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articles:transition_to_gnu_linux [2021-05-01 01:39] – created Tony | articles:transition_to_gnu_linux [2022-04-12 18:56] (current) – Tony | ||
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+ | **Please note:** This is initially from my Blog, published December 2018! | ||
+ | Some stuff has changed, but I'll keep this here as reference. | ||
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+ | ====== How I First Transitioned to GNU/Linux ====== | ||
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+ | ====== Introduction ====== | ||
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+ | For the past several years, my system OS of choice has been GNU/Linux. I’ve gone from Ubuntu, to Debian, to Fedora, to OpenSUSE and finally, Arch. Through these years, I’ve also gone through many desktop environments, | ||
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+ | ====== The Start ====== | ||
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+ | Back in 2014, I built a desktop to accompany my Laptop and for the experience. Initially, I purchased a Windows license and installed Windows 8.1 through the installation DVD. | ||
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+ | Windows was very predictable, | ||
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+ | ====== Vanilla Ubuntu ====== | ||
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+ | At that time, I started looking into various distributions, | ||
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+ | At that time, I didn’t want anything to do with configuring Xorg (or anything for that matter), or compiling software. I just wanted something that worked, and was easy to switch from Windows. That’s one of the areas where Ubuntu still shines. It is a very “mainstream” Linux distribution, | ||
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+ | ====== Package Management ====== | ||
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+ | ===== Package Managers ===== | ||
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+ | Actually, at first, I was very impressed by the ease of software installation in Ubuntu. No need to go to the website, download some .exe installer, press ‘no’ a bunch of times to avoid crapware and the such. It worked, and installed all dependencies with few hiccups. I was equally impressed with the ease of updating software. Unlike Windows where one had to go to the manufacturer website and re-download and install the latest updates, all the programs could be upgraded all at once through 2 commands – a big improvement. | ||
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+ | ===== Apt-get Issues ===== | ||
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+ | What wasn’t too nice was when you started to run into issues with apt. Either the versions were incompatible or you had to find .deb files to install with dpkg, I personally found that apt on Ubuntu broke a fair bit. In comparison, dnf on Fedora and pacman on Arch had hardly any software issues, not to mention, no need to backport newer versions on which lead to other conflicts. While I also didn’t find Unity appealing at all, I kept with it because it worked! | ||
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+ | ====== Transition Hiccups ====== | ||
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+ | ===== Compatible Software ===== | ||
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+ | One of the biggest parts of the transition was now finding compatible software to run on both my Windows laptop that I used everyday for note taking at school, and the desktop which I used at home. Up until this point, I had simply been using Microsoft OneNote to take notes, which worked very well. In fact, I still haven’t found an equal alternative, | ||
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+ | ===== File Synchronization ===== | ||
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+ | I took care of file syncing with Dropbox initially, then followed by Mega.nz, as they had native clients. While I don’t use either anymore (foreshadowing: | ||
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+ | Overall, I was pleased with the way the system was working. Stuff worked most of the time, and in the face of trouble, there was tons of forum support along the way, which definitely helped. | ||
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+ | ====== Conclusion to Part 1 ====== | ||
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+ | In conclusion, vanilla Ubuntu was the first stepping stone on my rabbit-hole journey. There is probably a LOT that I left out from this post, and I may just post them later on. Check back for the next part for my continuation on my note-taking and file management, as well as transitioning into the KDE desktop environment on Ubuntu. | ||