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Field Notes from a Real Migration

WINDOWS → LINUX

Everything I had to figure out the hard way — distro choice, hardware quirks, software replacements, and development setup — all documented so you don't have to.

42 Guides
10 Sections
Real HW Verified
Free Always
Start Here → First Boot Checklist

New to Linux? Start Here.

1

Choose your distro — How to choose among Ubuntu-based starting points without treating any one distro as the default answer.

2

First boot checklist — The exact steps to run after installation before anything else.

3

Package management basics — apt, snap, flatpak, .deb: which one to use and when.

All Sections

Before You Start
Choosing a distro, hardware requirements, installation, and what to expect.
4 guides
Initial Setup
First boot checklist, filesystem hierarchy, DNS, display server, and drive label management.
5 guides
Hardware
Fan control, power management, fingerprint login, and hardware-specific tuning where needed.
3 guides
Cloud Storage
Dropbox custom directory and Google Drive multi-account setup.
3 guides
Software Installation
Package managers, browsers, keyboards, clipboard tools, break reminders, LaTeX, and more.
10 guides
Desktop Customization
Icon themes — install, uninstall, and avoid the pitfalls.
1 guide
Development
Stata 19, R & RStudio, VS Code, Zed, and cross-platform do-files.
6 guides
Backup & Recovery
Timeshift full system backup to an external drive.
1 guide
Troubleshooting
Common issues, log analysis, and APT repository problems.
4 guides
Appendix
Terminal cheatsheet, glossary, onboarding path, and deep reference guides.
5 guides

Recently Updated

Appendix
My Personal Software Inventory
A comprehensive list of all software installed on this Linux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon system, categorized by installation method and purpose.
Initial Setup
X11 vs Wayland: Choosing Your Display Server
What X11 and Wayland are, when to use each one, and how to switch between them on Ubuntu-based desktops. Linux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon defaults to X11/Xorg.
Initial Setup
Rename Drive Labels via Terminal
Change partition labels for ext4, FAT32, NTFS, and other filesystems using command-line tools. Useful for organizing drives and fixing Dropbox sync paths.
Cloud Storage
MEGA Cloud Storage with Nemo Integration
Install MEGAsync with full Nemo file manager integration, configure a custom sync directory on a mounted partition, and set up file manager overlay icons on Linux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon.
Development
Stata 19 MP with Antigravity IDE
Install Antigravity IDE (VS Code fork) and mirror your VS Code Stata workflow on Ubuntu 24.04-based Linux.
Development
R and RStudio: Complete Installation Guide
Install the latest R from CRAN and RStudio from Posit on an Ubuntu-based Linux desktop, upgrade from old versions, and clean up leftover R package libraries.

Featured Guides

Appendix · Featured
Linux Mastery Guide — Complete Reference
19-section Linux reference covering terminal mastery, app replacements, security, gaming, scripting, customization, and emergency recovery — the technical deep-dive companion to Linux Treasure Hunt.
Single-page reference
Appendix · Featured
Linux Treasure Hunt — 90-Day Onboarding Path
Gamified 90-day journey from Windows refugee to Linux native — a paced onboarding path with weekly missions, habits, and survival checkpoints.
90-day onboarding path
Platform: The guides were tested on Linux Mint 22.3 Cinnamon (primary) and Zorin OS 18.1 Pro (secondary), both Ubuntu 24.04 Noble base, on a Lenovo ThinkPad L14 Gen 2 (i5-1135G7, 16GB RAM, Intel Iris Xe, 1366x768). Instructions are written for Ubuntu 24.04-based distros unless explicitly stated otherwise.