Workstation Migration plan
Currently my workstation is running Windows 10 Home and is used for a lot of my workflows including Internet usage, Network management, CAD, Video Editing, 3D modeling, Gaming, Spread sheeting, and more. With Windows 10 LTS ending on October 14th (about a year from now) I have the increased urgency of finding an OS solution which fills all my needs. I have a couple of requirements for this workstation that need to be filled.
Requirements:
- Be able to edit videos
- Be able to use CAD software`
- Be able to setup development environments
- Be able to play my steam library
- Be able to use custom keyboards or devices like the BBI-64 for games or custom hotkeys
All my other workflows aren't priorities as these four things are what I tend to use my workstation for most of the time. I have a couple of options and architectures available for me that fit these requirements
- Dual Booting
- Multi-Drived
- Single-Drive
- Upgrade to Windows 11
- Migrate completely to Linux
Out of these options I believe migrating completely to linux to be the best. This is because I can move all my other workflows over to Linux. Considering the applications I need, it unfortunately limits me to using X11 instead of Wayland (which I often prefer, and is more secure)
Linux Distribution
Now I must consider what Linux distribution will work best for my applications and use cases. Virtualizing machines underneath the main OS is something that I am comfortable with doing and is taken into consideration for very niche OS or environment applications (See VMs and Resources)
Options:
- Red Hat Linux (Only if running on Home server for learning purposes)
- Rocky Linux (Works with RHEL)
- Ubuntu
- Arch Linux
- Manjaro (For a more streamlined install)
- CachyOS (For streamlined install and performance tweaks)
Out of these options 2 really stick out at me for both learning and productivity at my computer. (CachyOS Segment). The other distro I wish to use, while maybe not on my main workstation but the other various laptops, SBC workstations, etc. will be Red Hat. I wish to learn more about enterprise Linux and this will be a good opportunity to setup domain users, Samba shares, and other general system administration on Linux