I transitioned to Linux a few years ago, which has piqued my partner’s curiosity. She’s been genuinely interested and asks questions about it, but she is so deeply integrated I don’t know where to start. She uses iCloud, an Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, a Mac desktop, plus whatever default proprietary software. She has a semi-technical background.

I want to help and be encouraging without overselling the ease of transition. There’s always some friction with transitioning technology, and of course Apple makes that intentionally difficult. I came from a Windows ecosystem, so I’m lacking any direct insight for potential challenges.

Any advice or personal experiences on moving from the Apple ecosystem to Linux would be hugely appreciated!

(I can host services on my local server, so transitioning to something like Immich vs iCloud for photos is one option we’ve discussed).

  • Corvus Cornix@piefed.socialEnglish
    3·
    2 days ago

    Also, what helped is me realising I don’t need that tight integration between the phone / tablet and laptop / desktop. They’re different devices: to consume content vs to create it. This was a key realization for me, too. I thought that I’d really miss all the Handoff and Continuity features but I rarely actually needed to be able to, for example, edit documents on my phone from my laptop and vice-versa.

    • WhatTheDuck@piefed.socialOPEnglish
      2·
      18 hours ago

      On a general basis I agree, but for her the synchronization tends to matter a lot. She rotates which device she’s editing documents with based constantly. It’s easier to work with an iPad while traveling, a laptop at the desk, or her phone as a last resort.

      • Corvus Cornix@piefed.socialEnglish
        1·
        9 hours ago

        Ah, that’s a bit trickier then. To be honest, I haven’t found a replacement for this that’s as “easy” as Apple’s suite (Pages, Numbers, etc.) that just syncs. It looks like Euro Office, a fork of Only Office (available through Nextcloud as Nextcloud Office), finally launched a few months ago so that might be worth looking into.