[lug] Fwd: [mauritius-linux] What is Linux?

Sean Reifschneider jafo-nclug at tummy.com
Mon Sep 10 02:20:01 MDT 2001


I picked this up from another list -- it's a good introduction to "how
could I use Linux instead of Windows".

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Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2001 12:09:15 -0100
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Subject: [mauritius-linux] What is Linux?
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Linux may have a reputation as a specialized tool for cyber
wizards, or something used by computer-science graduates to
run server-software for hacking e.t.c.=20

Many users of this free operating system don't employ it for=20
anything fancier than the bread-and-butter tasks familiar to
most Windows and Mac users. Writing letters, wasting time on
the Web, editing photos, or playing a game or two and so on.

The change:
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D

In the past two years, user-friendly point-and-click Linux
programs have become available in most of these categories
of everyday-use software, so moving to Linux doesn't have to
mean writing your letters to Grandma in a programmer's text
editor (Send E-mail, it's the better way).

These days, if you're so inclined, the main Windows "features"
you'd give up by moving to Linux would be frequent system
crashes, virus threats and expensive software upgrades.

So what are the Linux programs that can replace the Windows
software you're accustomed to? The applications in it not only
fill vital computing needs but also work so much like their
Windows equivalents that you can learn to use them in a few
minutes:

Office work:
=09
	StarOffice (http://www.sun.com/staroffice)

is the closest thing to Microsoft Office available for Linux.
it even, unfortunately, includes the bloat and featuritis of its
competitor. But it happily reads Microsoft Office files and goes
beyond the office-suite basics of a word processor, spreadsheet
and database to include desktop-publishing tools for designing
business cards, letterheads, greeting cards and newsletters.

Personal finance:

	GnuCash (http://www.gnucash.org)

is the closest Linux equivalent to Quicken, and can import your
old Quicken files to boot. (You can move Windows files to a Linux
system simply by copying them onto a floppy disk.) It's not up to
big-business accounting, but it's more than good enough to track
family finances.

Graphics:

	The GNU Image Manipulation Program, commonly called
	GIMP(http://www.gimp.org)

is a fine, free, feature-rich graphics program, but gPhoto
(http://www.gphoto.org) is much easier to use, is also
free and is all most of us need for general photo retouching
and resizing. Why all these names starting with "GNU" and "g"?=20
They're references to the "GNU Public License," the standard=20
legalese in many Linux programs that requires them to be
distributed for free and with full access to their source code.=20

Web browsing and e-mail:

Netscape Communicator 4.7 for Linux works almost exactly like
Netscape for Windows and is also quite similar to Microsoft
Internet Explorer.

Online chat:

	X-Chat (http://www.xchat.org)

is the best Internet Relay Chat client I've ever used on any
operating system, period. AOL Instant Messenger addicts,
meanwhile, will feel at home with Gaim
http://www.marko.net/gaim/), which works almost exactly like
AOL's own AIM program. The same is not true for AOL's regular
software, which doesn't work under Linux at all.

Games:

Linux comes with more little desktop amusements built in than
Windows, and more and more game publishers are porting their
products to Linux every month (see http://www.linuxgames.com for
up-to-date news).=20

If you do want to make this leap, the big question becomes
choosing a distribution--a bundle of the operating system itself,
various programs and manuals. Linux users have dozens of choices;
after testing the most popular ones, Mandrake Linux
(http://www.linux-mandrake.com), with it is included, Windowslike
"KDE" desktop (http://www.kde.org), seems best for a first-timer.=20

The Mandrake installation routine, all the way through printer and
modem setup, is controlled entirely by Windows-style clicks, not
by Unix-style command lines full of obscure computer characters.
Mandrake 8 costs less than $40 in most computer stores and
includes all the software listed above, plus more than 1,000 other
programs ranging from simple games to exotic networking utilities.

But even though Linux is easier to set up now than it was even a
year ago, I still recommend installing it alongside Windows at
first (what's called a "dual-boot" system) and making the switch a
little at a time. I also strongly recommend hooking up with a
Linux user group and getting all the advice you can before your
first Linux install.

These groups are one of Linux's greatest strengths: Instead of
help lines and hold music, you can ask for, and quickly get, help
from your fellow users. (MLUG)

Your payback will come a year from now, when you will be answering=20
installation questions from the next generation of Linux newcomers=20
and when you find your system's been immune to the last three virus=20
outbreaks, hasn't crashed in months and hasn't forced you into a=20
hardware upgrade to be able to run the latest programs.

/K
---
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-- 
 "Engineering Tablets?  Does that mean if I swallow one, I'll be an engineer?"
                 -- Evelyn Mitchell
Sean Reifschneider, Inimitably Superfluous <jafo at tummy.com>
tummy.com - Linux Consulting since 1995. Qmail, KRUD, Firewalls, Python



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