Windows - Linux Dangerstat's guide

dangerstat

dangerstat

dangerstat

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Okay so there's been a number of threads about people wanting to move over to Linux from Windoze (or at least dual boot / virtualise Linux).


So lets start simple, why should you consider Linux?
[A] It's free - clearly a major factor!
It's secure - far less viral / malware applications are written to target Linux
[C] It's cutting edge - fed up of waiting years for a new version of Windows to appear? Many Linux distributions are updated on a monthly basis.
[D] A distro is more than just Linux - they come with (typically) hundreds of quality open source software (varying from image processing to office applications)
[E] Almost all users of Linux seem to report a significant increase in their "tech savyness" after having Linux installed for a good while - impress those IT employers!


Downsides:
[A] Not all of your software will work on Linux - although there exist systems to try and get around this (WINE which allows many Windows applications to be run on Linux and obviously you could virtualise a Windows machine and run it on Linux). However the truth is that some very important applications (Photoshop etc) which, for the average user, will be almost impossible to get working in Linux.
Hardware support is patchy (though a LOT better than it was) so you may well find your Wifi card might not get installed by default (and in the worst case senario it might not be possible to correct this).
[C] It can be technical, you will at some point have to type in commands rather than point and click on things - this is the bit that ends most users "relationship" wit *nix.


Okay so you're still interested?

[1] How do I get Linux - Well it comes in different "flavours" or better known as distributions. They all share a common component (the Linux kernel, though the precise version may differ between distributions). The easiest way to get Linux is simply to buy one of the "linux" magazines in WHSmith that'll come with one Linux distro or another. Otherwise you can download the installation ISO's for all Linux distros online (Google!).

** I'd seriously recommend installing Linux on a SEPERATE PHYSICAL DRIVE as it'll avoid any "partitioning" / boot record issues or equally consider running linux on Windows in a virtual machine (Google VMware or more details).

[2] But which distro is right for me:confused: - The answer is NOT straight forward and the moment Ubuntu seems to attract most new users. It's pretty user friendly and is based on another (Debian) distribution that is very stable. DO NOT let yourself be convined by anyone that the problems I listed above will be "invalid" if you chose Ubuntu - that's carp. After Ubuntu popular choices are Fedora, Open Suse, Knoppix, Mint, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Debian.

[3] What's all this 32bit / 64 bit stuff? - Firstly you'll want to know if your CPU is 64 bit compatible (odds are it is) if it is, then seriously consider a "x64" version of a linux distribution. One major advantage is that if your system has more than 3GB of RAM installed - if you install a 32bit (i386) version you will not (well there is a caveat to that but generally) be able to use any thing more than 3GB!

[4] Okay I've downloaded and installed by Linux distro, what now? - The first thing to do is to check your hardware has been fully recognised and to get familiar with the "package manager". This package manager this is essentially one way to install new applications and features on top of your Linux distribution. This is done (primarily) online, by downloading and installing "packages" (typically applications) from repositaries (this is just a fancy term for a server this hosts packages that are specifically designed or constructed for your installed repositary). Depending on the distribution you have chosen you'll want to get familiar with either "yum" or "apt-get" (google is your friend here as it'd take a while to go through them here).

Checking your hardware is set up right isn't that straight forward. Do the obvious stuff first, try playing a media file to check your sound card is configured correctly, try getting online to check your network card is working. There are two very useful commands in this sphere - lspci and lsusb these will show you want your linux distribution thinks you have plugged into your PCI and USB slots (again Google is your friend here).


- So in summary, I hope all of you give it a go and that this is of some help :)
 
Nice overview, thanks... my friend has been begging me to try out Ubuntu... in fact he never ****ing shuts up about it! He gave me the CD so I may well give it a try and see what the fuss is about. Increasing techiness is always good, I should at least try to get some basic familiarity with it I guess. :)
 
Richdog said:
Nice overview, thanks... my friend has been begging me to try out Ubuntu... in fact he never ****ing shuts up about it! He gave me the CD so I may well give it a try and see what the fuss is about. Increasing techiness is always good, I should at least try to get some basic familiarity with it I guess. :)
Click to expand...

Good luck with it Richdog! Post and let us all know how you get on. Really just posted this because I sick of those "OMFG linux is easy" and the "OMFG linux is like rocket science" by trying to give a fair overview that doesn't mislead anyone:)
 
Linux does indeed teach you a lot. However it's not always nice and friendly about it.
When you're bored with Windows, Linux an interesting pastime.
 
Linux is more than just a pastime for when you're bored with Windows. Unix, and to an extent Linux, is massively dominant in many industries, such as finance, manufacturing, utilities, communications, etc...

Unix administrators are also paid more compared to their Windows counterparts... not least because every man and his dog thinks they are an expert in administering Windows. Conversely, you don't get many 18 year old, spotty oiks claiming to be uber leet at administering Unix machines because they've run a few VMs on their LAN at home and were able to configure their own DNS or email servers.

I've lost count of the number of CVs I've seen where people have the latest Microsoft certifications yet have absolutely no "real world" knowledge or experience to back up their certs.
 
My mum, 62, never used a computer in her life, with the possible exception of playing lemmings on my bro's amiga 15+ years ago, is LOVING and having no trouble at all with her EEE PC running Xandros.....so basically, if you fail at linux, you're dafter than a 62 year old Irish woman who knows NOTHING about computers.

(well, all it really proves is that the problem most people REALLY have during the move is that Linux is not Windows, and they are used to windows. Take someone who knows nothing and give them a penguin box, and one day they'll sit down in front of a windows machine and have pink kittens trying to get it to work (me auld ma, for instance, had to use her bosses machine after a few weeks with her EEE and fell foul of something I THOUGHT was only joked about.....she couldn't wrap her head round having to go to a button called "start" to turn the ruddy thing off LOL )
 
thegoonden said:
My mum, 62, never used a computer in her life, with the possible exception of playing lemmings on my bro's amiga 15+ years ago, is LOVING and having no trouble at all with her EEE PC running Xandros.....so basically, if you fail at linux, you're dafter than a 62 year old Irish woman who knows NOTHING about computers.

(well, all it really proves is that the problem most people REALLY have during the move is that Linux is not Windows, and they are used to windows. Take someone who knows nothing and give them a penguin box, and one day they'll sit down in front of a windows machine and have pink kittens trying to get it to work (me auld ma, for instance, had to use her bosses machine after a few weeks with her EEE and fell foul of something I THOUGHT was only joked about.....she couldn't wrap her head round having to go to a button called "start" to turn the ruddy thing off LOL )
Click to expand...

The problem isn't really old ladies that wont to just browse the internet, it's when you want to do something "new" or different that cuases the average user headaches.
 
Well yes, but the point stands that she would find a windows machine, as bad or worse.
People only struggle with linux because it isn't windows. I struggle with windows because it's not linux :D

The cannonical example of the confused winluser, was the guy on Mandrake's forum, years ago, who gave a long rant about the names programs have in Linux, particularly in KDE. No amount of reasoned debate (or, following that, abuse), could make him see that if you set person down with two programs, one called "Kmail" and one called "outhouse excuse", and asked them which one was for something called mail....

Waste of time, to his MS-addled mind, Outhouse Excuse was OBVIOUSLY an email client.
LOL
 
After many years dabbling I have decided to go 100% Linux at home.

The two main factors are

1. FREE
2. Secure. I dont have to worry about kids and missus downloading crap that will degrade my system.

We only really use Firefox and Pidgin and so Linux is fine.

I use Linux Mint 6.
 
I was shocked yesterday to be at a house party and a girl came up to me and said "Gary I got one of those cute little laptop things and its got linux on it and its sooo good its called ubuntu and its so much easier to use than windows!"...Yes that actually happened, everybody knows I'm the nerdy guy and tell me these things.
 
badgaz1 said:
I was shocked yesterday to be at a house party and a girl came up to me and said "Gary I got one of those cute little laptop things and its got linux on it and its sooo good its called ubuntu and its so much easier to use than windows!"...Yes that actually happened, everybody knows I'm the nerdy guy and tell me these things.
Click to expand...

did you get sex after this revolation? :p
 
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