After 4 years of using Fedora KDE as my main OS with 0 issues or drawbacks, my workplace is now requiring all computers to be on Windows 11. Any suggestions to make the transition back more bearable?
My dissapointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined :(
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https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil has some nice and simple buttons for reducing the bullshit.
At workplace, use whatever OS and tools allowed by company policy.
At home, use whatever OS and tools you like.
At least that is how I’m managing it.
WSL is reasonable bearable, you can install Fedora instead of the default Ubuntu/Debian too. My work PC started out on 10 and is now on 11. I think I changed the terminal program, but the one I use may be the default in Win11. Honestly, I think the only programs I run outside WSL are a browser, DaVinci Resolve and Reaper (replaced Kdenlive and Ardour, both of which I prefer).
I am able to use the same neovim config on both my home (fedora) and work laptops, which is pretty handy.
At the end of the day it is their computer, not yours.
Well, why? Compliance? ISO certification requirement? Any chance of providing the requirements to Linux?
Tell them you can’t switch due to some incompatibility and then just don’t do it.
Just in the right moment when windows got so reliable and safe /s
Get a separate device for work. You shouldn’t be working on your personal computer anyway.
It is a work device. I was just allowed to use fedora until now.
Depending on your computers specs & if it’s allowed or not by your company… You could always continue to use Fedora & run win-11 inside a VM with pass through enabled…
This is what I did. They get to manage a Windows machine and I get to continue being more efficient at the job they hired me to do.
Just use the shovel your boss gives you. Back to your own preferences once you clock out.
Quit
Sorry for your loss :( Same thing happened to me about a year ago.
I was the sole IT admin for a small company. Used Debian with KDE on a snappy little Thinkpad. No issues managing all the infra with it, even though most of it was MS trash. I used Reminnia for RDP into the Windows servers, and the Browser for all O365/Entra administration. A Windows 11 VM for the rare times I needed to test Windows-only apps or configs.
Worked like a dream, but then we got bought out by a huge competitor. Their IT team took everything over. I had to decommission my on-prem Linux servers, Ansible automations, Open Project tracking and FOSS ticketing system. Finally, I had to give up my Sweet little Linux Thinkpad and use their standard-issue HP Windows 11 garbage laptop. They were slow, clunky, buggy, and ugly, it was awful.
I quit a few months later after securing the job I have now. It pays about 35% more, has twice as much PTO, and about 50% of my workload is Linux stuff. It’s so much better.
My advice, if it’s truly non negotiable, install WSL first thing. It’s not nearly as good as having actual Linux, because it’s running inside of Microslop’s horrid OS, but it’s better than nothing. Try to be an advocate for FOSS at the company, see if you can convince leadership to let you implement Linux-based solutions wherever they might fit, make yourself the de facto expert on them so you at least get to work on Linux and FOSS infra.
Aside from that, start job hunting. Try to find a job that will let you be more Linuxy.
the last time i used wsl on a work windows laptop, windows fucked up the virtual disk drive and everything in it was gone.
this was about 5 years ago, so hopefully it’s gotten better.
Honestly WSL2 is pretty good now. I have Fedora running in it and use basically the same config files as my personal laptop. Neovim behaves exactly the same across both. The only problem I have is that CTRL+V get intercepted by the terminal before it get to vim. That means that block visual mode is not available to me.
That and multiple desktops feels REALLY clunky, even compare to Gnome.
The only problem I have is that CTRL+V get intercepted by the terminal before it get to vim. That means that block visual mode is not available to me
this was was my biggest gripe with wsl because i do 95% of my work with the vim and bash and i’m saddened to learn that it hasn’t gotten better.
Install Powertoys if you can, this at least makes windows usable (funcionality-wise, its still going to be slow as shit)
Thanks for the info guys, good stuff!
Those of you who are telling me to look for a new workplace over an OS change are a bit crazy though lol. It’s not quite that bad.
Think about it the other way around; you could use Linux on your work pc for the time being and your workplace was fine with that? that’s awesome. it’s a bummer things changed, but… that’s corporate life, bro.
Clearly I was not the first with that call to action.
But seriously, Windows is awful. I’ve had to use it lately, and it’s comically bad. Like the OS shows me ads! Wtf!? In Fahrenheit 451, it describes the billboards as longer so you can read them while driving fast on the highway, and I feel like the ads Windows shows are basically a similar type of dystopian. And like, now you can disable more with menus, but then the disable option is like buried somewhere hard to find.
And as soon as you get an update all their shit is turned back on, and re-enabled, and edge (🤮) is back on the taskbar… I hate microsoft so, so much.
I’m sorry to hear that. Our company recently got acquired, and every 4-6 months the new IT team tries to say, “but do you guys really need Linux? What for?”. We answer them, in depth, every time, but then it just comes back up a few months later.
I’m scared one of these days they’re just going to force the change on us, all productivity will grind to an absolute halt, deliverables will be missed, and eventually they’ll backtrack but only after it’s too late to recover the programs that got hosed in the process.
Just ask them why they want to waste the money on licensing. Money is the language managers understand
Although compliance is also a concern.
For us, on our Linux machines, they pay Canonical or RedHat for workstations 🤷♂️
Why is this a requirement? Commercial support?
Yes. But more importantly, an external company to point to in case something goes wrong.
I think mech@feddit.org is right, but one other piece I’ve heard is that “unmanaged” desktops make things like randsomware insurance harder
I sometimes forget that I’m not the only kind of user who may run a Linux box. I’m not immune to compromise, but I’m not an “average” user like say… Peggy from accounting.
Switch workplace.
There are countless ways to bypass that (e.g. https://docs.linuxserver.io/images/docker-webtop/ running on a server) but honestly if a workplace does not value your expertise to hone your own tools, they don’t really value you as an employee.