Am I alone in feeling that the cost of switching from Windoze to Linux is huge in terms of productivity? I am a newbie and I removed M$ from my box in October 2001 - armed only with Mandrake 7.2. I didn't know what I was doing....
Here I am in July 2002 and I suddenly feel that Linux has begun to dominate. There's always one more thing to do...one more thing to investigate. My "final" project is to get my parallel scanner working (help!!) but before that it was to be able edit analogue video...and before that there was my DSL network.
I used to do an awful lot with my PC. it was a tool I understood (sort of...:-))...now I just seem to fiddle. And tinker. And wonder....
Am I alone? Did all of you go through a similar period when switching to Linux? Maybe I should've waited before making the switch? I've only just realised that it's been going on and perhaps that's the end of my denial...and the beginning of picking up the pieces. Back to work?
There's one thing though ....my computer is a million times more ME (as in I as in PERSONAL) now and the user is...
cut to: Man typing frantically at computer. Lights low. Wine glass empty near right hand. Big smile on face.Lots of activity on monitor.
...a much better computer user.
I think.

You're near. In my case it was about 6 month of use. There comes a moment, when everything starts to look familiar and you realize that you can solve all the problems you had with Linux. It'll come...

The cost, in terms of productivity, of switching to Linux has a lot to do with the amount of planning and research done beforehand. If one heads in full bore and just starts off by wiping out their current OS and apps without having an idea of where to go with Linux, then the journey is going to take some time. However, for some, that is the best/only way to make the switch.

Ideally, you evaluate why you want to move to Linux, what you want to do with the OS, and how you will accomplish with Linux what you normally accomplish with your current OS and apps. With answers to those questions, the switch isn't so shocking. I think a lot of folks that want to try out Linux opt for a dual boot system until they find themselves rarely booting to anything but Linux.

Fortunately, through all the different approaches, these forums exist to help us all through the bumps in the road.

j.

it just took me 2 years to setup my cable modem...from 1996 to 1998..because of the lack of information on how to set it up...since very people used it back then. Don't worry, you'll get there,