[OT] migrating to linux (was :Re: [OT] [PD] (Facts Please !) a mac or pc)

CK x at meta.lo-res.org
Mon Dec 15 19:55:38 CET 2003


I read:
[...]
> read docs as literature, I figured it was no problem. 2 days later I was
[...traumatic experiences snipped...]

WOW, it's sad to hear stories like that over and over again, and I'm 
really impressed by the fact that you're still giving debian (or free
sw in general a go).

A few tips for people that want to move over to antarctica though:

* find someone experienced who's willing to lend you a hand
  in the beginning (ideally this is someone from your school, 
  neighborhood but if no one's available check out irc and mailing
  lists a lot of people in the linux community tend to be extremely
  helpful and geeky enough to have amazing response times)

* be prepared for a steep learning curve, hey this is the literate
  user department, and no os is transparent to the blind, you will
  run into trouble (just like with any other complex piece of tech)
  when trying unusual things, and after you fixed a couple of major
  fsck ups you'll be glad you did, they happen less often once you
  get the hang of it, and you'll find it much easier to fix minor
  nuisances. (I don't dare to say never, I consider myself a little
  experienced with free unices and sometimes really really bad things
  can happen to you, but that's hardly exclusive to free sw, at least
  I have less esoteric theories about what is going wrong than the
  amusing read some mac-'tech' forums expose[0])

* learn to program/script a little at first and try to put it to use
  and see how lots of tedious tasks can be made very easy by simply
  changing a few lines in some readily available script/program, watch
  yourself becoming better at it.

* figure out the package management system of your distribution (if
  applicable), become familiar with the GNU build system and start 
  making your own (packages not management system that is)

* start talking in tongues, use more acronyms than actual words,
  patch your kernel on a regular basis and feel the cool breeze.

cheers,

OTx 
  
[0] please this is not intended to qualify mac users as less technology
    savy, but I recently was asked to solve a mac problem that didn't
    exist in the first place when I tried, and a little bit (or rather
    a lot) of searching the web brought me to places were people actually
    suggested to change flats because of an illegal instruction error
    being triggered by the gerbage men truck or whatever ...

-- 
chris at lo-res.org	Postmodernism is german romanticism with better
http://pilot.fm/	special effects. (Jeff Keuss / via ctheory.com)




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