hey all,

this is my first week in linux (fedora core 2) i am a hardware guy, I have built over 100 computers, upgraded 2xs as many and installed 3xs as many operating systems (3 of which were linux distros) i'm not a programer or net admin guy so i am no softwar pro..............BUT:

i guess i know how to tweek xp- i'm comfortable with it and i know how to make it really punch my hardware. only one problem.

ethics.............i really want to linux as i do windows.......i don't want to be a programer or spend all night recompiling kernels......i do- want to use the os to run my hardware for mulitmedia and i dont' want to steal or spend rediculous amounts of money on an os that i will have to tweek out anyway (before longhorn comes atleast)

so here i am lounging around the door way of linux forums listening to the whisperings of open sorce revolutionaries and the rantings of caffine driven programing geeks........

i am tempted to be offended by the ocasional "snootyness" of linux users agianst windows users (and other linux users such as lycoris or lindows)

but at the same time i need to learn and what better place to come.......

i am verry baffled by the most simple tasks of updating drivers and installing firefox..........i know no commands and have barely figured out how to duel boot the new kernal with xp............its sooooo frustrating ...........but i want open source soooooooooo bad

so i will endure, and i thank you guys so much for posting so much information and help ------it seems that there is no such thing as a linux newbie either you can: do it, do it well, do it great or not at all

thank you so much for the help these forums have allready provided....and for enduring my ignorant and redundant questions in the futer.

marshall

Hi, friend. Be welcome at LQ!

So, you wanna migrate? My advice is:

- Build a list of your computing needs. Do not aim at a specific program, but at a specific functionality.
- Install any modern linux distro.
- Try to accomplish these needs by installing and running native linux apps. For every task, there must be at least one good choice for you. Do not run vmware/wine stuff for now.
- Try to make linux use your hw ok.
- After you have done all this, you'll notice that you don't need win anymore.

That's more or less what I did...

thanks for the input.........i think i am thinking along the same lines as you did.

gosh its so alien and different to me (i only used about 15-20 line commands in windows)

i'm just glad so many people are willing to post and reply there experiences and knowledge

linux users (usually) seem to pose a real helpfull community...........and that is the only easy or comfortable think about it.

linux is soooooooooooo hard to learn from scratch.

Its funny, when I installed linux for the second time, although it succeeded, I didn't know where to go... I removed my mandrake install, and mandrake was quite good, really. Not its fault. I kinda freaked out... he he. Dualbooting win, doing serious stuff in win, etc, you get the idea. At that time Linux was just a hobby. When I needed diskspace, wiped mandrake out.
When I installed suse, september 2003, I felt like diving into an unknown dark ocean, where I couldn't see or swim for myself. Slowly, after some time, I had my sight back...
I guess everyone feels more or less like this, when switching. Because we are so intimate with our computers, and because of the importance they have taken in our lifes...
After two or three months (for me) I was getting used to Linux and its ways. This is kinda very rewarding, when it starts to make sense. I assure you: this time will come. with linux you take your hardware back! No spyware, no win registry, no scandisk, no defrag, no viruscan weekly updaters, no trojans/worms/virii, no cracks/keygens/serials/activation codes, no BSODs...

Every common thing in the windows world, that you used to deal with regularly, will start to appear as what they really are: unbearable annoyances.


About community: its the most rewarding feeling above all. There is one, and its really strong. Now I have a Debian fully configured and running, alongside suse, and I would never ever have done this without the help of that community.