Yo,

I am currently dual booting RH8 and WinXPPro.

I would like to move totally to linux. I share this PC with my wife.

She uses Mozilla for email and I use Outlook express. I basically use this PC for internet, email, AIM, ICQ, some FTP, CD-Burning, etc. I am a network engineer by day and a PC hobbyist by night.

I have an MCSE, and a Linux + I am working toward my RHCT.

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I wondered if anyone would mind sharing a story on their move to linux, or if anyone would let me know if it will be a "big deal" to move stuff over to linux.

I have a "TON" of family pictures, emails, word docs, excel spreadsheets, etc....

....and I have an Iomega External HD for backup (this is a laptop).

The laptop is a 1.8GHz Celeron Toshiba Satellite.
It has a DVD/CD-RW in it, and a Linksys wireless card.

I really don't think it will be a big deal at all. I just wondered if Linux could read the Fat32 partition of my Iomega backup drive, and if I'd be OK with my current files (like to view them and stuff).


If I can get this going at home, I can also have an impact of doing linux servers and desktops at work. I already have a linux box at my desk at work

Thanks in advance people!

I'm gonna get back to studying for my next cert

Peace out....

Linux can handle all the standard file formats. RH8 and newer are compiled to not use certain formats (notably mp3 and mpeg, because of patent issues), but support can be added for them by downloading a couple files. OpenOffice is a great office suite, and I haven't come across a .DOC or .XLS that it couldn't open. Then again, none of mine are too complicated. You might have to do a little reformatting, but the file is pretty much there.

I switched to Linux as my main system a few years ago with RH 7. I've run RH on three laptops now. Check www.linux-on-laptops.com to see if your model is listed.

Linux can access FAT32 partitions without any problems. It only has problems with NTFS because of the security issues. I'm guessing your external hard-drive is USB, so it should be supported. Maybe search the boards or Google. I'd say that would be the one thing to really check before making the switch.

There are at least a couple Linux versions of programs you listed.

you have Linux + certification, but you don't know how to mount things? (even if you did not know if the kernel supports vfat, a man page is not far away...) Or am I just blowing this out of proportion? I am tired, after all...

cuckoopint
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Next time I will keep my certs to myself.

I sure as heck know how to mount things. I just felt like including that in my post because the drive is USB!!!! If it were just standard IDE, I wouldn't have said anything.

Next time, please don't post simply to attack. Don't post at all if you can't add something constructive to the conversation.

Later...

I apologize for my post last night, but I was really tired. But for some reason I just chose not to keep my mouth shut...
I know it was a bad move, but hey, anyone can make mistakes.

cuckoopint
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It's cool dude. I make mistakes all the time. Thanks for the apology. Consider it forgotten.

I know how it is to be tired.

Thanks man! I really appreciate it.

Peace my fellow linux brother...

Any other suggestions/stories/comments are welcome

Thanks....

looks like it has been a while since any one has posted to this and a while since you posted it yourself there whitehat. anyway here is my story on my move to linux.
i was never introduce to computer until late in life (21, that is late considering my 5yr old knows quite a bit of what i know), anyway i was introduce late and started out scavaging thru the win95 box looking at everything and seeing how it worked. then i learned my first language, HTML. i thought that i was cool. i could make a web page. woohoo! </sarcasm> i would watch my admin guy everytime he was on the puter and ask what he was doing. he once told me that if something was wrong with the puter then he would look to see what i did to it first, i took this as a compliment. then i was transfered. i moved to a place where the office was almost completely paperless. this is where i was learned the word "LINUX". i had heard of some "nix" thing but thought of the movie War Games and how the kid had to use cli all of the time and i was scared of it. my mentor at this new location started telling me about weird things called "window managers" and "distro's" and i looked at him with my best deer look. i brought in my brand new HP with 1.7GHz P4, 512RAM, 80GB HD and let him partition and install RH7.3. i took it home and booted rarely to the linux side cause i was still a little leary of it. then i ran across linuxnewbie.org (now justlinux.com). started reading and learning and got the confidence to install linux on my kids computer (which they never used cause they had the faster one to play their game on). so i looked into which distro to use and i researched on all of my hardware. i think i downloaded about 15 or so distros and installed, used and reformated each one of them until i found one that i felt comfy with. now i only use the winxp for watching dvd's or making cd's or playing the occasional game.
and that is my story on my move to linux.