I took the plunge this afternoon. I double-copied most of my data to two disks, so they would be accessible from both (I did this because linux was having a little trouble with one of the Windows "dymnamic disks").
Once the data was copied I began the installation. I quickly encountered the large FAT-32 volume bug and had to disconnect all external drives. Once unplugged the installation went smoothly.
I decided to go with XFS as my file system and formatted 2 of my 3 large disks making the first a system disk, the second my /home disk. The third disk contents are being copied as I write and will become my /Work disk soon. I also have a 4th disk, smaller, FAT-32 formatted and I use that to store a lot of "junk."
I have managed to get Chrome installed, my email accounts plugged in, my chat accounts plugged in, etc. I did manage to get the Cisco AnyConnect client installed and to the point where it appears to work, but I had trouble with my work connection. I'll have to reboot and check that out later. The process of getting the Cisco client involves installing 32 bit libraries and copying firefox libraries into the Cisco client's lib folder.
Since work is my priority, I'll be focusing on that tonight. I need to get the connection squared away, then I need to rig ssh+svn so I can access our code. I also need to get a few extra apps installed, like the official version of Sun Java, altho' I might try to get JBOSS running with the OpenJDK version. We shall see. I also want to get JDeveloper and the Oracle client libraries installed if possible.
Once all the work stuff is squared away, I can focus on getting Wine installed and work on getting several of my games going. I was excited to read that Torchlight works very well under Wine and the Steam client should fare as well as the store-bought CD-ROM version of the game.
As I mentioned before, I will meet some limitations. I won't be able to watch my Netflix instant queue from my computer. I also had to export my iTunes music to non-DRM format. I wanted to wait to do the same for my video library, but I got antsy while waiting on the conversion company to help me out with an issue. So what I will have to do is copy my video library to my son's computer and run the software there. It will take a couple of days to complete. Perhaps I can get this started before we leave for vacation, then clean up when we get back.
Friday, May 21, 2010
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
From Windows 7 to Linux - Part 1
I've decided to give linux another shot. Windows 7 is solid, but I like the principles behind FOSS and similar ideas and want to support them.
There are pros and cons inherent in this decision. The pros are that there is a vast pool of free software to make use of, a modern high performance operating system and a large user base that is willing to share and help out when you encounter problems (for the most part). The cons take some swallowing.
I will not be able to view netflix movies online. I will not be able to play a large number of my games, and I can no longer make use of iTunes to purchase and manage my music. (Most people would not consider that to be a con). I also generate my tax documents with software that will not run on linux. I'll worry about that next April. Other cons include shaky graphics drivers and a willingness to get under the hood from time to time to make modifications to the OS. No problem, I like doing that.
The first step to moving to linux, which I have already begun, is to preserve my music and movies in such a way that I might continue to enjoy them. To do this I need to back my DRM-laden media up to non-DRM media. I am doing this with legally purchased software, and while I might be walking a thin line of legality, my thinking is that this is my music, my TV shows that I purchased and I'll be damned if someone is going to say "no you can't watch them anymore" because of the operating system I have chosen to use.
Once this process is completed I can begin copying files I wish to keep from one disk to another (backups of a sort) so that I can wipe at least two of my 3 disks for the purpose of creating my system and user disks in linux. After that, another copy so I can reformat (and alter my mount table) my third drive for my work files.
I have several shared drives that are formatted in FAT32... they can stay that way for now. Linux does fine with FAT32.
After that is all the tweaking and configuring that will need to happen so that I can work effectively and also play some of my games on Steam.
So to summarize:
1. back up important data and media (in progress)
2. initial install
3. restore data
4. tweak install
5. restore some semblance of a gaming environment
Once step three is complete, I'll post more about steps 1-3.
There are pros and cons inherent in this decision. The pros are that there is a vast pool of free software to make use of, a modern high performance operating system and a large user base that is willing to share and help out when you encounter problems (for the most part). The cons take some swallowing.
I will not be able to view netflix movies online. I will not be able to play a large number of my games, and I can no longer make use of iTunes to purchase and manage my music. (Most people would not consider that to be a con). I also generate my tax documents with software that will not run on linux. I'll worry about that next April. Other cons include shaky graphics drivers and a willingness to get under the hood from time to time to make modifications to the OS. No problem, I like doing that.
The first step to moving to linux, which I have already begun, is to preserve my music and movies in such a way that I might continue to enjoy them. To do this I need to back my DRM-laden media up to non-DRM media. I am doing this with legally purchased software, and while I might be walking a thin line of legality, my thinking is that this is my music, my TV shows that I purchased and I'll be damned if someone is going to say "no you can't watch them anymore" because of the operating system I have chosen to use.
Once this process is completed I can begin copying files I wish to keep from one disk to another (backups of a sort) so that I can wipe at least two of my 3 disks for the purpose of creating my system and user disks in linux. After that, another copy so I can reformat (and alter my mount table) my third drive for my work files.
I have several shared drives that are formatted in FAT32... they can stay that way for now. Linux does fine with FAT32.
After that is all the tweaking and configuring that will need to happen so that I can work effectively and also play some of my games on Steam.
So to summarize:
1. back up important data and media (in progress)
2. initial install
3. restore data
4. tweak install
5. restore some semblance of a gaming environment
Once step three is complete, I'll post more about steps 1-3.
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