IBM writes: “So, your boss says you’re moving from Windows to Linux. He’s decided he wants the stability, flexibility, and cost savings of Linux, but you have many questions in your head. Isn’t Linux like Unix? Isn’t Unix hard? Will you be able to do it? Where do you begin to make sense of all of this? Is there a map you can follow?”No worries, you’ll be able to transfer many of your existing skills to Linux with this gentle Windows-to-Linux roadmap. Now you can get away from your everyday Windows life and take these simple life-changing steps to Linux success!
Step 1. Thinking in Linux – Redirect what you know and do it the Linux way.
Step 2. Console crash course – Reacquaint yourself with the command prompt.
Step 3. Introduction to Webmin – Easy point-and-click admin tool for beginners
Step 4. User administration – Learn about the Linux approach to users.
Step 5. Linux logging – Monitor the health of your system, its important.
Step 6. Working with file systems – The heart of every server.
Step 7. Networking – Unleash the power of Linux and its full potential.
Step 8. Backup and recovery – The first line of defense against disaster
Step 9. Installing software – Take your pick, binaries or compile from source.
Seems odd to me that IBM or anyone would create a handbook to move from windows to linux. I have never seen one to move from windows to Mac OS. Mainly becasue Mac OS is so damn easy to learn. Perhaps Linux should get to that point first before it is forced on the non-tech savy.
I think you’re missing the point of the IBM presentation.
It’s intended for the MS tech-savvy, who suddenly find themselves having to learn working in a Linux environment. Kind of an exciting thought, actually.
IBM has only recently given a little support to Linux for desktops, and they weren’t even talking about consumer desktops.
Keep in mind that Linux desktops are easy to learn, especially if you didn’t install the system the same way you probably didn’t install the Mac OS or Windows! Just pull up a chair and start clicking!
…is to counter the many, many myths conveyed about Linux by Microsoft. Often, it’s not that Linux is more difficult, just that it’s different. By pointing out what is different (and what is similar), I think this can serve as a great tool to ensure ease of migration.
If you bother to take a look at the guides, you’ll find out that they aren’t geared toward the ‘non-tech savvy.’ Much of what the author wrote is aimed at system administrators and others who will be expected to configure, not just use, machines in a working environment.
On the other hand, maybe you indeed read some of the guides, and you’re saying that poor non-tech savvy sysadmins are having Linux forced on them by their companies, who only care about using more flexible and less expensive software to lower their bottom lines, even if their employees aren’t tech savvy enough to handle it. Gee, maybe those sysadmins ought to be unemployed.
http://apple.speedera.net/download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Are…
[Server Migration Guide – 50 pages]
http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2003/10/28/pixarosx/index.php?r…
[Pixar’s Migration]
http://www.apple.com/switch/howto/
[Desktop Migration HOWTO]
http://www.apple.com/switch/howto/move2mac/
[Mac Migration Software]
http://www.infoworld.com/article/03/10/10/40OPcurve_1.html
[OS X Server Migration Story]
Upon reading the article, and reading the comments posted here, I have to toss in my own experiences. When I first booted into Mandrake Linux, I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated…simply because the conventions used (i.e. directory names, paths, etc). After a few weeks of “appliance” use, I suppose I could say I was comfortable navigating around the OS, however, I still have very little clue on how to “compile”, or to “build” programs or additions.
OK…so, I predict that once Linux is “smoothed-out” and made reliable and easier, like MacOS or BeOS, then Linux will REALLY give Windows a run for their money.
You really shouldn’t ever have to compile anything, especially if you’re using something like Mandrake. Usually, installing software is just a matter of “urpmi <foo>”
Linux needs to be more polished (nowhere near as polished as BeOS or MacOS, yet) but right now its not too much worse than Windows in that department.
I had a quick look at the Console Crash course. It’s really useful. It reminds me of all those command line options I had forgot or even just never looked up the man pages for.
Really useful stuff – ibm
I still think every Linux user should be introduced to Linux via the command line interface. Yeah, flame me if you will, but that’s where the true power of unix lies. Simple commands like cp, cd, ls, tar, mv, clear, rm, shred should be introduced.
They are exponentially more powerful than a graphical file manager, albeit, less visual. There is nothing really hard about a CLI if you have a brain, or you are not too old. Phobia for command line interfaces should be discouraged, especially amongst administrators, but home and corporate.
“There is nothing really hard about a CLI if you have a brain, or you are not too old.”
A funny thing happened to me this past Friday. I was visiting with my grandmother, who is 81 years old and has literally never spent five minutes sitting in front of a computer. I think she wants to smash my grandfather’s machine, which takes up too much of his time for her liking.
Anyway, she asked me to show her my laptop (I have Linux intalled, by the way) and explain a little bit about computers and how they work. Eventually I got around to explaining and demonstrating differences between GUIs and CLIs; after maybe two minutes of demonstrating the command line, she said, “I see why you’d want to use the pretty graphics stuff, but working that way (command line, that is) would be so much more efficient once you learned all the commands.”
Bless the wisdom that comes with age.
IMHO, the very first thing that should be taught isn’t Linux but UNIX. Every “Tech Savvy” Microsoft admininstrator should first purchase, “UNIX Complete”; US$19.95, mainly focuses on SYSV which is what Linux is based around.
Once they have mastered UNIX then they should move on to learning a scripting language, either Python, Perl, cscript.
Once they have that mastered then, and only then should they move on to learning the ‘ins” and “outs” of Linux.
Unlike Microsoft Windows, which is incomptable with the rest of the known universe. Linux is part of the UNIX family of operating systems. If you know UNIX, then you will find that learning Solaris, Linux, IRIX and AIX will be childs play.
That is how I did it, I first learnt UNIX then moved onto learning Solaris, FreeBSD and Linux. It was well worth it and now I can jump onto any UNIX and find myself at home without a care in the world.
Anyway, she asked me to show her my laptop (I have Linux intalled, by the way) and explain a little bit about computers and how they work. Eventually I got around to explaining and demonstrating differences between GUIs and CLIs; after maybe two minutes of demonstrating the command line, she said, “I see why you’d want to use the pretty graphics stuff, but working that way (command line, that is) would be so much more efficient once you learned all the commands.”
Well, I am not surprised. My grandfather, a farmer all his life is able to achieve which most mer mortals can’t, that is, set up the VCR and TV correctly.
What did he say, “well, I unpacked the equipment, found the instructions, read them from front to back and then followed the steps required”. This is coming from a 74 year old.
Age is never a barrier to learning, laziness is. I could go on about the laziness of the average person, however, I am sure I would end up preaching to the converted, which would be completely pointless. In a nutshell, I’ve given up on man kind. Unfortunately the average person is no self motivated enough to do something about the cluelessness, and this isn’t just in IT, extends into society where we have people blame the likes of McDonalds because their ass is the size of the Pentagon.
The references given in the articles pointed to other info from IBM (most of them). It would have been better to mention some good sysadmin books instead of just writing stuff like “The O’Reilly Network”.
Saying that both linux and windows can work with a wide variety of file systems is demeaning for the penguin. Interoperating with Microsoft products is like walking through a minefield, just ask the Samba team or Novell about it.
My experience and opinion aboit linux phobia is that it sadly excist because first of all, users want to play their games. Second of all, they don’t think/know that similar program exist for linux and third of all, they have this idea that everything almost looks and works like windows.
So when they first try out linux, they expect they will boot up in a system that is almost similar to windows. And when they find out it is different(big surprice?) they critisize it for not being and acting like the windows they are used to. So instead of reading the manual or talking to other linux users, they just find it more easy going back to windows and bad mouth linux.
If more people took just 5min extra when they incountered a problem, they would actually learn something.
On the other hand, maybe you indeed read some of the guides, and you’re saying that poor non-tech savvy sysadmins are having Linux forced on them by their companies, who only care about using more flexible and less expensive software to lower their bottom lines, even if their employees aren’t tech savvy enough to handle it. Gee, maybe those sysadmins ought to be unemployed.
I really was talking about the average corporate user. My point being that i would rather Linux by merit alone prove to be a better way to compute than Windows or whoever. Rather then a bunch or corporations trying to force linux on other companies. Any sys admin worth his salt should have interest in more than one operating system.
I’m a long-time Linux newbie (although being good on windows side of the world), trying several distributions and always been disappointed by the lack of the most fundamental information that is easy to understand, even for beginners like me. Even some “linux newbie guides” on the web were neither simple nor intuitive, and almost all of them required some existing basic knowledge about linux. Well, this introduction is the best I’ve seen so far and helped me a lot. It encouraged me to try linux one more time, and I somehow have the feeling this time I won’t be disappointed. Thanks alot!
Everyone knows that workign with IBM is extremely expensive, so how will it be cheaper than buying things from MS?