On How Someone Migrated to Linux

People are always looking for ways to make migration to Linux less worrisome and painful. There’s a two-part article on Linux Insider by Jack Germain. The first part talks about Linux sharing a room with Windows, and the second part talks about migrating to Linux without separation anxiety.

Ah yes. The experience of moving from Windows to Linux. It’s always something interesting to read because each one has a different story to tell. Some people do migrate to Linux immediately because they want to just get familiar right away and others take their time. :) Both are perfectly fine in my eyes because each of those methods seem to work best with particular types of people.

Linux from Within Windows

The first article talked about this and if not for the article, I wouldn’t have known that there’s such a thing as Portable Ubuntu. It lets you load Ubuntu while you are using Windows. You could run apps from within Ubuntu even if you are on Windows. One good thing about using Portable Ubuntu is that you don’t need to set up a virtual machine. And you don’t need to worry about rebooting, which is what you do with a live CD.

I wonder if other Linux distros are already available as a portable type of OS. I think that if users get to use it often enough, they would probably think of Linux distros as nothing too alien. Well, there’s always virtualization of the distro of their choice is not available as a portable version.

Migrating painlessly

The second part of the article talks about migrating painlessly from Windows to Linux. I saw that he talked about trying out free and open source software while he was in Windows. A lot of times people complain about not having anything to use in Linux but really, if they get exposed to other software, they’d most likely feel more comfortable about switching.

Getting familiar with new applications to regain the efficiency you had is not always easy. There would be times that you’d still look for that keyboard shortcut that you’ve been used to but it’s not always possible that things will work in the same way. In any case, if one does take enough time to learn new applications, then that’s something very good, especially when he/she switches to Linux.

I hope that more and more people will appreciate Linux more. Experiences like the ones mentioned above is simply awesome. I hope you get to share it with your friends.