Linux ?'s

[mike_n_herrin]

i'm not sure what a primer is. But Linux runs exceptionally well on old hardware. you generally do not need the original drivers for things. I think you'll get a variety of answers as to which distribution (distro) of linux that is the easiest to learn. Many of the most popular ones now have "live" cds. these are the entire operating system on a CD and they RUN from that cd and do not install anything on the hard drive (but running from the CD is slower so you'll notice some significant increases in speed if you try out the CD and then later install to the hard drive). Many of these come with the option to install to the hard drive if you like it and want to. I personally prefer Knoppix as i think it was the easiest one to use when i knew nothing about linux to begin with. I think grabbing those computers and putting linux on them and giving them to folks and families in need is a WONDERFUL idea. i wish there was a whole program set up to do that. there might be, but i'm not aware of it. most distos are available for download from the internet in ISO form that is then burnt to a CD in order to use it. One of the best places to look is http://distrowatch.com/

Knoppix (as do many linux distros) come with a variety of software including things like "openoffice" which is compatible with MS office files. It can read and edit word, excel, and powerpoint documents. it might be able to do access also, but i've not tried that. there are a variety of media players, cd/dvd burning software, web browsers (like firefox) etc., etc., and it all comes as part of knoppix already without installing anything. to be fair many other distros do the same thing.

I got a book at barnes and nobel called "hacking knoppix" it's written by Scott Granneman and i think it tell's you just about everything you need to know about knoppix in the event you can't figure it out on your own, although i bet you can. knoppix is so easy to use.

i think t-rex might suggest Ubuntu as being one of the easiest distros of linux to use. there is a distro called freespire (the free version of Linspire, which used to be called Lindows. MS bitched about the name though). Linspire/freespire is supposed to be one of the most windows like distros. But i've tried it and it is very similar, but i like knoppix better, probably because it uses the KDE graphic interface as opposed to the GNOME one. I think distros that use KDE are easier for windows folks to learn.

Here are some screen shots. 1. is Knoppix; 2. is Ubuntu; and 3. is Freespire.

1.

2.

3.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

Famelix is supposed to look just like windows XP, but i've not used it so i don't know how easy it is to use. here is the web page for it so you can see the screen shots of it, it's brazilian, although you can set the language for english i think... :http://www.famelix.fameg.edu.br/site/scre.php

There is an older "guide" to switching at Tom's Hardware. http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/03/29/migrating_from_windows_to_linux/index.html

I notice one thing they recommend is SUSE. The SUSE distro was the first one i tried and i found it confusing, but admittedly i installed it with the GNOME interface instead of KDE (it asked which i wanted). At the time it didn't have a live CD to try out so i had to install it and it was hard to put things back when i couldn't figure out how to use it. Anyway, take a look at Tom's site.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

I have heard you guys mention the live cd's before but with an abundance of free hardware, I don't think there is any need to go that route. I may play around with it for awhile myself but but I have to stick with windows for things like arcmap that I use (GIS and mapping program)...

another benefit of the live CDs is that you don't have to take the time and go through the install process only to find it doesn't work with something on the computer after a 1/2 hour of install time or whatever. you can have a bunch of Linux distro CDs sent to you for just a dollar or so a piece if you don't have high speed internet for the download of the ISO files. just pop in the cd and in about 2 minutes (remember they run slower from the CD) you are in linux and you can see if it all works. in knoppix i've had to reconfigure the sound card once it boots up because it didn't auto detect it correctly. But that wasn't too hard. i just ran the program called alsaconfig i think...lol it's been a while.

if you use arcmap at home...then i doubt you can't switch to Linux completely. although it may work in WINE (which is a windows emulation program in linux. i'll have to check it out sometime i am running arcgis 9.1

... I suspect that the upcoming version of ubuntu (7.04 - the "Feisty Fawn" - due 19 April 2007) will become widely popular as an easy distro for many people to use. Linux has traditionally been a server OS. But Mark Shuttleworth, creator of the ubuntu distribution, has specifically intended ubuntu as a desktop OS, something very few Linux distros have really targeted, until recently. Ubuntu 7.04 will feature not only easy installation of codecs for playing media files, but will also make the obtaining and installation of software particularly easy. Ubuntu 7.04 will run quite well on a computer with 256 MB RAM. I happen to think the ubuntu desktop is also very intuitive, but I know many people who disagree.

told ya he'd say ubuntu.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

...PS, have you seen esri new ruggidized tablets pc's. They make me drool.

I have, are GIS folks at the office have i think...2 of them. I've not used them i don't hardly ever get to leave the office. the few site visits i get per year i generally already had the GIS layers for it so there is no reason for me to use the tablets. But we have them because the GIS folks are gadget people.

 

[Snade]

As network admin, I'm going to be forced soon to set up my first server running Linux. I realize Linux has its adherents, and more power to them. I have neither the time nor the desire to master Linux, however, and resent the boss's interference in my work just because he considers Linux to be "free." Because my boss has no clue about the actual costs of implementing Linux, I'll wager he'll wind up spending more money trying to save money than he'd have invested in Windows Server. Who'll get the blame? Guess!

 

[mike_n_herrin]

/\ ewww sorry for that.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

Fucking hell. I guess I will just get a bunch of distro's to try. I have been reading and reading. They say knoppix is good at configuring hardware, Freespire comes with some non open source stuff that many distro's don't (that might be handy). I envision most people would be doing the web email and office so the ability to open pdf's, use flash etc might be handy to have installed all at once using freespire.

knoppix comes with openoffice so it can do all the office stuff. it also comes with email software so you can do that also. i'm not sure if it comes with a pdf reader...but i would guess it does. i've never had to install a single thing in knoppix because it comes with everything i've needed.

 

[mike_n_herrin]

/\ i think it's worth the few bucks also! i can't tell you the number of times i've done a huge linux download only to find the ISO was corrupted at some point and had to start over. and i'm NOT on dial up

which ones did you get? I'm going to guess and say you got knoppix and ubuntu... but what else? i really really think you'll love knoppix.