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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Start doing a job search?
No amount of HRT would make this transition any easier my dude.
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.
What is the reasoning there?
Quit
New job time!
Install Fedora in a VM if you can?
Just use the shovel your boss gives you. Back to your own preferences once you clock out.
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.
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.
There are programs that control your internet access and if you use one of those programs to say, block almost every windows service, a lot of problems go away.
I didn’t do it because windows sucks but it is a nice benefit. Edge auto opens? Cool, it fails because it’s barred from internet access. Ads? But no internet so no ads.
Also deals with auto updates from companies that need to fuck off. I guess that’s still windows.
Ask your IT to install Virtualbox (or vmware if that’s what you have) and go on using Linux inside a VM.
That’s what I did. I don’t do absolutely everything on Linux because, for example, using MS Office directly on the PC instead of the web version in the VM is much more practical, but I do most things.
Edit: to add: work PC is provided by the company, not my own.
If they’re a Microsoft shop you’d have better luck asking for hyperv
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.
I think the problem with Linux in the workplace is that it’s hard (read harder than Windows and MacOS) to setup to be managed devices. Especially if the company is a Microsoft shop to begin with. The IT security teams just don’t know how to enforce the company policies on Linux machines. Enforce password policy, network credentials and managed apps. It easy with Intune for Windows and Mac. Much harder on Linux.
That’s the reason I was given by my work place, when I was “forced” to switch from Linux to Windows.
Especially if the company is a Microsoft shop to begin with.
Nonsense, MS has an Intune client for Linux.
The IT security teams just don’t know how to enforce the company policies on Linux machines
Too bad. Skill issue. They need to learn how to manage Linux just like any other new tech.
I’m hearing similar complaints from our IT leadership as well regarding Linux PCs. However, Linux is accepted in R&D labs and the cloud because those are network-segmented spaces with additional perimeter controls.
If true zero-trust ever comes to my company, perhaps they’ll be a bit more receptive.
Depends on what access you have on your PC.
My two steps are always the same
- debloater
- i install chocolatey and use that to manage my applications if possible.
Then, depending on your work requirements, I would deactivate OneDrive if not used.
Do not, under any circumstances, conduct any private business on it. What isn’t being logged by Microsoft and shared with your employer, advertisers, various governments will be screenshot’d every n seconds. Additionally, I highly suggest, if you haven’t already, to setup a separate VLAN for this device if you ever bring it home and connect it to your home network. Defender absolutely does passive sniffing and active network scanning now. It will also be collecting and logging visible SSIDs as well. Enjoy!
Do not, under any circumstances, conduct any private business on it.
This is true of any work device regardless of the OS
My company PC (Windows 11 ) is set on the guest wi-fi when I work from home, is that enough?
It should but you can test that assumption by trying to ping any other device on the non-guest wifi. (and try ping in the other direction)
My wife has had her dog shit work PC on the network all this time without any of my forethought about this. She has problems everyday with that stupid OS. Fuck.
I’d like to add that you can setup Adguard or Pihole in your network to use microsoft telemetry blacklists to limit their sniffing. My work laptop constantly reminds me that I’m not connected to the internet although everything works fine, because it can’t reach the captive portal 😄
Do you have links to those blacklists
I’m at work right now, but here is one I think I remember adding: https://github.com/pschneider1968/pihole-bl-msft-telemetry-bsi
One could hope for a hardware kill-switch on WiFi, but those are increasingly rare. I don’t necessarily trust toggling the WiFi slider off actually stops the scanning.
At home I have my PC behind a DMVPN router (being a former network engineer has its perks) and that DMVPN router’s “external” link is further segmented on my home network.
