Ten ways to smooth the switch to Linux


	Ten ways to smooth the switch to Linux

deusdiabolus

9-8-2009 2:06 AM

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deusdiabolus says:

If you're spreading the gospel of Linux among your Windows-based friends and family (or a sysadmin planning a full changeover), here are things you can do to ease others into the wonderful world of open-source.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/ff7f2de3-f65b-4217-b273-d3a604260376/28B06678-1071-4A6B-AA30-3C64C22814C8/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm" href="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm" style="font-size: 11px;">www.zdnet.co.uk</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm"><STRONG>1. Standardise on a Windows-like desktop</STRONG></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm">If your users are PC un-savvy and have used only Windows, make sure you stick with <A href="http://www.kde.org/" title="KDE homepage">K Desktop Environment (KDE)</A> or <A href="http://www.xfce.org/" title="Xfce homepage">Xfce</A>. You could even use a modified <A href="http://www.gnome.org/" title="Gnome homepage">Gnome</A> to look and act exactly like the Windows desktop.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm"><STRONG>2. Get users familiar with applications before you switch</STRONG></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm">Because some of the most often-used applications are cross-platform, you can start them on the applications while working in their familiar environment.</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm"><STRONG>3. Choose the right distribution</STRONG></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm"><P><A href="http://www.ubuntu.com/" title="Ubuntu homepage">Ubuntu</A> tops the class for ease of use. But Ubuntu is not alone...</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm"><STRONG>4. Have a machine up and running for users to play with</STRONG></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm"><STRONG>5. Remove administrative menu entries</STRONG></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm"><P><STRONG>6. Adopt Adept</STRONG><BR /><A href="http://web.mornfall.net/blog/adept_3.0_beta_4.html" title="Adept 3.0 Beta 4">Adept</A>, and other simple update and installation tools, are key to keeping users happily computing. 
</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm"><STRONG>7. Offer printed materials</STRONG></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm"><STRONG>8. Make screen casts of more difficult tasks</STRONG></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm"><STRONG>9. Encourage the use of Linux-based forums and mailing lists</STRONG></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.zdnet.co.uk/misc/print/0,1000000169,39631286-21000001c,00.htm"><STRONG>10. Have an installfest</STRONG></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/28B06678-1071-4A6B-AA30-3C64C22814C8/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content7.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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