I made a list of all the things I need to be able to do using Debian/Linux that, if I can get them working, will allow me to do all of my day-to-day work on my new laptop rather than my Windows laptop.
Where possible I wanted to use programs that would work on both Windows and Debian/Linux so that I could minimise the training required to switch between them. In some cases this has meant changing what I use in Windows so that I can use the same program on both computers. For instance, I was already using OpenOffice (for word processing, spreadsheets, etc.) and GIMP (for photo editing) but I have now installed Duplicati (for backup) and OpenShot (for video editing) on my Windows computer.
Here’s the list I made:
- wired networking
- wireless networking
- share files (map network drives)
- backup
- printing
- scanning
- internet (Firefox)
- email (Evolution)
- FTP (Filezilla)
- office (OpenOffice: word processing, spreadsheets, etc.)
- photo editing (GIMP)
- video editing (OpenShot)
- local website hosting (apache)
- programming (PHP)
- database management (MySQL)
- music notation (MuseScore)
- PDF printing
- video player (VLC)
- video calling (zoom)
- remote desktop access (remmina)
The rest of the posts on this website will be about
- how to install each of these programs
- how to get these services working
- how to use Debian/Linux for day-to-day computing and administration
to the point that I was able to abandon my Windows computer.