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    Client Wants To Transition From Windows To Linux

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved IT Discussion
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    • gjacobseG
      gjacobse
      last edited by

      Skype for Linux works well
      Telegram works also.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • black3dynamiteB
        black3dynamite
        last edited by

        MS Office = LibreOffice
        MS Publisher = LibreOffice, Scribus (https://www.scribus.net/)
        Visio = LibreOffice
        Notepad++ = Microsoft Visual Studio Code, Gedit, Kate
        Notepad = The ones that comes native with the Desktop environment like Gedit (Gnome) and Kate (KDE)

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • gjacobseG
          gjacobse
          last edited by

          tagging for more primary use software:

          @scottalanmiller @JaredBusch @CCWTech

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          • black3dynamiteB
            black3dynamite
            last edited by

            Flameshot is another good screen capture.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • black3dynamiteB
              black3dynamite
              last edited by

              If they ever need a screen recorder, there's a nice list of screen recorders from It's FOSS.

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              • JaredBuschJ
                JaredBusch @NashBrydges
                last edited by

                @nashbrydges said in Client Wants To Transition From Windows To Linux:

                I've started compiling a list of software they use and corresponding Linux alternatives. Here's my list so far. You'll notice that some don't list an alternative or have more than 1 shown. I'm interested in what this group prefers.

                MS Office = OnlyOffice (because of its native use of pptx, xlsx, docx file types)
                Desktop email = Evolution, Thunderbird? Sure they could simply use web mail but they do prefer the desktop client experience.
                Notepad = Will likely suggest Nextcloud Notes?
                Softphone = Linphone, Zoiper?
                Notepad++ = Notepadqq, Atom?
                MS Publisher = ???
                Screen Capture = ???
                Visio = Draw.io, Dia?
                OneNote = ???

                • Office: Use LibreOffice for free or OnlyOffice if you require the compatibility, which it seems you want.
                • Email: I have been using Evolutoin with no problems, but someone else had issues with it staying updated
                • Notepad: VSCode
                • Softphone: Not ZoIPer as they are now paid only for commercial use.
                • Notepad++: VSCode. How is this different from Notepad?
                • MS Publisher: LibreOffice Draw maybe? Who uses this? Just eww.
                • Screen Capture: Shutter or Flameshot
                • Visio: LibreOffice Draw
                • OneNote: Nextcloud Notes
                stacksofplatesS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                • JaredBuschJ
                  JaredBusch
                  last edited by

                  I just forced @TechnicalAngel to Fedora + Cinnamon last week.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • CloudKnightC
                    CloudKnight
                    last edited by

                    This cheers me up, I would love to see all businesses embrace linux one day.

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • CloudKnightC
                      CloudKnight
                      last edited by

                      Good Photoshop alternative: https://krita.org/en/

                      alt text

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                      • PhlipElderP
                        PhlipElder
                        last edited by

                        Curiosity question: Are the users already familiar with FOSS to some degree thus the request?

                        I'd really like to hear about how the transition goes and how long it takes the users to regain their efficiencies.

                        ObsolesceO NashBrydgesN 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • ObsolesceO
                          Obsolesce @PhlipElder
                          last edited by

                          @phlipelder said in Client Wants To Transition From Windows To Linux:

                          regain and surpass their efficiencies.

                          FTFY

                          PhlipElderP 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                          • PhlipElderP
                            PhlipElder @Obsolesce
                            last edited by

                            @obsolesce said in Client Wants To Transition From Windows To Linux:

                            FTFY

                            Munich, Germany.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • jmooreJ
                              jmoore @NashBrydges
                              last edited by

                              @nashbrydges
                              MS Office = LibreOffice
                              Desktop email = Evolution
                              Notepad = Atom
                              Softphone = Linphone
                              Screen Capture = Greenshot
                              Visio = Draw
                              OneNote = Grav

                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • NashBrydgesN
                                NashBrydges @PhlipElder
                                last edited by

                                @phlipelder said in Client Wants To Transition From Windows To Linux:

                                Curiosity question: Are the users already familiar with FOSS to some degree thus the request?

                                I'd really like to hear about how the transition goes and how long it takes the users to regain their efficiencies.

                                The client's staff are all relatively young and all have expressed interest in this move which was the primary reason why they're entertaining this move. Being a small company with few employees, getting the existing staff onboard was important and moving forward, they will be creating onboarding documentation to help new employees less familiar with non Windows OS.

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • NashBrydgesN
                                  NashBrydges
                                  last edited by

                                  Thanks for all the feedback. I'll be creating a few VMs for the staff to "play" with to see what flavor of Linux they like best. These suggestions will be very useful.

                                  gjacobseG 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                  • gjacobseG
                                    gjacobse @NashBrydges
                                    last edited by

                                    @nashbrydges said in Client Wants To Transition From Windows To Linux:

                                    Thanks for all the feedback. I'll be creating a few VMs for the staff to "play" with to see what flavor of Linux they like best. These suggestions will be very useful.

                                    Fedora seems to be a really good one to select... I know of several that are using Fedora 28 as a full replacement - myself included.

                                    black3dynamiteB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • black3dynamiteB
                                      black3dynamite @gjacobse
                                      last edited by

                                      @gjacobse said in Client Wants To Transition From Windows To Linux:

                                      @nashbrydges said in Client Wants To Transition From Windows To Linux:

                                      Thanks for all the feedback. I'll be creating a few VMs for the staff to "play" with to see what flavor of Linux they like best. These suggestions will be very useful.

                                      Fedora seems to be a really good one to select... I know of several that are using Fedora 28 as a full replacement - myself included.

                                      Providing the users with different Desktop Environments would help too.

                                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • siringoS
                                        siringo
                                        last edited by

                                        The above posts concentrate alot on Linux equivalents to Windows software. Have you considered the impact to the business and the day to day business operations that may be impacted by going non mainstream?

                                        Puts Devils Advocate hat on.

                                        What happens when they need to use software from a supplier / client / producer / whoever that was written for Windows and can only supply it for Windows. Also that party may only provide support when that software runs in a Windows environment.

                                        You could run it in a Windows emulator. There's added complexity for staff & support, plus additional time in getting it all running.

                                        Staff will need to be retrained as things won't run just like they do in Windows. New employees will be Windows aware few to none will have any Linux knowledge.

                                        The entire world uses Windows, a few small islands use Linux.

                                        I'm not anti Linux nor pro Windows, I can just see lots and lots of headaches, incompatibilities, duplication of work, confusion, retraining, cost, time.

                                        Can the business run reliably & efficiently on Linux? What's the support base like in the area where the business is located? If you're hit by a bus is there anyone else who can support their Linux based business?

                                        Will their phones, cameras, ipods, wahetever be able to plug into their Linux workstations and work?

                                        What happens if it just doesn't work and it becomes too difficult? You may have to end up going Windows and have wasted time & money and will be asking for additional time & money to roll out the MS solution.

                                        Be careful, this is the sort of thing that can destroy reputations.

                                        And again, I'm not anti Linux nor pro Windows, bring back pen & paper I say!

                                        Good luck.

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • stacksofplatesS
                                          stacksofplates @JaredBusch
                                          last edited by

                                          @jaredbusch said in Client Wants To Transition From Windows To Linux:

                                          @nashbrydges said in Client Wants To Transition From Windows To Linux:

                                          I've started compiling a list of software they use and corresponding Linux alternatives. Here's my list so far. You'll notice that some don't list an alternative or have more than 1 shown. I'm interested in what this group prefers.

                                          MS Office = OnlyOffice (because of its native use of pptx, xlsx, docx file types)
                                          Desktop email = Evolution, Thunderbird? Sure they could simply use web mail but they do prefer the desktop client experience.
                                          Notepad = Will likely suggest Nextcloud Notes?
                                          Softphone = Linphone, Zoiper?
                                          Notepad++ = Notepadqq, Atom?
                                          MS Publisher = ???
                                          Screen Capture = ???
                                          Visio = Draw.io, Dia?
                                          OneNote = ???

                                          • Office: Use LibreOffice for free or OnlyOffice if you require the compatibility, which it seems you want.
                                          • Email: I have been using Evolutoin with no problems, but someone else had issues with it staying updated
                                          • Notepad: VSCode
                                          • Softphone: Not ZoIPer as they are now paid only for commercial use.
                                          • Notepad++: VSCode. How is this different from Notepad?
                                          • MS Publisher: LibreOffice Draw maybe? Who uses this? Just eww.
                                          • Screen Capture: Shutter or Flameshot
                                          • Visio: LibreOffice Draw
                                          • OneNote: Nextcloud Notes

                                          Scribus is a Publisher replacement. But I agree, eww.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • stacksofplatesS
                                            stacksofplates
                                            last edited by

                                            Also if you have any nerdy people in your office, LaTeX can do anything.

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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