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Microsoft had been testing my patience for a while, but Windows 10 was the straw that broke the camels back. I no longer support or use Windows and am a happier

Microsoft had been testing my patience for a while, but Windows 10 was the straw that broke the camels back. I no longer support or use Windows and am a happier/healthier person for it. Ya'll should try it too! Microsoft is not a good faith actor in the software world, at all. All the "open-source" push they have been doing of late to stem the tide reeks of the 90's... and what frustates me the most is people are so apologetic for them and seem to have forgotten how anti-FOSS they were and are. The three E's still apply. Don't be fooled. For those of you who are pragmatic, the place to start is by replacing your AD servers with Samba4. You can then at least get it off your servers even if you still have to support Windows users.

cm2187 9y ago
I wish I could do the same but I don't have the time to relearn everything from scratch. Did you use any specific resources in transitioning from windows to linux?
- rbanffy 9y ago
  It really depends on what you do, what you work on. System administration is very different, as is GUI development. Other things aren't that different and a lot of back-end, devops-ish, trendy stuff is cross-platform.
  - cm2187 9y ago
    I sort of like to play with everything: virtualisation, websites, desktop development. Which is why that's quite a lot to learn, and not a trivial exercise without a GUI. In fact if it wasn't for the disaster that windows 10 has become, I would rather stay in the MS environment. Visual Studio/.net/C#/VB.net are a treat, and I am concerned I won't find tools and languages that are that integrated and polished in the linux world.
    - rbanffy 9y ago
      About desktop development, you will need to consider your clients. If you develop for Windows clients, then probably you'll be better off running Visual Studio, even if inside a VM. If you develop for other platforms or write code that does not depend on Windows API's, you are pretty much free to use anything. Eclipse, NetBeans, IntelliJ etc don't change between platforms. The bulk of virtualization is the concepts - virtual networks, disks etc. You can learn a new UI rather easily. I am not sure what is the situation on .NET web development for other OSs, but I keep hearing Microsoft is doing a great job with that. I am mostly web these days and all my tools work pretty well under Windows (even though the last time I did it I used Cygwin because it was well before the Ubuntu on Windows thing).
- lithos 9y ago
  Savings on server hosting caused me to start using Linux. Then making every possible mistake when following tutorials caused enough exposure to actually learn something.
- arca_vorago 9y ago
  I would say you just have to spend some time in linux. For example, get a $5-$10 vps from Vultr or Digital Ocean, and start hosting things and experimenting. Or start trying out different distros in a vm like virtualbox. As a matter of fact, one of the best things I did was distrohop like a madman. It forces you to learn the intracacies of various distros. I also try hard to spend time in whichever distro I'm supporting at the moment. For example, if I'm supporting a mostly debian environment, I would prefer to be running Debian-derivitave as my daily, or at least have a VM of it I'm working in daily. The same for Suse, CentOS, etc. I used to make new guys install arch, because it taught them the underside of linux without being quite as bad as gentoo/slack. Document your knowledge as it progresses. Take notes. Compare commands in Windows you are used to and find the equivs. I actually plan to eventually release some of my own documentation (I use emacs org-mode/asciidoc), but its one of many projects. In the end, I don't think looking at it as relearning from scratch is correct. You already have the basics down, you just need to shift that knowledge and expand it. For example, I'm sure from Windows you know the difference between Fat16/32 and NTFS. Maybe about FDE with bitlocker. So with Linux, check out ext4, btrfs, zfs. FDE with dmcrypt/luks or aes-loop. You know the folder structure of Windows... so learn the linux layout: http://www.gocit.vn/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Linux-file-system-hierarchy-v2.0.png http://www.gocit.vn/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Linux-file-sy... One thing I think helped the most was making comparison spreadsheets. I need something that solves X problem. Learning how to choose the software thats best for you is the primary skill I think that makes someone better, because you have to think about the reasoning for your choices. For example, licensing is important to me, so I would always have a column for license info. Unlike windows, there are many more tools to solve problems so you have to get good at this or you can be crippled by indecision. Probably the single most helpful resource is the arch linux wiki. https://wiki.archlinux.org/ https://wiki.archlinux.org/ Also, IRC is still happening for the FOSS community, despite all the proprietary fad chat like slack, discord, etc. I also think it's very important for you to understand the history of computing and OS's. If you know how Linux, Unix, Minix, BSD, DOS, Windows all came about and how they relate, you have a stronger basis to expand on.
  - cm2187 9y ago
    Getting hold of a linux machine is the easy part, between VMs and all the hardware I have, that's not a problem. Learning how to use the OS is the hard part. I did try previously but my attempts were frustrated by the lack of UI (self-discoverability) and the variety of alternative tools to solve the same problem, which also means the documentation is very fragmented. The breadth of acronyms doesn't help either. I am sure it is just stuff to learn, and I have the feeling I will need to force myself to go all-in if I ever want to do the jump (rather than having a linux laptop on the side I never use). What I wonder is if soneone who has done it before knows of good resources to help with the process.
have_faith 9y ago
I literally only have windows for games now. The OS is pushing my patience to the point where I'm considering giving up half my steam library and sticking to MacOS / Linux. A couple nights ago my PC woke up in the middle of the night and started an update. I had to get up and force shut it down. I don't think there's anything Microsoft can do to reverse the damage now.
- frik 9y ago
  I bought a PlayStation 4 and couldn't be happier, and I keep Win7 around for old games. The "new Microsoft" sucks big time, and they drive the company against the wall - Win10/WinPhone10/Xbone crash.
- zlynx 9y ago
  So you don't want it to update while you're using it. And you don't want it to update when you're not using it. When, exactly, is it OK for it to update?
  - stagger87 9y ago
    If the OS is stable for me I shouldn't need to update.
    - kyriakos 9y ago
      Stable in your eyes doesn't mean there's no underlying security issues that need fixing.
  - have_faith 9y ago
    My machine is used for occasional gaming and nothing else. I would like to update it when I please. If that means it's out of date for a while I don't care, I'll happily click through multiple big red warnings confirming I want this.
  - mattnewton 9y ago
    When I, the supposed owner of the computer, tell it to.
darrmit 9y ago
You can't just "replace AD servers with Samba4". It doesn't even begin to provide the same usability and feature set. I love the idea. It's just not viable.
- arca_vorago 9y ago
  Yes, you can, depending on the environment. I've done it in prod multiple times. There are a handful of features that aren't 1to1, but they can be worked around in other ways. In most cases, the people I've seen say this either tried Samba pre v4, or had more complicated setups where it may not apply (for example, cross-forest trusts just recently were prod ready in 4.5.1+), or usually just didn't know their way around linux as much. Is it a replacement for all situations? No. For many though? Yes. Of course there are other options as well, such as FreeIPA, etc. Samba roadmap: https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Roadmap https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Roadmap

cm2187 9y ago

I wish I could do the same but I don't have the time to relearn everything from scratch. Did you use any specific resources in transitioning from windows to linux?

rbanffy 9y ago
It really depends on what you do, what you work on. System administration is very different, as is GUI development. Other things aren't that different and a lot of back-end, devops-ish, trendy stuff is cross-platform.
- cm2187 9y ago
  I sort of like to play with everything: virtualisation, websites, desktop development. Which is why that's quite a lot to learn, and not a trivial exercise without a GUI. In fact if it wasn't for the disaster that windows 10 has become, I would rather stay in the MS environment. Visual Studio/.net/C#/VB.net are a treat, and I am concerned I won't find tools and languages that are that integrated and polished in the linux world.
  - rbanffy 9y ago
    About desktop development, you will need to consider your clients. If you develop for Windows clients, then probably you'll be better off running Visual Studio, even if inside a VM. If you develop for other platforms or write code that does not depend on Windows API's, you are pretty much free to use anything. Eclipse, NetBeans, IntelliJ etc don't change between platforms. The bulk of virtualization is the concepts - virtual networks, disks etc. You can learn a new UI rather easily. I am not sure what is the situation on .NET web development for other OSs, but I keep hearing Microsoft is doing a great job with that. I am mostly web these days and all my tools work pretty well under Windows (even though the last time I did it I used Cygwin because it was well before the Ubuntu on Windows thing).
lithos 9y ago
Savings on server hosting caused me to start using Linux. Then making every possible mistake when following tutorials caused enough exposure to actually learn something.
arca_vorago 9y ago
I would say you just have to spend some time in linux. For example, get a $5-$10 vps from Vultr or Digital Ocean, and start hosting things and experimenting. Or start trying out different distros in a vm like virtualbox. As a matter of fact, one of the best things I did was distrohop like a madman. It forces you to learn the intracacies of various distros. I also try hard to spend time in whichever distro I'm supporting at the moment. For example, if I'm supporting a mostly debian environment, I would prefer to be running Debian-derivitave as my daily, or at least have a VM of it I'm working in daily. The same for Suse, CentOS, etc. I used to make new guys install arch, because it taught them the underside of linux without being quite as bad as gentoo/slack. Document your knowledge as it progresses. Take notes. Compare commands in Windows you are used to and find the equivs. I actually plan to eventually release some of my own documentation (I use emacs org-mode/asciidoc), but its one of many projects. In the end, I don't think looking at it as relearning from scratch is correct. You already have the basics down, you just need to shift that knowledge and expand it. For example, I'm sure from Windows you know the difference between Fat16/32 and NTFS. Maybe about FDE with bitlocker. So with Linux, check out ext4, btrfs, zfs. FDE with dmcrypt/luks or aes-loop. You know the folder structure of Windows... so learn the linux layout: http://www.gocit.vn/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Linux-file-system-hierarchy-v2.0.png http://www.gocit.vn/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Linux-file-sy... One thing I think helped the most was making comparison spreadsheets. I need something that solves X problem. Learning how to choose the software thats best for you is the primary skill I think that makes someone better, because you have to think about the reasoning for your choices. For example, licensing is important to me, so I would always have a column for license info. Unlike windows, there are many more tools to solve problems so you have to get good at this or you can be crippled by indecision. Probably the single most helpful resource is the arch linux wiki. https://wiki.archlinux.org/ https://wiki.archlinux.org/ Also, IRC is still happening for the FOSS community, despite all the proprietary fad chat like slack, discord, etc. I also think it's very important for you to understand the history of computing and OS's. If you know how Linux, Unix, Minix, BSD, DOS, Windows all came about and how they relate, you have a stronger basis to expand on.
- cm2187 9y ago
  Getting hold of a linux machine is the easy part, between VMs and all the hardware I have, that's not a problem. Learning how to use the OS is the hard part. I did try previously but my attempts were frustrated by the lack of UI (self-discoverability) and the variety of alternative tools to solve the same problem, which also means the documentation is very fragmented. The breadth of acronyms doesn't help either. I am sure it is just stuff to learn, and I have the feeling I will need to force myself to go all-in if I ever want to do the jump (rather than having a linux laptop on the side I never use). What I wonder is if soneone who has done it before knows of good resources to help with the process.

have_faith 9y ago

I literally only have windows for games now. The OS is pushing my patience to the point where I'm considering giving up half my steam library and sticking to MacOS / Linux. A couple nights ago my PC woke up in the middle of the night and started an update. I had to get up and force shut it down. I don't think there's anything Microsoft can do to reverse the damage now.

frik 9y ago
I bought a PlayStation 4 and couldn't be happier, and I keep Win7 around for old games. The "new Microsoft" sucks big time, and they drive the company against the wall - Win10/WinPhone10/Xbone crash.
zlynx 9y ago
So you don't want it to update while you're using it. And you don't want it to update when you're not using it. When, exactly, is it OK for it to update?
- stagger87 9y ago
  If the OS is stable for me I shouldn't need to update.
  - kyriakos 9y ago
    Stable in your eyes doesn't mean there's no underlying security issues that need fixing.
- have_faith 9y ago
  My machine is used for occasional gaming and nothing else. I would like to update it when I please. If that means it's out of date for a while I don't care, I'll happily click through multiple big red warnings confirming I want this.
- mattnewton 9y ago
  When I, the supposed owner of the computer, tell it to.

darrmit 9y ago

You can't just "replace AD servers with Samba4". It doesn't even begin to provide the same usability and feature set. I love the idea. It's just not viable.

arca_vorago 9y ago
Yes, you can, depending on the environment. I've done it in prod multiple times. There are a handful of features that aren't 1to1, but they can be worked around in other ways. In most cases, the people I've seen say this either tried Samba pre v4, or had more complicated setups where it may not apply (for example, cross-forest trusts just recently were prod ready in 4.5.1+), or usually just didn't know their way around linux as much. Is it a replacement for all situations? No. For many though? Yes. Of course there are other options as well, such as FreeIPA, etc. Samba roadmap: https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Roadmap https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Roadmap