Guys, I have a confession to make. I need to come clean. I transitioned… to GNU/Linux. I know, shocking, right? One day I was a Windows user, minding my own business, dealing with blue screens and endless updates, and then BAM—Linux entered my life. It was free, open, and let me be myself. No license keys, no forced restarts, no tracking and surveillance or selling my data to third party companies. It just… worked.
One of my friends, a proud furry, no less—introduced me to Linux ages ago. I started using it for all my servers but at the time, I brushed it off, thinking, “Nah, I’m good with Windows on my main machine.” Now I see how wrong I was. He planted the seed, and years later, it finally bloomed. I’ve completely transformed. I’m a penguin now. 🐧
Typing commands into that black screen felt powerful. No more searching for settings buried under 12 menus. Windows felt betrayed. Mac sent me a passive-aggressive iMessage. But I couldn’t stop. I had tasted sudo, and nothing else compares. To those still stuck in Windows or Mac land: come to the penguin side. Stuck in Windows? Must feel like tapping on the glass, hoping someone will let you out. And Mac users—how’s life in the walled garden? Do they let you touch the walls, or is that extra? Come to the dark terminal. It’s warm, it’s welcoming, and we’ve got bash scripts.
Part 1: My First Encounter with Linux
It all started at ELSYS, where GNU/Linux was actually installed on Macs. Funny irony, right? Imagine 10 people crammed around a weak little computer that still managed to outperform Windows machines impressively well. This was back in the Windows 7 days when Windows was, you know, still kinda functional.
But the real turning point came when my friend—a proud furry, no less—introduced me to Linux. I remember trying to focus on our C and C++ programming exams, while he was dropping “fork bombs” in the network, making everyone wonder what was going on. The guy knew everything about hardware and software, though.
One evening, while I was deep into web development, he brought his laptop and showed me how to remotely install my first server. Honestly, I felt like I was operating a rocket—terrified I’d break something. But I didn’t give up! And that was the start of my Linux journey.
Part 2: The Journey from Windows to Linux
A lot of time has passed since then. Now, I manage 10 servers for clients and my personal ones—physical and remote VDS, VPS, and everything in between. For backups, storage, load balancers, mail servers—Linux handles it all, and it does it with so much style that even David Bowie would blush.
I’ve had a love-hate relationship with Linux over the years. It was like loving a cat that keeps scratching you, but at the same time, it’s so cute you just can’t stay mad at it. The learning curve was… a bit dry. Especially when you’re starting out and wonder whether you’ll get along with the terminal or end up virtually killing yourself.
But, like every good drama, the moment of enlightenment came. At the end of 2023, after a long struggle with trying to purge Windows 10 from bloatware, I decided to fully dedicate myself to Linux and become a true God of the command line. What better way to flex your power than to understand every line in the terminal you type? So I finally installed Linux on my main machine as a daily driver!
Part 3: The Full Transformation
So I made the switch. I turned off “Windows 10 AME” (the stripped-down version of Windows, which is almost the same, just without all the junk) and now I’m on Linux—and, guess what, I haven’t broken anything! The transition was as smooth as it gets, like getting a makeover you actually enjoy.
Right now, I’m rocking six monitors, virtualizing Windows apps within Linux, configuring my own language models, experimenting with Docker, and having a script for literally everything. Backups? Done. Routine processes? Automated. It’s the dream, baby!
Along the way, I tried every distro—Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Mint, Fedora, Arch… At one point, I was compiling Gentoo, but by the time it finished, I could’ve learned to code in assembler. So, here I am, back on my beloved Debian 12 with KDE. Yeah, a lot of people will be disappointed, but hey, it’s stable, and I love stable! My system could run the next Star Trek, while macOS is a drag-and-drop puzzle—pretty icons, no control, like a spaceship with no manual.
On Linux, you’re not just using an OS—you’re unlocking a secret treasure. You create your own config files . Me? I tweak my .bashrc like it’s an art form, and if something tries to tell me that I don’t have rights. I chown or just type sudo and say I don’t need permission to grow! I’m root, bitch!
Part 4: I main GNU/Linux
If you ever try going back to Windows or Mac after Linux, you’ll realize it’s like trying to re-enter the Matrix after you’ve escaped. Windows will give you those sad blue screen eyes, and Mac will remind you every single day that in their “premium” version, you can have everything you don’t want. For me currently, nothing beats the beauty of on maining a GNU/Linux with Debian 12 and KDE in all its glory