View Full Version : GNU/Linux on the desktop
I've been using GNU/Linux for several years on my home computers. However, I'm still stuck with using MS Office for most of my teaching credential classes. This year, though, I started to use OpenOffice.org for the essays. Teachers who were requesting things to be emailed didn't seem to mind when I sent the essays in rtf format. I've also changed all of the machines at work to GNU/Linux (Red Hat 8.0, Mandrake Linux 9.0, and Lycoris build 53)
These are the main applications that I use for work: OpenOffice.org, Sylpheed, Phoenix, Gaim (playing with Kopete), and Abiword whenever I want to clip an article from the web.
What types of software are you using on your desktop?
a lot of people/articles claim the trouble with linux adoption is no MSOffice. codeweavers may be onto something. :) anyway, i have never had a problem missing msoffice, but there does need to be some tuning....
i like abiword. koffice too. open office opens doc from MS best, but hogs the most system and looks worst. there are good reasons to use all 3. lyx is good for many a task as well. the problem is not getting any given job done, but opening other formats. other linux formats.
why is it that i have more trouble finding a single format to save docs in that all my linux apps can open well??? they are all OSS.. the code is out there. surely it is possible to have a single format that gives me all the formating options, and can open in all those apps, isn't it?
why do i have to fall back to rtf or html?
having said that, the advancement i have seen in the 2 1/2 years i have been running linux has taken me from seeing linux as a learning experience, to a sometime desktop, to a primary desktop, to a microsoft free machine. with mozilla and openoffice in 1.0, i am only waiting for Xfts to become the prefered font handling, and most linux distros would be worth paying windows prices.
....but i am glad i don't.
:wink:
the mandrake club price is just fine.
the advancement i have seen in the 2 1/2 years i have been running linux has taken me from seeing linux as a learning experience, to a sometime desktop, to a primary desktop, to a microsoft free machine. with mozilla and openoffice in 1.0, i am only waiting for Xfts to become the prefered font handling, and most linux distros would be worth paying windows prices.
I agree. The advancement has been fantastic. In fact, my attempts to use GNU/Linux on the destkop has been fairly successful. My needs are rather simple.
OpenOffice.org is going to try to set some standards that might help.
I should be more clear on my needs for OOo. The presentation software is not up to speed with PowerPoint. Maybe I just haven't worked with it enough but the ease of use isn't there with it yet. Eventually, all of my lectures should be in OOo. It's a big task though.
Dutch
11-22-2002, 12:23 PM
why do i have to fall back to rtf or html?
Unfortunately, MS did their job well and got the .doc format as the de facto standard, BUT, Star Office/Open Office can handle most MS formats OK - I use Star Office for all my work documentation with absolutely no problem. So, I may be optimistic but there is now no real excuse for enterprises and professionals to not use Linux! Could we have said that two years ago? Maybe not. Once IT managers and businesses get cured of their Open Source reticence, the better.
Most businesses would rather pay the price that Sun is charging for their Office suite (or use a stable and reliable OSS suite) so I think it's only a matter of time before a large number of people "dip their toes" into Linux waters and find out that MS don't own the world of computing after all!
Dutch
robbie_n
11-22-2002, 08:29 PM
I use Mozilla for the browser, OpenOffice.org (the Lycoris ProductivityPak (http://www.lycoris.com/products/ppak/), actually) and Mozilla Mail.
I'm waiting breathlessly for the various Gnome-for-Lycoris projects to come together so that I can run Evolution instead of Mozilla Mail.
I also use CrossOver Plugin and Office where possible, but I'm often stuck with Windows 2000 for Windows applications and games.
softdobs
02-17-2003, 10:58 AM
I am using the Progeny debian distribution. I had a bit of trouble loading it. I was persuaded to purchase it for $19.99 because it said "Automatic hardware detection" on the box and I was having trouble finding a distribution that would work with my Nvida TNT2 2d/3d Graphics Accelerator card. It found the card okay but when found my NEC LCD153OV flat panel display, it sent a horizontal sync signal that was too high and the display pasted a message to that effect on the center of the screen. I was unable to make it go away and attempted to move the distributions message panels about to read them but because the horizontal signals were out of range, I could barely read them. I finnaly had to resort to reloading it using a sVGA monitor I had on hand and edit a file called /etc/X11/CF86Config-4. After doing that, my NEC monitor worked fine. I realy like this distribution. The box also states that the Progeny Linux Systems company is led by Ian Murdock, the founder of Debian.
muskrat
02-17-2003, 06:23 PM
I'm not sure exactly what GNU Linux is in relation to this disscussion on desktop office apps.
if were refering to the OS then I understand.
As for MS office suit. I have it running on 2 PCs in my internet cafe, because the public still ask for MS Windoz. But they live with it crashing numerous times a day. I have found that Linux has just about every thing I need with getting into an office suit or any crossover software.
But I do aggree with the guy above about the text format crossing over from one text editor to another in Linux. I have 2 Linux boxs each booting to 2 drives that gives me 4 distros of linux to use. Note all distros have the same programs as default to open text files, so some times it's a pain to read one made in Mandrakes and opened in Suse, etc etc.
Of course I can always open good old trusty Abi that seems to be in all distros I have. I just need to reste the default in the file managers to use it.
redoscar
03-08-2003, 05:22 AM
I'm a relative newcomer to the Linux desktop. I decided to give Linux a try after becoming dissatisfied with the constant flow of money necessary to keep up in the Windoze world. I took my plunge about 7 months ago.
For the most part, I have been very satisfied with the transition. However, I use Quicken extensively and had to rely on booting into Windoze a couple times a week to keep things current. Also, in the Windows world I used Lotus Smartsuite and StarOffice did not have a good filter for reading in the Lotus files.
After doing a lot of reading, I decided to purchase Win4Lin to help bridge the Windoze-to-Linux chasm. My experience with this program has been outstanding. My old Windoze programs run perfectly, the system has never crashed (I can't even begin to say that while running pure Windoze), and networking with the rest of the system has been painless.
My biggest complaint with Win4Lin is the cost. At $90 per workstation license, it would be hard to justify outfitting a small or medium sized enterprise with this software just to run Linux. If Netraverse could sell Win4Lin in the $40-50 range, I think they would have a flood of people making the switch.
I think it beats Crossover Office to pieces!
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Red
Redoscar, you should have shopped around a little more. I got win4lin for $70 through Mandrake Club and saw it later for $60 somewhere else.
robbie_n
03-08-2003, 05:35 PM
LOL. Life's like that :-D
You win some, you lose some :roll:
deafphate
07-28-2003, 02:25 PM
Most businesses would rather pay the price that Sun is charging for their Office suite (or use a stable and reliable OSS suite) so I think it's only a matter of time before a large number of people "dip their toes" into Linux waters and find out that MS don't own the world of computing after all!
When it comes to word processing, I would have to agree that Staroffice would be a great alternative to MS Office, but what I have seen is that in the business world, excel and macros are very common. Staroffice's spreadsheet uses a different application for macros, so they are not very easily converted over from staroffice to ms office and vise versa.
With that one problem, and the rumors about OSS being insecure, that are some of the reasons I am seeing why businesses will not adopt OSS into their realm.
Personally I use Staroffice 6 for my office suite, Mutt / Evolution for my email, Firebird for browsing, I have been pretty happy with GNU / Linux as my primary desktop.
I am new to the forums, so please keep the flames to a minimal for at least the first week :D
Z_God
07-28-2003, 06:00 PM
Long before I went to using a Linux based OS as my default OS, I had already switched from MS Office 2k to StarOffice 5.2 and also used Mozilla instead of IE. The reason was actually that Office 2k wasn't able to cut it and had too little features compared to StarOffice. Same with IE actually and the same with Windows after a long time.
Once I switch back and somehow need to use some of those MS apps, I always have some weird problem with something not working correctly. I only use my office suit for school though so I don't use it that often. With these standard apps such as webbrowser and office suit, I also often only use the version or program that is shipped with the current distro I'm using. The first time I used OpenOffice.org was when it shipped with SuSE instead of StarOffice. I also use Konqueror as my main browser these days and Kmail for my mail.
Other apps I use these days, I mess a lot with programs such as Dosemu, VMware and Wine. Also games are cool.
It's amazing that this thread has lasted for almost one year and it is still a very important issue for discussion !
deafphate
07-29-2003, 01:06 PM
It is a very important issue, the way I see things is that there is no way of totally ditching MS Software if you work in the business world. While I was in school, whenever I needed MS Software, I had a Windows XP box on my network that I would VNC into and use the needed application and then I would save the doc in my shared folder and do whatever I needed to for that.
Personally if i was an IT Manager I would probally have something like that going on in the office, with distros like Redhat 9, a user can use it day in and day out and still work effectivly, especially if all they do is email, browsing, and typing :)
Ammiel
08-10-2003, 11:20 PM
Well... I tend to stay with my Linux Distro, which at this current moment seems to be Slackware 9.0, which I hope I can stay with, but c'mon, it's slack, of course I can :P. I use XMMS (I live on Music or Television feeds... I need sound, or I will produce my own (which isn't bad on guitar, some might argue with if I'm a good singer)), Mozilla for email and web browser, KDE as a desktop environment (kwm as a window manager, duh :P), Gaim, LimeWire, and KDevelop 3.0 which I'm amazed at how much it rules!!, Konsole, XChat, ftp, and an ocassional program here or there, but mainly, that's all. Oh yeah, and I pitched the whole idea of using Microsoft products :P no matter what it means to me for gaming, or programming... I can't stand DLL errors :)
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