write letters etc.
Telling these folks that if they want to use Linux they have to become power users is equivalent to telling them to stay on Windows 98.
Even I am of two minds. I've been using Linux since 93. I love to play with it. I've done the whole build-a-system-without-a-distro thing, so I'm fairly comfortable with the OS.
When I sit down in front of it to do my day job however, I want it to just work. So, for my day job I use a specially tricked out (by the company I work for) RedHat 9 distro. Sure, I could have built it better myself, and even now I could spend some time and make it better. But
I think Linux as a hobby is great. The point made by the article is that Linux as a tool is important, and it different from Linux as a hobby.
I have to agree completely. I've been using Linux on and off for about 6 years now. I started off by purchasing a copy of Red Hat v5.2. At the time Red Hat was perfect for me. I had no idea what "dude just read the man page" meant or even how to untar an archive. I've only started using Gentoo for about 3 months now and I feel as if my knowledge of Linux has grown exponentially. This is mainly attributed to the fact that I've never had to compile a kernel before and I've never had a distro that didn't install a ftp client by default.
That seemed a little scary at first, but I was over-joyed when I ran top after my first boot and saw how little mem was in use (around 30Mb I think)
If you really want to get your hands dirty and figure out whats _really_ going on under the hood, I would use Gentoo because you really have to learn everything. There is no choice!
Disclaimer to all Linux beginners: If you have never used Linux before and aren't willing to spend hours of research time to get a seemingly simple thing to work, I would suggest using Red Hat Fedora or Mandrake. But if you've used those and want to take the next step, I say dive in all the way and give Gentoo a try.