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Sell Me on Linux (self.linux)

submitted 1 year ago by Sage_the_Lawyer to c/[email protected]

137 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I posted this as a comment in another post but when I got done I realized it would probably just be better as its own post. I'm sure I could find the answers I need myself but frankly I trust the userbase here more than most online articles.

As my username hints at, I'm a lawyer. I'm considering starting my own firm as a solo practitioner. I need a computer and/or laptop for it, and as a new business my budget would be pretty tight. I've mostly only ever used windows, but I'm getting fed up with the bullshit, so I'm considering going with Linux.

I assume Linux is capable of doing everything I need, which is primarily handling word documents, viewing PDFs, watching evidence videos, and online research. But my concern is that some of the more commonly used video types might have trouble on Linux, or that some of the word document templates I use in Windows might have compatibility issues.

I'm also nervous about using an OS I'm not familiar with for business purposes right away.

So I guess I'm asking a few questions. What is a reliable yet affordable option to get started? Are my concerns based in reality or is Linux going to be able to handle everything windows does without issues? What else might I need to know to use Linux comfortably from the get go? Is it going to take a lot of time and effort to get Linux running how I need it to?

For reference, I do consider myself to be somewhat tech-savvy. I don't code or anything, but I've built my last two home computers myself and I'm not scared of general software management, I just don't make it myself.

So, yeah, sell me on Linux, please.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Here's a good discussion on HN about this, including comments from lawyers.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

zorin os is an out of the box distro that will have all the applications from the start and maximum windows look, feel, and compatibility. https://zorin.com/os/

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

if you are using latest nvidia hardware and one of your favourite software does not work on Linux. just stay away from it

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

That's human trafficking, I'm not into that

[–] GustavoM 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

That is like, trying to convince a meat lover to eat veggies (only) but seriously? Just download an iso @ https://linuxmint.com/, give it a spin. It's free. Be aware that "It's not Windows" so expect some things to not behave "by the Windows logic". "Duckduckgo is your friend", even if it means asking the most trivial things "How do I install $thing on Linux mint?", and you'll be just fine.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (3 children)

If you're looking for something to buy, look elsewhere.. Linux is FREE

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I love Linux since switching nearly a year ago. Yet, I still once in a while find myself in situations where I screw up and I think to myself "Oh, I'm glad this is not my work computer". If you have no experience with Linux from before, maybe you should consider getting a personal laptop, install Linux on that, and get comfortable using it before transitioning your business to it. That way, the first time you accidentally uninstall your desktop environment (I managed to do this not once, but twice....), it is not 10 minutes before an important client meeting.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

In addition to using virtual machines, remember that once a virtual machine is installed, you can use 7zip (or any zipping program) to archive the whole folder containing the vm files, so if something screws up on the vm, you can reset by deleting the folder, restore it from the zipped archive, and trying again without having to do the whole installation process over and over. You can make as many of those archives as you want as you get a vm install to different milestones.

[–] warmaster 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Get Office 365 subscriptions to use MS Office via web browser.

End of story regarding office apps.

Regarding the rest of the OS, get Ventoy and load it with a bunch of distros and test drive them to see which one you like the most.

Some suggestions to start with:

Fedora
Ubuntu
OpenSUSE

All these have their enterprise variants which could come in handy in the event you need official support when your company takes off.

I personally use Arch on my desktop PCs, but if I couldn't... I would use Fedora or a Fedora based distro.

I use Fedora Server on my homelab.

I chose these because I want the latest drivers for my GPUs, gaming peripherals, and display related improvements (Wayland, Mesa, etc.).

[–] anon_8675309 1 points 1 year ago

Nope. Try it and be your own objective judge.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Linux is vastly superior. I've been on Linux desktop for over 20 years now, I'll never go back.

As a typical example: this weekend I install Linux (with download and making iso) takes 20 minutes, I install windows (first time in decades, something for my son), took fucking 6 hours, 14 attempts, loads of problem searching on internet.

Having said that, there are some things to keep in mind. Linux mostly (to users) is slightly different on a few details, and because of Microsoft, there are some things to keep in mind.

You're a lawyer, so you might have to deal with Microsoft documents. Those you can process with LibreOffice (I don't like it very much, like Microsoft office), google drive (works very nice, but is still closed source, google) or your own hosted linux server with nextcloud and only office (a bit harder to setup but then it's all yours and under your control)

Look into any closed source windows applications that are required. Most windows programs run also under Linux (wine, proton, and these days various other solutions up to a virtual machine with windows for those few exceptions that won't work on Linux for some reason)

Video formats are non-issue, Linux eats everything and mostly out of the box.

Then, Linux has distributions. See it as different car brands. They're all cars, based on the same tech, just different brand names that do details slightly different. You gotta choose a distro (distribution). I HIGHLY recommend either fedora or (my person Lal preference) a Ubuntu variant. I personally have been using kubuntu for over a decade now. The graphical user interface works mostly like windows (just better) and most programs have Ubuntu ready Linux versions available, making installing them super easy. Install VirtualBox (free, as usual) to run windows in a virtual machine if needed, and setup multiple desktops so that you can easily switch to a windows desktop when needed (hopefully, and likely, never)

If you need help let me know

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

In 1 word : freedom.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Use Linux and computer will devour your entire life just trying to make that thing you want, to work.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

Get a MacBook and use apple software if you are a lawyer.

[–] TCB13 -2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I'll instead "un-sell" you on Linux: https://tadeubento.com/2023/linux-desktop-a-collective-delusion/

Given your job I wouldn't do it:

People who need MS Office because once you have to collaborate with others Open/Libre/OnlyOffice won’t cut it. If one lives in a bubble and doesn’t to collaborate with others then native Linux apps might work and might even deliver a decent workflow. Once collaboration with Windows/Mac users is required then it’s game over – the “alternatives” aren’t just up to it.

Windows licenses are cheap and things work out of the box. Software runs fine, all vendors support whatever you’re trying to do and you’re productive from day zero. Sure, there are annoyances from time to time, but they’re way fewer and simpler to deal with than the hoops you’ve to go through to get a minimal and viable/productive Linux desktop experience.

It all comes down to a question of how much time (days? months?) you want to spend fixing things on Linux that simply work out of the box under Windows for a minimal fee. Buy a Windows license and spend the time you would’ve spent dealing with Linux issues doing your actual job and you’ll, most likely, get a better ROI.

Linux desktop is great, I love it but I don’t sugar coat it nor I’m delusional like most posting about it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

People who need MS Office because once you have to collaborate with others Open/Libre/OnlyOffice won’t cut it;

I use office almost daily, Libreoffice is fine for local editing and office online works if I have to collaborate.

People that just installed a password manager (KeePassXC) and a browser (Firefox/Ungoogled) via flatpak only to find out that the KeePassXC app can’t communicate with the browser extension because people are “beating around the bush” on GitHub instead of fixing the issue;

I simply installed the Bitwarden extension in Firefox and it worked flawlessly. I’m not quite sure why you would want a desktop app for a password manager (never needed this even on windows), but if you do, basically distro ships a regular Firefox package which will work just as on windows.

Anyone who wants a simple Virtual Machine and has to go thought cumbersome installation procedures like this one just to get error messages saying virtualization isn’t enable when, in fact, it is… or trying to use GNOME Boxes and have a sub-par virtualization experience;

4 commands doesn’t seem that cumbersome, it can quite literally be done in 30 seconds. Add to this the fact that it will be updated together with all other apps managed by you package manager, which is incomparably faster compared to windows update (or even most apps’ integrated self-updater)

My experience with gnome boxes was also one of the most hassle-free one ever when working with virtualisation. Worked without advanced setup on a very low-end laptop (i3 4th gen, 4gb DDR3), so I’m not quite sure what would be “sub-par”.

Designers because Adobe apps won’t run properly without having a dedicated GPU, passthrough and a some hacky way to get the image back into your main system that will cause noticeable delays;

Adobe doesn’t have a monopoly on design software. I’m not an artist though, so it could be true that the Linux alternatives aren’t full replacements. I would like to point out that, IIRC, Linus Media Group (a company with 100+ employees) uses macs for Adobe apps; windows would constantly crash, so even here the author’s conclusion (just buy a windows key) doesn’t hold up.

Gamers because of the reasons above plus a flat 5-15% performance hit;

In my experience running games though proton, this is more like a 5% difference in either direction. Native games generally run significantly better for me. Though I will admit this can depend on specific hardware and games (and proton has improved a lot over the years).

People that run old software / games because not even those will run properly on Wine;

Wine is actually starting to support an API which Microsoft has deprecated (https://www.phoronix.com/news/Wine-8.16-Released). These apps might only work on Linux in the future, not on windows anymore. I will admit that I’m not much of a retro gamer, and other API’s might be a different story.

Developers and sysadmins, because not everyone is using Docker and Github actions to deploy applications to some proprietary cloud solution. Finding a properly working FTP/SFTP/FTPS desktop client (similar WinSCP or Cyberduck) is an impossible task as the ones that exist fail even at basic tasks like dragging and dropping a file.

Want to start using a new language? Just apt install the new interpreter/compiler and start right away. Want to use sftp? Just type sftp into your terminal. Also, most regular file managers just support these protocols out of the box; not having to install a separate app to use these protocols sounds like a Linux win to me. Furthermore, when developing software intended for server use, linux is simply superior due to its similarity to the environment the software will eventually run on.

Just to make it clear, I understand that Linux is not perfect for everyone. But this article appears almost wilfully ignorant to multiple facts. It almost sounds like the author tried Linux for 2 hours, had a single issue they couldn’t resolve during that time (probably nvidia related, which is nvidia’s fault), and decided to give up and write salty articles instead of seeking help.

[–] TCB13 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use office almost daily, Libreoffice is fine for local editing and office online works if I have to collaborate.

So you're essentially making the point of the article "office online works if I have to collaborate" implied that LibreOffice really isn't up for collaboration.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Yes, libreoffice doesn’t really work for live collaboration. But office online is a good solution for that collaboration, and it works in any browser (including Firefox on Linux). Therefore, the author’s conclusion (you need windows to collaborate on word docs) is still wrong.

I personally also believe that WYSIWYG editors are highly overrated: markdown is significantly better for note-taking and similar small documents, and reports would often be better off with LaTeX or something similar. But I understand why the “4 commands is too much hassle to install VirtualBox” crowd might prefer word.

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago (2 children)

@TCB13 @Sage_the_Lawyer
many of the reasons in the article are no true!! I'm a researcher and need to write lots of pages and give them to journals. This is very delicate because if you don't write it the way they want or in other formats your paper will be rejected. I also study at university and has needs for a good office program. It's been 3 years I'm using libreoffice and i never had any problem working with others on the same file even when my professors use MS.

[–] TCB13 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Dude c'mon facts: https://lemmy.world/comment/5254969 not even simple bullet points.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

@TCB13 @Sage_the_Lawyer

Also I can tell you gimp will do just fine!
Native linux games are also so much faster with lower GPU temperature. Also steam is making so much progress on that.

Anyway you should understand that using Linux is not about ease of use or speed. It's about your freedom and your right to see through something you buy or use.

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[–] [email protected] -4 points 1 year ago

Youre a lawyer just get a mac lmao

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