This lecture is only for people that may be thinking of switching to Linux completely. 1
If you just want to learn Linux for a system administration job, then you can skip this lecture. 2
I'm taking the perspective of a Windows user that may be thinking of migrating to Linux as its main 3
desktop OS. 4
You should know that I've done that more than 15 years ago and have never regretted it. 5
Now I'm using Windows just for some specific tasks, such as recording these videos. On the work PC 6
and the laptop 7
I run only Linux. 8
By migrating to Linux, you'll end up with a working and a more stable and secure operating system, 9
which is really free and open. 10
No more problems with licenses or pirated software. 11
If you want to make the step, I recommend you a Linux distribution that is user friendly. 12
I've been using for years Linux Mint, which is similar to Windows. 13
The latest version of Ubuntu is also a good choice. So many say that Linux is more difficult than Windows, 14
but I'd argue with that. A modern Linux 15
even for non-savvy users, 16
it’s just different. 17
Let me walk you through the most important features of Ubuntu. 18
The first thing you may want to do is to access the settings, go up to the top, click this small arrow 19
and you'll have access to the settings. 20
Here you can make all kinds of changes to the way Ubuntu looks and behaves. 21
For example, go to "appearance" and you'll find that there are options for the window colors, light, 22
standard and dark, many people prefer the dark theme so you can enable it if you wish. 23
Let's talk about the "dock", which is the bar on the far left of the screen that contains icons for the 24
most popular applications or the applications that are running. 25
This is the dock; in this window 26
you can change the dock settings; you can set it to hide when any active windows overlap with it, 27
you can change the size of the icons 28
or its position on the screen. 29
At the moment, we have the settings on the dock and that's because any active applications will appear 30
on it. 31
In fact, it will display a red dot before each application that's running. If I start the Firefox browser 32
a red dot will appear just before the icon. 33
It is running! 34
You can also go to activities. 35
And it will show you all running applications for easy access. 36
You can also access active applications by pressing the Windows key, which is called the super key 37
in Ubuntu. 38
And of course, you can move between applications using art and tab as in Windows. 39
On the bottom of the dock, we have the "show applications" icon that will bring up all applications currently 40
installed. 41
We can scroll up and down if we wish, or search for an application name in the search box. 42
I have searched for the calculator. 43
I'm starting LibreOffice writer, which is an open source replacement for Microsoft Office. 44
If you want to add a favorite application to the dock for easy access, just search for that application, 45
for example, calc 46
click with the mouse right button on it and select "add to favorites". 47
And the calc is on the dock and to remove an application from the dock, just click on it with the 48
mouse right button 49
and "remove from favorites". 50
If you want to install new applications, just go to Ubuntu software. 51
Click on the suitcase icon on the dock and the Ubuntu software will open. 52
The software catalog is being downloaded. 53
This is the main interface of Ubuntu software with application categories, including Editor’s Picks. 54
You can browse the categories or search for a specific application by clicking "search" or pressing control 55
and f. 56
I'm searching for Spotify. 57
To install an application just select it and click on "install". 58
You need administrative privileges, so you'll have to enter your password. 59
Simply put, if you choose a modern Linux distribution like Ubuntu 20.04 or Linux Mint, 60
the transition from Windows will be fairly smooth. 61
Some of the problems that might appear are related to some licensed applications that are not available 62
on Linux. For example, if you work as a graphic designer and use Adobe Photoshop a lot, then you 63
should know that it doesn't run on Linux. 64
Of course, there are some alternatives like GIMP or Inkscape, but it's not the original product. 65
However, most applications, like all major browsers, videoconferencing software such as the Zoom 66
or Integrated Development Environment applications (such as Visual Studio Code) run on Linux as well. 67
And if you really need a Windows or a Mac application that is not available on Linux, you can always 68
run Windows in a VM, install and start that application. 69
And one final thought, compared to proprietary operating systems like Windows or Make, Linux has only 70
one master and that's YOU.