[lug] Converting people

[Wayde Allen]

On Fri, 14 Jul 2000, David wrote:

> So, below is a list of a few applications that must be covered by
> Linux equivalents, there will be a few others that I have missed.  The
> question is: can anyone give me some suggestions on what to use?  I
> have heard of Applixware, Star Office, and others, but I know zero
> about any of them, or even if these are the right packages.

I use Applixware.  I've not yet tried Star Office so you'll have to get
comparison info from someone else.

> Is it feasible to sit down someone like this in front of, say, a Linux
> spreadsheet, and have that person pick up the necessary knowledge just
> by clicking around?

Yes, the Applix spreadsheet looks a lot like any other spreadsheet that
I've used (Excel, Lotus).

> If anyone can give information on pitfalls, significant differences,
> gotchas, etc., that will be great.
> 
> Word           ----> Applix Word - Applix can read and write word files
                                     fairly well.  I've seen some problems
                                     with the more complex formating, but
                                     for the most part it works OK.  I'm
                                     also using an older release.  It is
                                     likely that a newer version would 
                                     have better conversion filters.  Of
                                     course, I've yet to see a conversion
                                     filter that works with equations.
                                     I'd also guess that there are more
                                     "features" in MSWord.

> Excel          ----> Applix Spreadsheet - I use this extensively for
                                            data analysis.  Very nice with
                                            some interesting features.

> PowerPoint     ----> Applix Presentation Editor - I've used this for
                                                    several presentations
                                                    with good luck.
                                                    Probably not as full
                                                    featured as
                                                    Powerpoint. 

> PageMaker      ----> I don't really know of a GUI based layout editor
                       for Linux.  I guess I'd suggest that LaTeX/TeX 
                       "could" be used for this, but the learning curve is
                       probably steeper than many would like to tackle.

Hope this helps.


- Wayde
  (wallen at boulder.nist.gov)