"Checklist 2/2"
9. Help Forums:
Make sure you've got a good Linux forum in advance. Don't be afraid to sound stupid. We all made some amazingly stupid mistakes in the past (rm -rf / anyone?).
Linux questions: http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/index.php
Fedora Forum: http://forums.fedoraforum.org
Ubuntu Forums: http://www.ubuntuforums.org/
Mandriva Forums: http://mandrivausers.org/
SUSE Forum: http://support.novell.com/forums/
10. Take Notes:
Make a note of everything you do. You may need it in the future.
11. Use Linux Software:
Or: Don't plan on using Windows software under Linux.
While you may get lucky and get wine (Windows emulation layer, http://www.winehq.org) to run your favorite Windows application or game, it's a matter of pure chance.
Linux has a very long list of native applications that will come pre-configured with your favorite distribution, ranging from the KDE (http://www.kde.org) and GNOME (http://www.gnome.org) desktop environments, Open Office (http://www.openoffice.org/) Office suite, Evolution outlook-like email/group-ware client (http://www.gnome.org/projects/evolution/), K3B Nero like CD authoring software (http://www.k3b.org) and the list goes on and on.
Better yet, several games were ported to Linux: among them are Quake 1/2/3, Doom3, Unreal, UT, UT2K3/4, Enemy Territory and America's Army. You'll need the original CD in order to install them, of course.
12. Hardware check list:
Before you begin, search Linux Compatible (http://www.linuxcompatible.org/compatibility.html) for your hardware.
12.1. General:
CPU: 80486 or above. (AMD, Intel and VIA). Both 32bit and 64bit are supported. Most newer Linux distributions will require a Pentium3/Athlon or above.
Chipset: AMD, Intel, VIA, nVidia. (The latter may require drivers from http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html).
Memory: Depending on the Linux distribution and softeare used. 256MB should be enough. (Though some distributions may work just fine with 16MB)
Disk space: A full Linux installation (Including office, development tools, utilities, games) eats around 3GB. Again, several Linux distributions may work just fine with 100MB.
12.2. Display:
2D support: (good enough for browsing and office work) ATI Radeon 7/8xxx. nVidia GF2/3/4/5/6, Intel i8xx/i9xx. Most older (Matrox/Voodo/older ATIs/etc) legacy cards are supported.
3D support: nVidia Geforce based. (http://www.nvidia.com/object/unix.html) ATI 3D support is still lacking (though ATI is working hard to close the gap, http://www.ati.com/products/catalyst/linux.html). If you want to play current games (UT2K4, AA, Doom3), get a GF6xxx card.
12.3. Disk drive controllers:
SCSI: All main RAID controllers are supported. Same goes for non-RAID controllers.
SATA: Most non raid SATA controllers are supported.
IDE: Most non raid IDE controllers are supported.
SATA/IDE RAID: Most on-board IDE/SATA controllers are actually semi-software ones (read: they use the host-CPU to do the work) and may not work under Linux (you'll see the IDE/SATA ports and drives, but won't see the logical RAID array) or will require binary drivers from the manufacturer. However, the Linux kernel-based software raid support (http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Software-RAID-HOWTO.html) can actually outperform most of the so-called on-board RAID controllers. True hardware based RAID5 controllers such as 3ware, LSI and Adaptec are fully supported using open-source built-in drivers.
12.4. Networking:
Modems: Hardware modems only. Most Winmodems are a no go. (Unless you can download drivers.)
Ethernet: 99% are supported out of the box. (I've yet to see one that doesn't)
ADSL/Cable modems: Most ADSL/Cable modems are supported. Will require some work to get them working. My suggestion? Get an external modem and connect to it using PPP over Ethernet. (Plus, in most cases it'll perform better; USB modems tend to eat a lot of CPU power)
12.5. Audio:
Most sound cards are supported out of the box, at least the basic functionality. 5.1 or above may require some extra configuration, but should work.
For more information, go to The Alsa Project (http://www.alsa-project.org/alsa-doc/) support matrix.
12.6. Peripherals:
Mouse: Basic functionality is almost guaranteed. You'll need some help configuring the extra mouse buttons.
USB controllers: All the major chipsets / protocols are supported. Should be enough.
USB devices: Depends on the device. Some devices have extensive support (zip, scanners, printers) while others are scarcely supported. (Webcams)
USB flash drives: Should work out of the box.
Palm: Full support, including email client integration.
Printers: Most printers are supported, either directly or by using a generic driver. (I use HP LJ5 driver for my OKI printer). Try Linux Printing (http://www.linuxprinting.org/) for further information.
Good luck!
Gilboa Davara.
About the author:
I'm a 31 y/o software engineer from Ramat-Gan Israel. I mostly write kernel-level code under both Linux and Windows. I have been using Linux since 1998.
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