[NCLUG] Living without windows? LONG

Michael Dwyer mdwyer at sixthdimension.com
Mon Feb 18 10:56:51 MST 2002


Rich Young wrote:
> 1) She is not a computer hobbyist, and wants the simplest user experience
>  availlable to her.  Microsoft doesn't make her angry, but she loses patience
>  quickly with computers that don't do what she expects them to.

Linux does exactly what you tell it to do... like all computers,
really.  The user interfaces may be a lot more complex that she is used
to.  I recently read an article about JWZ (jwz.org) installing Linux
kiosks in his dance club.  He patched his machines to consider ANY mouse
button push to be the left mouse button.  This at least takes a lot of
mystery out of which button does which.  You might look for this article
-- it also has a few things to say about making Linux usable to complete
strangers -- google for 'jwz dna lounge linux kiosk' -- that oughta do
it.

> 2) She needs the following capabilities:
>         -email (no problem, already running)
>         -web browsing (again, no problem)

Some pages just never render right in Linux. :(  It seems that many
Linux users are used to using a number of different browsers, depending
on the site.  For example, Konquerer (?) is very fast, but you still
need Netscape or Mozilla for secure sites... (Am I right? Not sure.) 
I've been using Opera of late, and am very happy with it.

>         -word processing & compatibility with MSWord (StarOffice?)

StarOffice is pretty complete.  However, some would also call it 'slower
than a slug on vicodin'.  The other users make great suggestions, to
which I would add one more:  Abiword.  This is the Gnome word processor,
and I am /very/ impressed with it.  I'm not sure how good (or bad) its
import/export is, though.

> I am not without my own complications:
> 3) I need the following additional capabilities:
>         -advanced image manipulation (GIMP, but I'll miss PaintShop Pro...)

I think Gimp probably rates higher on the power scale than PSP.  Lower
than Photoshop, but higher than PSP, in my opinion.  I think you will
find the Gimp more than suitable.  Also, there are a number of tools
that may be better suited, depending on what you are doing -- if you are
just scaling, viewing, and color-correcting look into programs like the
classic XV.

>         -Visual Basic (I teach a VB-for-beginning-programmers class)

You are pretty much screwed, here. :(  Strongly consider preed's
suggestion of VMWare.  It is an *excellent* way to use Windows without
losing Linux.  I think you may ever be able to get some educator
discounts on it.

>         -MS Access (another class I teach, plus freelance uses....)

Yeah, same situation, here.  Linux will happily use the ODBC stuff to
interface with Access, and has a number of really great RDBMSs of its
own, but if you specifically need the Access interfaces, you are likely
out of luck.  Again, look into VMWare.

>         -web and database development (no real problem, though I'll miss TextPad...)

Again, explore the various editors avaiable for Linux.  Despite the
horror stories you may have heard about vi and emacs, once you are up
the (admittedly somewhat steep) learning curve, you will probably find
that these are the most efficient editors you have every seen, and will
find it difficult to go back.

If nothing else, wine (a form of emulation that allows windows apps to
run native on Linux) is capable of running Textpad:
http://franksworld.net/wine/pages/apps54.html

>         -possibly other web-dev-related apps, like Flash, etc.

Hmmm... Flash development is going to be difficult, here, again unless
you use Wine or VMWare.  There is an Open Flash project of some kind,
but I haven't heard much of it, yet.  I doubt it is up to what you want
to do.

> 4) I am not (yet) administrator material with linux.  I've been a user (work
> the file system, use vi, administer apache, some perl for CGI and text
> munging, and not much else) for a couple years now.

Oh, that should be enough.  Especially with a modern distribution.

>         So, I guess my question (finally!) is: will this work?  Can I, with some
> combination of WINE & substitute linux apps, stay productive as a developer,
> teach my classes, and give my wife a computing experience comparable to what
> she's enjoyed on windows for the last decade?  I know the old line is that
> linux is for servers, but I don't believe that anymore -- many of you seem to
> be using it for everything and getting along just fine, right?

Ehhh... I still believe that Linux is for servers.  However, the number
and quality of applications that have escaped the woodwork recently have
really shaken my beliefs!  Because your development environment is
strongly tied to Windows (Access, Flash, VB) I suspect you will
encounter frustrating difficulties in getting what you want with the
speed you expect.  This always sort of bothers me, because I don't want
you to get the wrong impression about Linux -- it isn't Linux's fault,
and really, Linux performs admirably against a closed world.  But the
speed just doesn't match running the apps natively.
Again, VMWare is a good thing, and Wine is apparently pretty robust of
late...

>         Any advice you can furnish on how to go about this transition as painlessly
> as possible will be greatly appreciated.  I'd be especially thankful for
> advice/resources on getting started with WINE.

I'm afraid that last time I ran WINE, the only things that worked were
notepad, solitaire, and minesweeper. :(  It has been a while...



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