Mistakes to Avoid

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Revision as of 00:02, 5 October 2021 by Rpeters (talk | contribs)
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Changing Operating System involves a learning curve and might not be quick. Many people trying Linux abandon the attempt, following inadequate investigation. Avoid the following, common mistakes:

  1. Expecting a Windows/iOS experience, when the general look & feel might be similar but the different paradigm in Linux results in :
    • often a longer "time to boot", on the same hardware, offset by
      • fewer needs to reboot
    • "drivers" being generally inbuilt and installed automatically
    • antivirus software not being required
    • frequent, but not automatic updates
  2. Not Adjusting Settings
    • many apparent "anoyances", such as background image, fonts etc can quickly be changed
      • a summary Handbook is often accessible via the "Help" pull-down menu
  3. Changing Distribution, when a different Desktop Environment would be better
    • many distributions have a choice of Desktop Enviroments, whilst being similar "under the hood"
  4. Installing too Soon
    • live DVD are generally free and do not time-expire
      • time to reboot from USB 3 device is relatively short
    • evaluate at least two Desktop Environments
      • from the same Distribution, to get the best comparison
    • evaluate at least two Distributions
      • staying with one Desktop Environment, to get the best comparison
  5. Expecting all of your existing hardware to work
    • Linux generally supports older hardware longer than do other OS - but
      • drivers for new hardware might not be available quickly - plus
      • there is insufficient market to make Linux drivers viable for some hardware
    • in general, avoid buying new hardware without doing a search for "hardware model + Linux"