[AuckLUG] Re: HELP!!- whats this Linux thing all about

[Howard]

on 19/10/2007 2:05 p.m. Johann Schoonees wrote:
>  3. Dump your previous OS completely.  There is nothing like having only 
> Linux available to force the learning curve.  I went Linux cold turkey 
> eight years ago and had a helluva ride in the beginning but it was worth 
> it.  Exceptions may apply if you're a game addict or must have 
> specialized single-platform software: then you can dual-boot your 
> machine or keep a dedicated other-OS machine.

I (sort of) second this.  One of the most annoying things I've seen are 
friends who buy a new PC, install Windows on it and Linux on their 'old 
machine'.  _Of course_ they are going to find the windows experience 
more enjoyable.

In Windows 98 days I looked into Linux and decided to take the plunge.

This was how I learnt:

1. On my aging Windows machine, I changed to software that I knew was 
cross platform - Firefox/Thunderbird (in their incarnations of the day), 
The Gimp, Open Office, etc
2. I got an old P133 PC, put a large hard drive in it and followed a 
howto to build a samba file server (Redhat 7.2 at that stage).  It 
connected to the Windows box, and would later be connected to my Linux 
machine with NFS.
3. I now knew that I could use a bunch of graphical software on Linux, 
and had some command line experience (I already had some Unix experience 
from a long time ago which helped).  I also knew I could wipe my Win 98 
machine (and play with a new Linux machine) and never lose any 
documents, as they were on another server.
4. I bought the most singing/dancing desktop I could afford and 
installed redhat on it with a full graphical desktop.  I used 
Firefox/Thunderbird etc so there was no learning curve there.
5. I ran my Win 98 machine beside the Redhat box for another 3-4 months 
after that for a couple of things (home burglar alarm software was one), 
until it was stripped to become a mail server.

cheers
H.