Sell Me on Linux

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.

Secret300,

For me I just don’t like relying on some company. So if you don’t like getting fucking in the ass by tech giants use Linux

Mandrew002,

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

warmaster,

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.).

PseudoSpock,
@PseudoSpock@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

You can’t be sold on Linux. Anyone ‘sold on’ or ‘lead to’ Linux isn’t going to stick with it. The desire to learn to use and be productive with Linux is purely an internal one. Selling you on it would be like trying to push you into a religion. For this, you need to sell yourself on Linux. Install it, run it, make it your daily system for a few weeks or months… then you can decide if it is for you. The questions you’ll need to find answers to are, but not limited to:

  • Will it run the software I need? You mention PDF’s… Viewing non-encrypted PDF’s is no problem. For encrypted PDF forms that I’ve seen from some government sites, I needed Windows or Mac to fill them out reliably. I was able to do some within Wine, but that wasn’t stable enough to depend on.
  • Be aware there are desktop choices. Linux comes in many flavours, some can present and work similar to a Windows desktop workflow, some more similar to Mac (but not quite), and some are just either heritage UNIX styles or just Linux unique. Finding what you prefer can take some trial and effort.
  • I suggest Linux distributions that offer disk encryption (and be sure to use it). If you were my lawyer, I wouldn’t want the documents we share to be left around un-encrypted anywhere.

Check out some Linux periodicals, as well. They can help wet your whistle with reviews on various Linux distributions and often some introductory articles on software and How-To’s. If that kind of thing interests you, you’ve already half sold yourself on Linux.

phoenixz,

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

Kushia, (edited )
@Kushia@lemmy.ml avatar

I’ve worked with lawyers a bit in an IT role so I’ll put it bluntly. Don’t bother.

Why? You have to ensure complete compatibility with Microsoft Office standards in your job and you may also need to access third-party systems especially document management systems on a regular basis. These things require Windows. It’s a sad fact of life that your colleagues being able to read your documents and ensure consistent layout is more important than anything else.

Yes, you can try Libre Office and soforth. However, the moment the court staff, other lawyers or anybody else gets a jumbled mess you’re going to cause yourself more problems than it’s worth. Even you yourself need to be able to ensure compatibility when it comes to information storage and retrieval too.

Windows licences are essentially free with your devices anyway and the cost of Office is a couple of hundred bucks top. Money might be tight but losing information from your court cases could put you out of business.

Sorry Linux fanboys, but Windows is the superior option here as much as I wish it was not. It’s simply the best tool for the job.

phoenixz,

First: windows isn’t the superior option. This is basically windows being VHS, Linux being betamax. Linux is vastly superior, but it’s just that Microsoft marketing is too good at lying.

Second: Linux is very apt at running Microsoft programs, including office.

Third: fuck Microsoft office, use online office in a browser. Microsoft office 365 if you’re dumb (because my god, it’s cringy bad, or google docs if you want it easy (eats most Ms crap with little to no trouble) or if you want to go truely open source, setup nextcloud with only office.

Side comment: if governments or courts FOCRE you to pay money to a specific company to use services that can quite easily be done by open source alternatives then I say that smells like corruption and or incompetence.

Kushia,
@Kushia@lemmy.ml avatar

You are right in everything except that it’s absolutely not the superior option in OPs situation. A lawyer has to guarantee that a document is identical and recallable in its exact form even years from now and the only way to absolutely ensure this is using Office itself.

Furthermore, most law firms use and have to access other parties document management systems and the thick clients for these with all the features only run on Windows. Screwing around with WINE to get these maybe working isn’t worth the hassle for a time-poor lawyer with cases to work on.

Computers are just another tool in the box when it comes to your business and you should use the best version of it to get the job done. It’s simply only Windows in OPs case here that’s the viable option. It might be corruption or vendor lock in or whatever but there’s no point trying to fight it in this scenario.

Zangoose,

About your side comment - It isn’t necessarily that they’re being forced to use Office. It’s more that office is the standard that everyone else is using, and therefore the standard everyone expects to work with. If anything breaks or displays incorrectly, it becomes your fault for not using the standard.

To be clear, I hate Microsoft and their monopoly, and the blaming I just described as well. It definitely happens though. Same reason most of Gen Z uses iPhones: if you have an Android phone any problem with phones/chatting suddenly becomes your fault, even if the underlying reason is actually because of Apple.

phoenixz,

But that’s the point: it’s NOT a standard and government or justice departments should require open standards so that EVERYONE can participate because everyone MUST participate. Now the government at least allows the defacto forced sponsoring of a single damn near monopoly. Want to use the government? Sorry, gotta pay your Microsoft taxes first. That is not okay, not acceptable. There are loads of open standards that can be and should be used and enforced

desconectado,

Like or not, it’s a de facto standard. Good luck trying to convince your colleagues to change their workflow.

I love Linux, but I would never recommend using Microsoft Office on Linux especially if you work in a collaborative environment. Saying that Linux can run Microsoft office without any issue is a blatant lie. I run virtual machines basically so I can run Microsoft Office, but I don’t think everyone wants to go though that much hassle.

utopiah,

In 1 word : freedom.

robinj1995,

The fact that there’s entire communities full of people who will spend energy trying to convince you to give it a try, rather than a corporation with a marketing budget and lobbying power :)

helenslunch,

only ever used windows, but I’m getting fed up with the bullshit

Well that’s why I switched 🤷

Drove me fucking insane that I couldn’t uninstall Edge. Tried a few times but it always reinstalled itself. It’s just the audacity to say “no fuck you” to the person who is giving you money. Can’t disable Cortana, can’t disable all the XBOX bullshit, not to mention it’s just becoming more and more like Android where the entire OS becomes dedicated to collecting your data. Linux has none of that, and that’s enough for me.

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

Couple of solutions for this:

  1. Dual boot. When you have a hard time, just restart and boot into Windows.
  2. You can’t transfer storage across OS so make sure to use cloud storage for your work files.
CoopaLoopa,

Edge/IE run some underlying services for built-in windows features, so uninstalling them can cause issues with completely different parts of the OS.

Ran into an issue with a client still running Office 2016 where uninstalling IE11 prevented them from opening any links within those apps. Office was harcoded to look at IE for link handling and didn’t respect the setting for your default browser.

helenslunch,

All the more reason.

UsernameNotFound,

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

cupcakezealot,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

don’t go all in on linux when you’re already trying to get a new business up and running. it’s stressful enough without relearning an entire new os.

just install linux through virtualbox on top of windows or use a bootable usb/dvd to test drive it before you take the plunge and go all in.

if you really want to, you can install MATE on an amazon linux ec2 instance or get familiar with the command line on a micro sized free tier version.

or, for a more entry friendly approach, just enable wsl2 in windows 11 and get familiar with both gui programs and the command line. it’s not perfect but it will give you a better understanding of the underlyings of linux without having to give up the programs you’re ready for. when you’re comfortable, you can go further.

Yerbouti,

You sound more of a Windows 11 type. Linux is free (free as freedom, not free beer), we dont have to sell you anything.

art,
@art@lemmy.world avatar

Sell me on Linux

No. I hate these kind of posts cause if you need to be talked into it, it’s not for you.

If you’re genuinely interested, just grab a distro and boot up a VM. Tinker and explore.

milicent_bystandr,

I disagree. It’s an invitation for Linux users to show what ways we think Linux would suit OP, so they can decide if it’s worth trying.

some_guy, (edited )

I disagree. Someone who isn’t willing to try Linux on their own, or otherwise investigate, just because they’re curious is not ready for the baggage that comes with a new OS. Agreeing with another comment: don’t make this change at the same time as other major changes to your career. That is a recipe for disaster.

I’m a Mac / Linux guy who dislikes Windows. I wouldn’t even suggest getting a Mac at the same time as making huge career changes. And Linux is harder. Not impossible, but no training-wheels. You want something new, but you aren’t really interested in Linux itself.

ETA: That last statement was unfair. Apologies.

EuroNutellaMan,
@EuroNutellaMan@lemmy.world avatar

I think posts like these are actually a pretty good way to do research tho.

After all if you want to get a general idea of something the best place to start is by asking the people that actually use that thing.

interdimensionalmeme,

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

el_abuelo,

Starting a new business is hard enough as it is - please do not complicated it by adding in something that brings limited tangible benefits to the company, whilst making it unnecessarily harder than what it will be anyway.

Either get fluent now, and then start your business - or start your business with Windows and move on when you’re profitable and can afford the reduction in productively while you learn the ropes.

Do not go anywhere near MacOS - you can’t afford it.

GuyWithLag,

This is solid advice.

Also, the macOS ecosystem is predicated on you being rich enough (or fool enough) to buy it, and everything is nickel-and-dimed.

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