[NCLUG] Linux Alternatives & Necessities for Home Use

[Kevin Fenzi]

>>>>> "Rich" == Rich Young <rich at experienceplus.com> writes:

Rich> Hey, all, looks like we're taking the plunge (for the second
Rich> time) to a windows-free life.  To pull this off, I'm going to
Rich> need to be able to adequately replace certain windows-only
Rich> applications, and I also will need to know about a couple
Rich> hardware issues.  I'm hoping the list can help.

Congrats. 

Rich> SOFTWARE Open Office takes care of most of our application
Rich> issues, but I'm curious about replacing Paint Shop Pro.  The
Rich> GIMP is a little too unfriendly for the rest of the family, I
Rich> think, but your basic kiddie paint program doesn't do enough.
Rich> Any suggestions?

Well, there is oodraw from OpenOffice.org...

There is 'tuxpaint' for kids. Works pretty well. 

Rich> While we're on the subject of images, does anyone know of a
Rich> favorite family-quality photo organizer to replace Picassa?

I am not sure what Picassa does, but I really like kimdaba for an
image organizer: 

http://ktown.kde.org/kimdaba/

Take the 3min tour there to see the features. 

Rich> I'm also wondering about anti-virus software.  Are there any
Rich> free/open virus protection apps you can recommend?  Any other
Rich> apps I should plan to use? In the windows world, I was used to
Rich> needing Zone Alarm, Ad-Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy AND an
Rich> antivirus program to keep the machine going, but I know the
Rich> risks are fewer with linux.  I just don't want to be complacent.

You can get clamav ( http://www.clamav.net ) to scan for windows
viruses, but if you have no windows machines it shouldn't be needed. 
Make sure you enable the firewall setup when you install, and make
sure you keep up with updates. Other than that you shouldn't have to
worry about viruses under linux. 

Rich> What about something to convert all my MP3's to Ogg?

Not sure on this, but it should be pretty easy. You can of course keep
using your mp3's as well. 

Rich> HARDWARE Anyone have any experience with the automount behaviour
Rich> of those internal multi-card readers on modern Fedora
Rich> installations?  I'd like to get one, but I'm not sure I can
Rich> convince my family to learn to mount manually.

Most of them should work and automount anymore. You will have to play
around with the particular one you have. 

Rich> Does the WinModem issue still apply, or can I expect most new
Rich> internal modems to work with the machine?  (Yes, I'm still on
Rich> dialup....)

It does still apply somewhat. There are drivers for some of the
winmodems now. Again, it will depend on the particular one. 

Rich> Are there any issues I need to know about in adding a new
Rich> (second) hard drive to the existing system? 

Shouldn't be. 

Rich> FINAL NOTE It's been a couple years since my last (failed)
Rich> experiment in home end-user linux.  Things have definitely come
Rich> a long way.  We're using KRUD, and so far, my printer, digital
Rich> camera and CD burner have Just Worked.  Last time, the printer
Rich> was a real struggle, and I never did get the camera or burner
Rich> working.  I know this reflects more on the thousands of
Rich> developers working on individual packages, but I'd like to thank
Rich> Tummy for their part in it anyway.

Thanks. 

Things have gotten a lot more user friendly in recent years. It's just
going to keep going that way. ;) 

Rich> --Rich

kevin