New to Linux, New to LQ, and A Question
 

Hello,

I am obviously a newbie here. I would like to say hello and I've enjoyed familiarizing myself with the forum.

I have very limited experience with Linux. I recently loaded Ubuntu on a virtual machine on my laptop.

I'm thinking about putting a complete Ubuntu installation on another computer I have lying around. A newish computer (Intel 3 processor 4 GB RAM.)

If that goes well I'm thinking about making a clean break from MS Windows to Ubuntu or possibly some other Linux distro (I also have limited experience with Lubuntu).

I'm new at this, and I'm wondering what kind of possible snags I might run into ... in regards to documents, music, etc?

Any thoughts and recommendations will be very much appreciated!

the biggest snag is probably with people that expect everything in Linux to work the way it does on Windows---there is often some UNlearning of Windows required. In any modern version ("distro") of Linux, all of the everyday functionality is very well supported. That does not mean that there are not a few glitches here and there---but then same answer for Windows...

the best way is to see for yourself--especially with an extra computer, there's no cost AND no risk

If there are some more specific questions, we'll "get right on it"

I think the biggest snags in my experience is hardware support. Particularly Wireless cards and video & sound cards. If you have no problem and all the hardware in your computer is supported then you are all good to go.
Once you pass the hardware support issue you will find a vast sea of software for all kind of things in the GNU-Linux world. MP3 playing, DVDs and Blue Ray, Images and graphic design of all kind, Pretty much everything.
Make sure you test the distro you want to install before committing to the installation. I know you mentioned you like Ubuntu, but I encorage you to test other distros too, OpenSuSE is a good one, Linux Mint is good too. Ubuntu can be buggy sometimes so make sure everything works before installing.

Good luck to you.

The biggest snag when trying to switch over 100% to linux for me, was application compatibility.

There are LOTS and LOTS of alternative applications for linux. However, one of the most important for me, MS Visio, will not run in Wine and does not have a good linux alternative.

And being an administrator, I also need my Vmware Infrastructure Client. Which doesn't work in Wine, nor does it have a linux alternative.

I find it best to keep an XP virtual machine around for such things.

"Don't cross your bridges before you come to them"

If you walk far enough the other way, there is no need to cross the bridge.

I would also mention that, whereas, there is only a few current Windows versions maintained by one company, there are hundreds of distinct, different distros of Linux. Each one with different ideas, different update cycles, different bugs, different looks, different support...

So its a jungle out there.

//OT
 

Hello des1517,

The biggest snag is to move out of the VM before you get some what above newbie :).

Cause I had to reinstall Linux so many times.

I think you are ( as I did ) gonna damage your installation of Linux so many times in purpose of learning, so my advise to you is to keep learning on the VM.

:)

Another thing you may have trouble with is connecting your phone, iPod, iPad or other device. I have an XP virtual machine which seem to be used exclusively to interface with my Nokia phone and iPad and, to be truthful, I sometimes borrow a Windows machine instead as it's far easier in some cases.
There's also the matter of games. Linux does have some decent games, and some Windows ones work under Wine but if you go into it expecting to just be able to play any game you feel like under Linux you will be disappointed.
Oh, and I should mention that iTunes doesn't work under Linux and neither do Netflix and some other paid for streaming services.
That may sound restrictive but there are alternatives for many things and Linux has the benefit of much greater flexibility in your setup. You can, for example, pretty much have the desktop look any way you want, or go without.
You also get to play with enterprise-grade web servers and the like, if that's something you're interested in.

This has a good listing of available software:
http://linuxappfinder.com/

For hardware, the obvious thing is to try a live disk and make sure that everything works before you install.

If you want to look at an alternative to Ubuntu, then Kororaa, OpenSUSE, and Salix are totally unrelated to it and to each other; all good, interesting, easy, and reliable.

Thanks!
 

Thanks to everyone for the thoughtful posts. I hear a lot about Mint. What are the benefits of Mint over Ubuntu (if there are any)? Or perhaps it is just a different flavor? I guess I could try each and decide for myself but I was just wondering and would love to hear the collective wisdom of this group.

Thanks and best wishes.

Mint comes with all the necessary codecs pre-installed, uses the Cinnamon desktop by default (instead of Unity on Ubuntu) and comes with some extra Mint applications, like a backup tool and things.