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Comments on Linux distro and documentation for a Windows power user wanting to become a Linux power user without spending a lifetime in the process?
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Linux distro and documentation for a Windows power user wanting to become a Linux power user without spending a lifetime in the process?
I'm a very-long-time Windows user that has lots of experience with that OS and its predecessor (MS-DOS).
I can't call myself exactly a Windows system programmer, although I know some of the APIs and have dabbled a bit in Windows programming, but I'm definitely a power-user (e.g. able to get my hands dirty in many parts of the Windows registry, so to speak).
I tried to learn Linux several times in the past 10-15 years, but I always had some difficulty doing the switch. Now that M$ has really pulled one too much of its stunts against privacy and user control (I could barely stand Windows 10. I won't touch Windows 11 "cloudy mess" with a 10m pole), I'm really considering switching over.
First of all, I'm not scared of command line (I was a DOS power user well before GUIs existed on PCs), and I already used Linux (and Unix) systems in the past. So I have no problem installing a distro and be just an average user using Linux GUI(s).
Moreover, I know many Linux tools because I'm a sort of OpenSource buff, and I've always used lots of FLOSS applications under Windows, many of which are of Linux derivation (just off the top of my head: GCC, LibreOffice, TheGIMP, Inkscape, etc.). I even use GNUwin32, a port of Linux command line tools for Windows.
My big problem is that every time I use Linux I feel my hands tied because I don't know how to do things that come to me naturally in Windows. I'd like to be a Linux power user, but I lack the time to learn by trial and error every little bit of the system as I did for Windows in the past 20+ years (plus another 10+ DOS years)!
Moreover, when I searched the Internet for advice about Linux distributions for Windows users I was faced with one of these attitudes, both unsatisfactory for me (I'm dramatizing a bit, just so you get the gist):
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So you know Windows and you can't make head of tail of Linux and don't even know what a prompt is? OK, try this distro for dumb Windows users.
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Mmmh, so you are a Windows wizard and know how to use the command line? OK, here is this nifty Linux distro that lets you customize everything with the command line, even the icon border color or the speed of water in the kitchen sink.
The first approach is useless for me, since I already know how to use more Linux commands at the prompt that the average Windows user, and I can search the Internet for tech info.
The second is overwhelming, because it assumes that you already know the philosophy behind any aspect of Linux, and assumes you have unlimited time to learn new things.
What I would ideally like is an advice for a reasonably friendly distribution that can be combined with documentation targeted at Windows power users that can ease the transition.
For what I've read in the last couple of months, it seems that Linux Mint could be a good trade-off, because it is based on a friendly distro (Ubuntu), but it's privacy conscious and doesn't follow corporate shenanigans. Moreover it is also suitable for older systems, and that would be good since I have a couple of older laptops that have been upgraded with more RAM and a good SSD, but have a ~10yrs old processor, and they would make excellent machines to do the transition without messing with my "active" Windows system.
Please, correct me if you think I'm wrong!
The big problem is the documentation. I know under Linux the docs are abundant, but they always assume a wide competency about the system. I'd like to know if there are guides explicitly written for Windows power users that keep the "Windows mindset" into consideration (e.g. sometimes a GUI is the right tool for the job, like when you need to select one-by-one a bunch of files in a directory that are not apparently related and that need to be copied or processed by the same tool).
To be more specific, I don't need something that tells me just "don't use the registry, just change that line of that config files". I need something that "understands" the usual workflow of a Windows power user and tells me "OK, In Windows you would have used this tool. Now you could use this other, which is similar, but if you really want to do better, just use this command on the prompt because it can also do this, and doesn't have this other limitation".
I would need something that also explains "common knowledge that a Linux power user should know that a Windows user would never think about". For example, what's the Linux equivalent of the "ctrl-alt-canc" that can bring a Windows system out of a problematic situation, allowing you to run the process manager.
I know that this post is a bit hand-wavy, but I hope someone who is a power user on both systems could understand my problem and point me in a good direction.
Note: I posted here and not on Linux.Codidact because the community here is bigger and I hope there are more people that know both systems.
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