[PLUG] Linux Desktop - Time to make the change

Rich Shepard rshepard at appl-ecosys.com
Sun Oct 30 15:06:03 UTC 2005


On Sun, 30 Oct 2005, John Purser wrote:

> After a few minutes I realized that wasn't my dog growling, it was my
> molars grinding and the old twitch was back in my left eye. Time to move to
> Linux for my blood pressure I think.

   Very good, John!

> E-mail: I confess, I prefer Outlook.  I've been using Thunderbird lately
> and while it's a nice Outlook Express replacement it doesn't have all the
> functionality of Outlook. I KNOW e-mail clients are a touchy subject but
> what are the favorites out there? I use POP3, IMAP, Google (pop3 + web) and
> Yahoo (web only) services. And I've grown accustomed to having my calendar
> and contacts integrated with e-mail. Tasks, notes, and that business of
> tracking everything I do on the computer I DON'T need.

   I'll let others address GUI MUA options; I've always perferred the command
line and text-oriented applications. I use pine, others like mutt. I also use
jpilot <http://www.jpilot.org/> as the desktop component of my PDA:
addressbook, calendar, to-do list, notes. I've never cared for integrated
"suites" because they limit choices. You might look at sylpheed and see if
that's closer to what you've come to like and want.

> Personal Finance: I use an older version of MS Money right now and it keeps
> me on track. I've got an accounting background so I can deal with
> complicated accounting systems, but I won't. If it's simple I'll keep up
> with it. Again, suggestions? What works for you? Ups and downs?

   Gnucash <http://www.gnucash.org/>. It ain't difficult, a simplistic
double-entry checkbook register and money management application that
apparently imports Microsoft-generated data. It's great for personal use, but
for business use get SQL-Ledger.

> Music: I like Yahoo Launchcast/Music and bought a year's worth in advance
> before the price jumped. I like it, I don't love it. It could use a broader
> library (no Hoyt Axon AT ALL???), there are too many payola
> "recommendations" (Going from bluegrass to rap aint workin for me) and of
> course there's no Linux client that I'm aware of. I've got a fair
> collection of mp3s but I'd like a radio type service that works on Linux
> and can be tailored to my rather eclectic tastes. Anyone have something
> they really like?

   I've a bookcase stereo system in the office so I've no idea on this.

> And advice in general is welcome.  This won't be a do or die conversion as 
> I've got a new XP laptop to lean on until I'm happy with my Linux desktop.

   OpenOffice.org-2.0 works as an Office replacement. For serious writing, use
LyX, the GUI-front end to LaTeX <http://www.lyx.org/>.

   Even when I was a young curmudgeon I didn't like machines that thought they
were smarter than I am. I still don't like computers to make decisions for
me. Integrated applications fall in this class: you're stuck with what you
get, and you learn that what you're allowed to do is something to emulate as
you defenestrate.

   I believe that one of the most difficult aspects of moving from Microsoft
to linux (or any of the other F/OSS platforms) is coping with choice. You're
moving from a dearth of choices to a plethora of choices. And, they cost you
no money (unless you voluntarily contribute to show appreciation). Don't
think this is a trivial point; it isn't.

   In a thread on 2D vector drawing software I started a couple of days ago, I
noted that I've identified 16 different options, including the venerable
xfig. Others have added to the count. Each is "good" to a different degree,
and each is a bit more capable (or has a shorter learning curve) for
different types of drawings. I've used xfig before moving to tgif, and now
I'm using PSTricks (creating figures directly in PostScript code), jpicedt
(which is a visual creator of PSTricks output), and ipe (which is a visual
editor directly producing .pdf output).

   Writing letters, memos, and other short stuff? There's OpenOffice.org,
AbiWord, Koffice (if you use KDE), a gnome equivalent (I'm sure), LaTeX, text
editors galore, and probably much more of which I am unaware.

   Perhaps it's equivalent to moving from a small city apartment to a rural
house. You go from limited (or no) choices to having options on everything.
It can be scary or overwhelming at first. But, the end result is that you
work with applications that fit *you* and your way of working. Others can
select different applications, yet the data are interchageable (for the most
part) and it doesn't matter what tool created the document.

Have fun and enjoy the journey,

Rich

-- 
Dr. Richard B. Shepard, President     |   Author of "Quantifying Environmental
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. (TM) |  Impact Assessments Using Fuzzy Logic"
<http://www.appl-ecosys.com>     Voice: 503-667-4517         Fax: 503-667-8863



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