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Ask HN: How to successfully move a team from Windows to Linux?

11 points by rperez333 ↗ HN
I'm in the process of moving a medium-sized team of visual effects artists/supervisors/producers from Windows (7/10) to Linux-based workstations.

I've been using a Linux desktop for many years, and can't remember how is to interact with Linux for the first time. However, I know it can be a bit frustrating and difficult for a lot of people.

I expect to find some resistance, but I truly care about their experience and want them to feel well - hopefully better - in their new environment.

I'd love to hear about individual experiences and also maybe from IT departments that went through a similar process - changing from Windows to Linux.

What was the most difficult thing when doing the transition? What do you like and especially dislike about the new platform?

For example, a lot of these artists are creating images for blockbuster movies/shows and care a lot about the small details. Things like ugly or fragmented interfaces are sometimes OK for analytic/engineering people, but they can ruin an artist's experience.

Anything else that I should pay attention to?

11 comments

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srvmshr
This is not a joke comment (& shouldn't be taken as such):

Please remind your team there isn't any fallback to any WSL goofups. If you make fatal/careless mistakes, it isn't as if another window or a reboot can fix things - your setup may not boot next time. Very fundamental but very true.

And process/thread tracking in top (1) will no longer show PID 1...15 (or some similar simple numbers) as such :)

rperez333
Not sure if I got that right, but we aiming to move to a bare metal Linux distribution, not WSL. However, I'm aware how even small updates can brake Linux boots, specially when dealing with NVidia drivers.
srvmshr
Precisely what I meant. WSL runs containerized and it will not affect your OS experience. But any mistake on bare metal Linux terminal will, unforgivably.
navjack27
You won't be able to do any of this. Let each person on the team use whatever operating system lets them work efficiently.
rperez333
There are a lot of reasons for this transition, and it didn't came without analyzing diligently different factors, including their preferences. Some large studios are using successfully Linux as their main driver on the pipeline, so we know it can be done.
uberman
You are moving a team of highly specialized creatives that probably requires specific software to a new platform? I hope you have a good reason to do that as it seems risky to me.
rperez333
Hi Uberman. Actually, Linux is pretty well estabilished on the visual effects industry, and the software stack is ok. I'm looking for insights on how to make first time users more enjoyable.
stargrazer
"Things like ugly or fragmented interfaces are sometimes OK for analytic/engineering people, but they can ruin an artist's experience."

Well, with Linux, any number of interfaces and themes are available. There is even a 'windows' theme to reduce the migration curve. If you supply respectable hardware and GPUs, there should be zero issues with slowness or instantaneous feedback.

Make sure the hardware platform works well with the distribution and its drivers. Ensure that your artists don't deal with these issues, and that your IT team pre-tests all builds and upgrades.

I have no basis in reality for this suggestion, but I'd go with a lightweight window manager like LXDE rather than heavy weight gnome or kde. Less eye candy and straight functionality. And less drain on resources.

Someone was talking about problems building on hardware. This isn't really an issue if you builds are automated: allows machines to be rebuilt on major upgrades. This, of course, requires that data drives and directories either be on separate partitions or on the network.

Dracophoenix
I'm not in the VFX industry, so I can't really offer much help in terms of your specific needs, but I do have a few questions to ask in case someone else may be able to better address them:

Do you have a particular distribution or sets of distributions in mind? My guess is that you're looking at Redhat or OpenSuse.

What particular tasks will you set these machines to (e.g. drawing, sculpting, rendering, schedule management, etc.)?

What's your support system like? Do you have in-studio certified Linux technicians if something goes wrong? If not, do you intend to purchase a support contract where you can reach out for personalized help 24-7?

Are there particular software packages you need and are you aware of the state of their compatibility or lack thereof with Linux? If they are not compatible, have you found suitable alternatives? I'm assuming you're going to use software products from Adobe, the Foundry, Autodesk, Houdini, etc. Many Linux versions of these products tend to be built as afterthoughts if they're ever at all officially supported.

Do you have any specialized hardware (e.g. Cintiqs)? If so, have you taken the time to test for driver issues?

gtsteve
There are technical considerations as well but I think you are asking from a management perspective about how to get buy-in from your team.

When pitching a new direction to people I like to explain the value proposition of doing so. I find most people don't mind change so long as they understand why the change is valuable, and have an idea at what point the benefits of the change should outweigh the initial disruption.

Surely it is not just a matter of the price of Windows desktop licenses for example.

I am also interested. I am not involved in this market segment but I am always interested to hear lessons from other organisations.