I just have to say
I switched from windows to Ubuntu and Kubuntu 2 weeks ago. I have two hard drives and they BOTH have Linux on them.
I always see people asking question but I don't have a question I just wanted to applaud the Linux community.
With in the first 2 days I was back to programming and editing X11 cursors making icons doing everything I was doing in windows. I know they say it has a learning curve but to me it seemed plain and simple. I just needed to learn a couple
terminal commands and key combinations to get started. I like to jump right into things and I am a hobby programmer so its not like that was a major contributing factor. However maybe because I knew dos I am comfortable with command prompts, exploring and modifying. It doesn't matter in any case I love Ubuntu and its sub types. I downloaded each and every single one to try too.
I not only converted but after using it for 4 days and giving it the praise it deserves I have gotten 3 other people to switch too.
I will keep absorbing the knowledge for now and I will pass what I learned.
Keep up the good work everyone and thank you!
Comments
And thanks to you too!
Feel free to return to us for guidance on any specific issues that you or your converters are experiencing.
Also if you would like to share you experiences converting people to Linux based systems with a group checkout http://www.linux.com/community/groups/viewgroup/1208-Linux+Converters
So, next question: Of the three alternatives I found, which is best for a kid with no geek skills? Google had the answer again, Linux. But then it got really confusing: There are over 300 different "Linuxes" out there! Oh noes! How do I know which to try first?
Google is my friend! It directed me to a "distro chooser" which picked Ubuntu for me, and I was scared and excited at the same time, lol. Until I got the CD and learned that I could try Linux without making any changes to my computer at all! How cool is that!?!
Three days of familiarizing myself with it was all it took for me to decide to wipe Windows away and let Ubuntu have the whole hard drive (that was before I found the forums and learned about partitioning and stuff).
Now I have three Linux boxes! I inherited two hand-me-downs that had been crippled by "Windows rot" and hardware obsolescence and played with a few more distros like Slackware (oh, confusing, especially package handling and dependencies - yuck, not for this li'l newbie), PCLinuxOS (sweet! But it balks at my old hardware and Ubuntu doesn't), Debian Testing/Xfce (requires more mad geek skillz but omygosh it's super fast once you get it all set up - which I never did completely), Crunchbang (awesomeness - minimal, stark, powerful), Sidux (another favorite - rolling release, but high risk - not for a "mission critical" machine), Linux Mint... Different desktops! Omygosh, so many choices! Tried 'em all. KDE (pretty! but slow and tedious on my hand-me-down hardware), Gnome (simple, intuitive, versatile), LXDE (fast but verrrry buggy for me - keeping an eye on it tho, want to revisit LXDE when it grows up), Openbox, and Xfce (my current absolute favorite - kinda like "Gnome Lite!).
Now I've introduced some others to Linux and always keep a few LiveCDs around. It's not for gamers (games? C'mon. That's what the PlayStation is for), but it's great for my school work, my dance routines (music editing, choreography), and of course, all the internet stuff. I've never looked back. And I completely forgot about that Mac I was saving up for. Now that money will buy me a car some day!
Loving my Xubuntu,
Robin