Transition from Windows to Linux full time...

[riahc3]

Starting 2015, Im going to make a transition to Linux at my workplace.

The reason being to get used to Linux and start working on a (mostly) libre operating system.

Some requirements:

- Active Directory. This is a top priority.
- Easy mounting of Windows shares
- Compatibility with Windows applications (This will be the most difficult one. At worst, Ill use a VM inside Linux but I really prefer NOT to do this)

What distro should I use? What additional software, such as WINE, should I use?

Thank you

 

[oynaz]

One of the Debian derivatives should do what you need. Ubuntu, Linux Mint, etc.
I like Ubuntu.

A tip: Make a virtual machine with Linux on your current machine. This will let you get your feet wet.

 

[riahc3]

A tip: Make a virtual machine with Linux on your current machine. This will let you get your feet wet.

I already have used Ubuntu in the past many times...I don't need to get my feet wet.

I just need something that is more geared to be compatible with Windows applications just in case since I use a lot of development tools at work.

 

[lxskllr]

There's no particular distro that'll be better than another. Use what you like. What I did was put my laptop (Xubuntu)hd in my work machine, and looked to see what would happen. I don't need AD, but server shares work fine. I installed a Windows VM(2kpro) to handle three essential programs that didn't work immediately in Wine. Two of the programs I think I can get working natively using scripts, but I need to read a bunch of documentation and play with it.

That hd is still in my work machine, and I got a new ssd for my laptop. A win all around.

 

[zir_blazer]

Check this. It is exactly for you. There are some things still unpolished, but you can use a Linux-based Hypervisor layer with a fully functional gaming Windows VM.

 

[riahc3]

Check this. It is exactly for you. There are some things still unpolished, but you can use a Linux-based Hypervisor layer with a fully functional gaming Windows VM.

I do not want to use VMs at all, either at Type 1 or Type 2. That's not the point. I understand there are applications that wouldn't work because of hardware/drivers but I do want to use a VM if I do not have to.

And gaming? This is to work.

 

[Phynaz]

Are you going to run Outlook and Exchange on Linux?

 

[takeru]

Are you going to run Outlook and Exchange on Linux?

i wonder how the server 2012 environment, planned exchange 2013 server, windows imaging and deployments are doing

 

[escrow4]

Linux is still a mess on a desktop and I wouldn't bother honestly. MS is built to actually work and you won't have to recompile drivers (assuming there are drivers in the first place).

 

[Mem]

Linux is still a mess on a desktop and I wouldn't bother honestly. MS is built to actually work and you won't have to recompile drivers (assuming there are drivers in the first place).

Depends on what you want to do exactly,more then adequate for a home user for checking emails,browsing,online shopping etc...

Linux is improving all the time and for me the weakest part is really gaming which I do on Windows OS.

Business wise you really need to plan ahead and know exactly what software you need and are going to run on Linux.

It's not for everyone due to different learning curve and compatibility etc but then you have the choice end of the day.

 

[oynaz]

windows 8 is still a mess on a desktop and i wouldn't bother honestly.

ftfy ;-)

 

[lxskllr]

Linux is still a mess on a desktop and I wouldn't bother honestly. MS is built to actually work and you won't have to recompile drivers (assuming there are drivers in the first place).

I can't remember the last time I compiled anything, but it sure is nice to have the option. I use it both at home and at work, and have had few issues.

 

[riahc3]

Are you going to run Outlook and Exchange on Linux?

No, Ill just use Thunderbird. I think it had a option or a addon for Exchange right?

i wonder how the server 2012 environment, planned exchange 2013 server, windows imaging and deployments are doing

Offtopic but Ill answer you anyways: Its going great

 

[Jodell88]

Linux is still a mess on a desktop and I wouldn't bother honestly. MS is built to actually work and you won't have to recompile drivers (assuming there are drivers in the first place).

This statement shows how out of touch you are with Linux. The number of driver compilations for an average user is zero, just like windows.

I compile my graphics drivers because I'm tracking Mesa and Intel development.

 

[zir_blazer]

I do not want to use VMs at all, either at Type 1 or Type 2. That's not the point. I understand there are applications that wouldn't work because of hardware/drivers but I do want to use a VM if I do not have to.

And gaming? This is to work.

The only way to ensure that Windows applications will be 100% compatible, is running Windows. WINE is functional, but a far from perfect solution. It will never beat virtualization in compatibility.
VGA Passthrough is useful not only for gaming, but for anything that relies on the GPU. Works applies to that if you do anything in professional applications that uses GPU acceleration, but is gaming what shows you how high the level of application compatibility is if you can even play recent games inside a VM. Otherwise, you will have to Dual Boot.

Ideally, the best option to have the best of both worlds, is to replace the lower layer that does Hardware access with a Linux-based Hypervisor, and encapsulate Windows in a VM. This way, you can still fully rely on Windows applications while having a solid foot on the Linux world with it as host.

 

[postmortemIA]

I think there's distro that works better than rest with Windows, and it is OpenSuse or Suse enterprise ... few years ago they made a deal with Microsoft, so configuration on Windows network is bit easier.

 

[riahc3]

VGA Passthrough is useful not only for gaming, but for anything that relies on the GPU. Works applies to that if you do anything in professional applications that uses GPU acceleration, but is gaming what shows you how high the level of application compatibility is if you can even play recent games inside a VM. Otherwise, you will have to Dual Boot.

Oh ok, when someone said gaming, I thought they ment just that, sorry about that.

I don't do graphics works here at my workstation so I don't need VGA passthrough.

lower layer that does Hardware access with a Linux-based Hypervisor

Do you mean ESXi? The problem with ESXi is that I cant really switch between them on the host. Do you imagine how great it would be to have "Linux like consoles" (where Ctrl+Alt+F1 switches to text console) that switch between ESXi and your different VMs on the same PC instead of using something like vSphere?

 

[zir_blazer]

I use Xen as Hypervisor, not VMWare.

I'm also extremely interesed in a method to attach a VM in fullscreen mode to a tty so I could change the focus from one VM to another using Ctrl + Alt + Fx, like you want too. Would GREATLY improve usefulness. It should be possible, don't see any reason why not, but requires some more configuration which I didn't researched about. In any case, a solution like that should be your best bet, as you step into Linux while simultaneously running Windows, so you don't lose functionality.

 

[smakme7757]

i wonder how the server 2012 environment, planned exchange 2013 server, windows imaging and deployments are doing

I was waiting for that. haha.

 

[escrow4]

This statement shows how out of touch you are with Linux. The number of driver compilations for an average user is zero, just like windows.

I compile my graphics drivers because I'm tracking Mesa and Intel development.

I tried with Ubuntu a few times and have now given up. I want an OS that works out the box period. Linux still isn't there yet, and apart from Ubuntu LTS, do any distros even come close to MS's support lifecycle?

 

[yinan]

I use Xen as Hypervisor, not VMWare.

I'm also extremely interesed in a method to attach a VM in fullscreen mode to a tty so I could change the focus from one VM to another using Ctrl + Alt + Fx, like you want too. Would GREATLY improve usefulness. It should be possible, don't see any reason why not, but requires some more configuration which I didn't researched about. In any case, a solution like that should be your best bet, as you step into Linux while simultaneously running Windows, so you don't lose functionality.

It is not possible because it would require removign a passthrough device from the VM and attaching it to another VM while it is running.

 

[bbhaag]

I tried with Ubuntu a few times and have now given up. I want an OS that works out the box period. Linux still isn't there yet, and apart from Ubuntu LTS, do any distros even come close to MS's support lifecycle?

You should try an Ubuntu distro like Linux Mint or Zorin. Those are setup ready to go from install. I never recommend Ubuntu to new Linux users. It can be frustrating because Canonical leaves a lot of things up to the end user. Certain things like media support aren't even enabled by default.

I've been using Linux now for a couple years and honestly can't complain. I started out on Peppermint OS 3 and now I'm using Linux Mint 17. Are there some quarks? Sure but every OS has those including Windows.

 

[zir_blazer]

It is not possible because it would require removign a passthrough device from the VM and attaching it to another VM while it is running.

Your misunderstood the idea. I know that I can't expect both OS and GPU to work with hotplug.

I have a Dual Monitor setup. One is attached to the integrated GPU, another to a Radeon 5770, which is the GPU I'm passing to the gaming VM. In the Monitor attached to the integrated, I have the video output of an Arch Linux Dom0 with Gnome (Due to lazyness mostly, Gnome should be inside another Linux installation inside VM as Dom0 would be better if it was a very slim console style OS, instead of using it with a GUI to browse around). In order to switch the Mouse and Keyboard focus from Dom0 to the VM, I have to click on a black squared box that its on the Desktop of Dom0, which is highly annoying considering that from inside the VM, I can change focus back to Dom0 pressing Ctrl + Alt. If I open another VM, its worse, because I have to switch output from the VM to Dom0 THEN click on the other VM window to get control of it. Its very inefficient to switch input focus in that way. Example here.
The idea is that in order to switch the input from one VM to another, I can use shortcuts like those for the tty consoles (Ctrl + Alt + Fx), and that also puts the display of any other VM at fullscreen on the Monitor that is currently connected to the integrated. Absolutely not related to remove passthrough because the other GPU/Monitor wouldn't be touched at all.

 

[Jodell88]

I tried with Ubuntu a few times and have now given up. I want an OS that works out the box period. Linux still isn't there yet, and apart from Ubuntu LTS, do any distros even come close to MS's support lifecycle?

Just because Ubuntu didn't work doesn't mean Linux isn't there yet.

Apart from server distros, no, there isn't another distro with that life cycle for good reason. I'd argue that getting the latest kernel possible is actually better for a home desktop/laptop than an old one.

OP, one thing to make sure you look at is how compatible LibreOffice is with your Office documents. If it is pretty compatible, I would ask that you try switching to the Open Document Format (odf) in your office just for future compatibility reasons.

 

[imagoon]

I tried with Ubuntu a few times and have now given up. I want an OS that works out the box period. Linux still isn't there yet, and apart from Ubuntu LTS, do any distros even come close to MS's support lifecycle?

I agree with you. Pretty much annually I'll grab distros normally ones I see mentioned in these threads and then try and install it on a 2-3 year old Dell to give it the highest chance of having drivers. Ill then update it and use whatever tools are on it.

I have yet to have an instance where everything worked out of the box. I am not against downloading drivers since I have to do that for Windows but even after that there is always some odd issue that results in me ending up on random web forums with 1/2 fixed solutions.

IE just getting it installed I have wasted time. Even though the distro is "free" it ends up costing more to just get it working right if at all. Free ends up costing more than a Windows license.