Spiritual Considerations When Switching to Linux

It’s among the newest things that’s been going on. It’s finally cool to switch to linux. Linux has started shedding it’s image of being hard to use and without applications or the right support, people are switching over everyday, and they are happy, but a lot of people I knew, including myself had difficulty, and now that I’m completely towards the light side of the force, I’ll give a couple of suggestions, more spiritual rather than technical.

1. Motivate yourself: Though this is true for all goals, but more so for a challenging one like switching to linux. You need to convince yourself that the change is good and you want it. Watch beryl/compiz videos on youtube, go see a friend who has a fully pimped out linux desktop, make yourself want it desperately.
2. Be patient: You can never switch over completely in the first boot. Dual boot initially and keep going back to windows whenever linux seems too overwhelming. Don’t ever remove one os completely, keep both in the beginning. You need to wait before you can understand the basics of a new OS and learn how to use it. You can take your time, but the shorter, the better.
3. Be comfortable: When initially in linux, do something easy and familiar. For example, browse the net in linux, and then start using openoffice, then get your mail, and focus on getting comfortable with the new environment.
4. Learn: Don’t do everything just to become a linux user, do all the instructions on the internet to learn how linux works. Installing beryl/compiz is no big deal if you follow the instructions, but learning something out of the process makes it an entirely new ballgame. Try something new every once in a while. Learn the command line.
5. Don’t be afraid: Help is always there in the community. Look on the forums for help, search (google is your friend), or ask on irc. The best thing is to have a friend guide you through the initial steps if you’re afraid. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes, you learn more that way.
6. Take risks: I know a lot of people who’re too afraid to install linux because it might ruin their system. As long as you’re a little bit careful nothing should happen, but you should take risks. If something goes horribly wrong, you can always reinstall. And the more you reinstall, the more you learn.
7. Accept Change: Remember, you’re going to be using software that might’ve been new to you. Some may be better, some may not, but that doesen’t mean you cannot compromise. For example, openoffice might not have the ribbon interface of office 2007 but it will edit your documents for you. That’s what opensource programs are all about: simple, fast and effictive, and they get the job done.
8. Do it with someone else: Find another friend and switch over together, this way you can help each other out and keep yourselves motivated.

And the last, but however the most important point is: The hardest part about switching to linux is not learning it, but unlearning windows. You can ask “Where’s my control panel” or “what happened to my drive letters”, and you may say that the interface is difficult or not easy to use, but remember, when you first started using windows, drive letters, control panel, and everything was as difficult as mounting drives or installing drivers. Keep at it and you’ll feel right at home with linux.

Now Playing: Dragonforce – Revolution Deathsquad

[tags]linux,spiritual, help, switching, ubuntu[/tags]