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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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If it's your computer that you bought and legally own, tell them where they can install their Winblows 11. (The nice way to say this is to tell them to requisition you a computer or think of an alternative, because you are not going to use a personal device for company business anyway)
If it's their computer that they own, grin and bare it.
Well, why? Compliance? ISO certification requirement? Any chance of providing the requirements to Linux?
Get a separate device for work. You shouldn't be working on your personal computer anyway.
It is a work device. I was just allowed to use fedora until now.
https://github.com/ChrisTitusTech/winutil has some nice and simple buttons for reducing the bullshit.
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!
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.
Do not, under any circumstances, conduct any private business on it.
This is true of any work device regardless of the OS
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
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.
Pressing F to pay my respects.
Sorry to hear that OP.
When old employer was bought out they tried to move us on to windows. It was shit. After non stop issues they gave in and let us keep linux.
I'm sorry to hear that. Our company recently got acquired, and every 4-6 months the new IT team tries to say, "but do you guys really need Linux? What for?". We answer them, in depth, every time, but then it just comes back up a few months later.
I'm scared one of these days they're just going to force the change on us, all productivity will grind to an absolute halt, deliverables will be missed, and eventually they'll backtrack but only after it's too late to recover the programs that got hosed in the process.
Just ask them why they want to waste the money on licensing. Money is the language managers understand
Although compliance is also a concern.
For us, on our Linux machines, they pay Canonical or RedHat for workstations 🤷♂️
Just use the shovel your boss gives you. Back to your own preferences once you clock out.
As a form of protest create README txt files everywhere that say things like "I wish I was using linux" and "friends don't let friends use windows".
or only write instructions for Linux if you're really evil
Start doing a job search?
Switch workplace.
There are countless ways to bypass that (e.g. https://docs.linuxserver.io/images/docker-webtop/ running on a server) but honestly if a workplace does not value your expertise to hone your own tools, they don't really value you as an employee.
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.
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.
Uh. My condolences. Do they also force you to use the software installed on Windows? Otherwise you could just image Fedora and run it in a virtual machine inside of Windows 11. Technically, I guess that'd fulfill the requirement with Windows 11 on the computer... Just that you don't use it for more than log in, start the Linux VM and expand it full-screen.
What if you do the reverse?
Good luck getting an admin to register your VM with Active Directory.
At workplace, use whatever OS and tools allowed by company policy.
At home, use whatever OS and tools you like.
At least that is how I’m managing it.
Yeah exactly. Although it's also totally understandable that OP is unhappy with their decision. At the end of the day any reasonably large workplace just wants all their IT to be as manageable as possible, which means as uniform as possible in hardware and OS. But using windows for many jobs just kinda sucks.
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.
Think about it the other way around; you could use Linux on your work pc for the time being and your workplace was fine with that? that's awesome. it's a bummer things changed, but... that's corporate life, bro.
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.
https://gist.github.com/camullen/0c41d989ac2ad7a89e75eb3be0f8fb16
Just cut Windows out as much as possible and run everything in WSL. Setup everything to boot straight to all your WSL layers, and aside from the absolute shit Base OS, it should be the same.
WSL is reasonable bearable, you can install Fedora instead of the default Ubuntu/Debian too. My work PC started out on 10 and is now on 11. I think I changed the terminal program, but the one I use may be the default in Win11. Honestly, I think the only programs I run outside WSL are a browser, DaVinci Resolve and Reaper (replaced Kdenlive and Ardour, both of which I prefer).
I am able to use the same neovim config on both my home (fedora) and work laptops, which is pretty handy.
At the end of the day it is their computer, not yours.
Doesn't having WSL under the hood negate Linux's inherent security?
I'd much rather have Windows shit containerized within Linux.
Quit
Tell them you can’t switch due to some incompatibility and then just don’t do it.
You may run Fedora in WSL2. This is what I do. My work is largely command line based. Use Wezterm. If you must, launch GUI apps from there. I'm running graphical Emacs daily just fine this way. My coworkers don't have half the gas for our kubernetes pods that I do and that's by in large the fact that I refuse to lose my Linux chops