So I noticed how you were going to rant on your blog about how you love the concept of Linux but could never switch from Windows because of these points:
- Windows just works (most software is designed to work with it, and most devices all have plug-and-play capability with windows unlike Linux)
- All my STEAM games are on Windows which can’t be transferred having the same user-experience (FPS, lack of glitchiness, etc..)
- I never have to use the command line, everything is GUI, and if Linux wants to succeed they need to make everything GUI. No more of this CLI non-sense! – It is archaic.
I also noticed that you were going to list these concepts you love about Linux, but just can’t make the switch due to the three above:
- open-source vs proprietary
- free OS vs $200 OS
- free programs that are comparable to expensive Windows programs with the same functionality
- near-unlimited customization vs almost no customization
- fast vs slower
- lightweight distro vs bulky
- privacy-conscious vs ????
- no need for antivirus (due to few Linux viruses & lack of root access) vs everyone writes viruses for Windows
And then before finishing this post, I looked around the web once again. I didn’t have a fun time with Ubuntu (10, 11, or 12), and Zorin just didn’t feel right (7, or 8). Then I read up about Linux Mint, then I read up more about it, then I downloaded it, then I ran it in Virtualbox and began the wonderful journey of customization.
I created two partitions: / (root), and /home (data).
This is a screenshot after I customized everything the way I wanted, including programs and updating everything.
6.19 GB / (root, aka system data)
2.48 GB /home (personal data)
That’s it, a total of 8.67 GB for EVERYTHING in a baseline custom OS install. No, actually that’s not truthful, I left the install files and scripts, and wallpapers and stuff on my personal home folder so technically it’s only 2.21 GB home + 6.19 GB root = 8.40 GB. I can fit Linux Mint on a 16 GB flash drive and still have almost 8 GB for music, pictures, movies, whatever.
Do you know how much my baseline custom install (as in, Full updated OS + all updated programs) for my Windows 7 64-bit Home Edition was? Check this out, this is a screenshot from June 2013 after I made another clean slate on my HDD after Windows was running slow:
36.95 GB (System + Personal Data)
36.95 GB… seriously???? If I install Linux Mint on my laptop instead of Win7, I will save 28.55 GB of drive space and be able to re-partition my HDD in order to have a bigger data partition, AND it will run faster since there are less bloated system processes.
Here is a list of programs I installed for Linux Mint 17 (MATE edition):
There are alternatives (and in most cases, better ones) to the software you use on Windows. Of course, this is only what I wanted and not all of the programs Linux has to offer (use Google).
“But wait!!!” You say! “I need Microsoft products in order to do business like Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc..!”. Cool story bro, try LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice (basically the same thing). they easily convert between Microsoft formats and their open-source formats.
“But wait again! Didn’t you say that STEAM games on Linux won’t have the same functionality?” Yeah I did, it comes from the fact that Windows and Linux have completely different file systems and file extensions. The cool thing is that I have a few options:
- Use Linux in Virtualbox but have a clean-slate Windows (plus Steam) as my host-OS
- Make a permanent Linux install on a removable flash drive (flash media degrade after so many write/erasures though, speculated somewhere between 5,000 to 100,000 depending on the quality of the USB flash drive)
- Use Linux on a Live-CD or Live-USB (Live-USBs normally do all their work in RAM so as to lessen any degradation on the flash drive)
- Dual-boot Windows 7 and Linux, using Win7 for Steam.
- Have a dedicated Windows box only for Steam that I keep hooked up to the TV, and use Linux as my main OS.
- Actually Google search the Steam games I have and find out which ones function on both platforms, and then copy/paste my game saves over.
- Theoretically, I could use Steam backup on Windows and then restore it on Linux (it would take forever……..)
- Or use WINE and PlayonLinux to play Steam in a Windows-like environment on top of a full install of Linux (and just see what happens/deal with any FPS loss or bugginess)
- Valve has already stated that they want to transition away from Windows and onto Linux, and have made their own operating system called SteamOS. In the far future, they may forgo Windows entirely and use Linux as their platform of choice (that’s never gonna happen, most of their fan-base uses Windows). Ether way, Valve is looking at Linux more closely now, so they may have a better solution in the future.
So… there ya go. There are options to this, obviously it’s not the one I originally wanted (copy/paste game files and it work exactly the same), but that thinking was doomed to fail since both platforms are completely different from each other. For now, I can use Virtualbox, graduate up to a USB, maybe dual-boot (I could never get Grub and MBR to work together in the past), and then who knows? Full install without Windows.
In conclusion, I am saying goodbye to the Windows Fanboy, and I’m looking forward to working with Linux.
(Now that is a sexy desktop!)
<Original work by BenBRockN. Feel free to reblog, ONLY if you give credit to the original author (me). Thanks!>
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