the great software blog

If I can make the switch from Windows to GNU/Linux, anyone can. I’m not a programmer, not an expert, nor do I have time to endlessly futz with my system. Based on my experience over the past year, these tips will smooth your transition from Win to Lin.
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(1) KEEP YOUR OLD WINDOWS MACHINE/PARTITION INTACT
You may want some training wheels at first. Get a Gmail account and upload essential and necessary files, links, and data to it to share between systems, and leave the USB stick at home. If you really, really like how Windows or Mac looks, there are themes and distros that cater to that taste. Finally, until you get all your data converted, you may need data or content from that system.

(2) EXPECT A LEARNING CURVE AT FIRST
If I can make the switch, anyone can! Immersion is your best friend. It took me two months to wean myself off my Windows machine for good. It may take you a year, or a weekend. Eventually, you won’t even be turning on that Windows machine. There are lots of sites and pages available to help (see links at bottom of post).

(3) DON’T EXPECT LINUX TO BE JUST LIKE WINDOWS
It’s much, much better. You’ll soon see why (software quality; updates/installation; security; speed; hardware support; vibrant community, among others). Two of the biggest misperceptions about Linux are software quality and hardware compatibility. In many cases, the software is equivalent (see #7 below) or it’s better, and it has more drivers for more hardware than any other platform. You might have to wait 2-3 months on some proprietary drivers, but that’s becoming more rare by the month.

(4) WHETHER YOU USE UBUNTU OR NOT, PERUSE THEIR FORUMS TO GAIN KNOWLEDGE
Some Ubuntu forum members have written great tutorials on the intricacies of fstab, grub, virtualization, customization, etc. Also, keep a simple text file of notes and links that will help you in the future. For example, I document my mistakes so that I can remember where I went wrong, and what worked.

(5) DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT
Install a new videocard (check for drivers first!). Play multi-player games or online chess. Partition your drive and try a wide variety of distros and BSD flavors (DistroWatch.com). Better, just use the LiveCD/DVD options without installing anything. You’ve always got access to your LiveCD if you do find a way to trash your system. It’s harder than you think to take down a Linux machine.

(6) HELP IS AS NEAR AS YOUR KEYBOARD
There are forums. There are Usenet groups. There’s Google, of course. Better is Google/Linux. Like anywhere else, keep searching, be patient, and thank those who help you. And when you can, help others. In the end, it’s a community relationship, not a customer relationship.

(7) TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CROSS-PLATFORM SOFTWARE
You know more than you think you do, since you may already be using Firefox/Opera/Chrome or OpenOffice or 7-Zip/RAR or GIMP or MySQL or Beyond Compare or XnView/Picasa or Kompozer or FileZilla… I could do this all day. They’re the same across platforms, which means you’re ready to get to work.

(8) TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CLOUD
Don’t laugh. Linux is built for cloud computing, mobile computing, thick computing, and even phones! The cloud consists of applications online, such as Zoho Office, Google Docs, Aviary, Adobe Photoshop Express and Acrobat, and to a large extent, Amazon, Google Sky, among many others. The future of the desktop client is moving towards accessing cloud-based applications in a browser through multiple devices and multiple mediums. Wireless phones, set-top boxes, netbooks, and desktop PC’s over a variety of networks are here. Linux supports every imaginable chip set, and it’s free. It can be custom branded. And no single entity can control it and thereby become a bottleneck to innovation. Windows never has, and never will have this advantage.

(9) LET OTHERS KNOW YOU’VE SWITCHED TO LINUX, BUT DON’T BE A JERK ABOUT IT
Don’t be “that guy.” Mac users have been this way and the whole routine gets old by the second sentence. Enjoy Linux for what it is — great code, stable OS, fast platform — not for what it’s not (Windows). What should you care what Bill Gates and his minions think of your OS! I let others know that the money I save on licensing costs allows me to spend more on newer, faster hardware; something my Windows friends always envy.

(10) THE COMMAND LINE AND SHELL IS YOUR BEST FRIEND
A little command line knowledge goes a long way, but you will likely use it far less than you expect to. Its power is irresistible because it’s so efficient. A lot of distros are setup so that you don’t have to go near the command line if you only want to do the basics — office computing, playing music and most videos, and accessing information and data through your browser. Over time, however, you will become more comfortable with it, and you’ll see it’s nothing to freak out over. When you’re ready to take it to the next level, scripting will make you a kung fu master!
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SITES TO GET YOU STARTED
Get GNU/Linux (What, why, and how to switch)
Make the Move (Explains Open Source software and gets you started)
GrokDoc’s Switching to Linux (A repository of Switching tips)
The Great Software List blog (All the best up-to-date Linux links online)

Free Software Daily (THE source for news, tips, & articles)
Digg-Linux (Another source for news, tips, & articles)
Linux Forums (Great news, tips, and user forum)
HowtoForge Linux Tutorials (Step-by-step learning)
LinuxCommand.org (Learn the command line and the shell)
Common command cheat sheet (Command line tips)