Re: [newbie] A Few Questions Before I Take The Plunge
On Mon, 2002-06-24 at 05:29, Nick Andriash wrote: > 1) I will be purchasing a new Box to install 8.2 on, and most likely will > be a P III 1.3Ghz with a 40 GB HDD, CDRW, etc., but am worried about > having enough RAM. I see there are already discussions on GNOME, KDE and > Enlightenment... which I presume are GUI's for Linux... Correct. Some require more resources than others. Try 'em all and see which you like best. > ...that are all > seemingly resource hungry, so I will try for 512 MB RAM... 512 MB would be great. 128 MB would be the recommended minimum. There's no such thing as too much memory, so get as much as you can. > ...with the 1.13Ghz > chip and hopefully that will be enough for any one I choose. BTW, are > those choices made during install? Can you install more than one and then > switch back and forth? Yes and yes. You can install one, some, or all, and later change your mind, installing and/or uninstalling at will. At each logon, you can chose which GUI you want to use for that session. So it's easy to try them all, chose your favorites, change your mind, whatever. Soon you'll realize how limiting it is to have one single built in GUI like in Windows. > 3) I have a lot of Word XP Documents and Excel Spreadsheets that I need to > keep around, so is there any Linux Software out there that will allow me > to read and edit those files? Better still, is there such a thing as MS > Office for Linux? Better alternatives? I use OpenOffice, an outstanding replacement for MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It's better than MS Office, no doubt, and can open and save in MS formats. Once you get 8.2 installed, let us know so we can share in the celebration! Warren Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] A Few Questions Before I Take The Plunge
Nick Andriash wrote: >I have been humming and hawing about installing Mandrake 8.2 for some time >now, but perhaps you fine people can help allay my fears: > >1) I will be purchasing a new Box to install 8.2 on, and most likely will >be a P III 1.3Ghz with a 40 GB HDD, CDRW, etc., but am worried about >having enough RAM. I see there are already discussions on GNOME, KDE and >Enlightenment... which I presume are GUI's for Linux... that are all >seemingly resource hungry, so I will try for 512 MB RAM with the 1.13Ghz >chip and hopefully that will be enough for any one I choose. BTW, are >those choices made during install? Can you install more than one and then >switch back and forth? > Yes, you have 11 you can install and you can call for all of them if you like. > >2) I have a Palm M515 and it is imperative that I be able to Sync with my >Desktop. I understand JPilot will do that... which requires a whole bunch >of other Programs to make it work it seems. Does anyone have any >experience having their Palm work with Linux? > >3) I have a lot of Word XP Documents and Excel Spreadsheets that I need to >keep around, so is there any Linux Software out there that will allow me >to read and edit those files? Better still, is there such a thing as MS >Office for Linux? Better alternatives? > OpenOffice will for one. If you simply _must_ have office, codeweavers makes a commercial app called crossover office for $59.95. It is superior to Office in one way, it fakes the access privileges Office thinks it has so that it does not compromise the security of your machine, which Office always does. StarOffice6 also works on Excel and Word files. The big advantage of OpenOffice is that while it will import and export MS files, its native format is human-readable, so never again need your data be held hostage to a proprietary license and an upgrade cycle. >4) I work a lot with PGP and GnuPG, so the Mail Client that I end up with >will have to support both Programs... but at least GnuPG. Is Linux like >Windows where you can download any Client you want, or does the Mail >Client come packaged with the Desktop or GUI such as KDE and GNOME? > >Thanks for your help > A mail client comes packaged with the KDE desktop, called KMail, and it will use GnuPG, but that really means nothing. Ther are many many mail clients in linux: Kmail, evolution, sylpheed, aethera, spruce, elm, balsa, mahogany are all available from either your install CD or the web. The formerly popular pine has had its license altered, and its use is no longer recommended. Anyway, if you use a mandrake rpm to install each of those mail clients, they will appear on your menu and you will be able to use all of them. Even mozilla mail supports GnuPG. Civileme Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] A Few Questions Before I Take The Plunge
On Monday 24 June 2002 09:46 am, Derek Jennings wrote: > On Monday 24 June 2002 12:29, Nick Andriash wrote: > > I have been humming and hawing about installing Mandrake 8.2 for some > > time now, but perhaps you fine people can help allay my fears: > > > > 1) I will be purchasing a new Box to install 8.2 on, and most likely will > > be a P III 1.3Ghz with a 40 GB HDD, CDRW, etc., but am worried about > > SNIP > > One more tip I meant to give you Nick.. You will find Linux will install on > virtually any hardware, but brand new 'exotic' hardware should be avoided > unless you know a Linux driver exists for it. (For example Nvidia NForce > chip sets have only recently been supported) Also do not bother buying a > Motherboard with on board IDE RAID It will be difficult to install Linux > on it, Linux will not be able to use the on board RAID, and in any case > Linux can do a superior version of RAID without any motherboard hardware at > all. > > Western Digital Hard Drives should be avoided since WD specifically say > they do not support Linux and most HD problems on this list are with WD > Hard drives. > > The hardware you are most likely to have problems with are scanners and > printers. > Scanners not on this list are unlikely to work. > http://www.mostang.com/sane/sane-backends.html > > Printers mostly will work, but with differing degrees of print quality. > Check out your printer here :- http://www.linuxprinting.org/ > > Mandrake will autodetect and install your scanner and printer for you, but > will obviously only be able to do it for supported models. > > HTH > > derek Nick: While we're on the subject of hardware, here's another headsup: Get a real modem. An external type that uses a serial port connection is certain to work, but after that it gets a bit murky. Some PCI cards work fine, others are going to take some extra work, and still others just won't work. Take a look at: linmodems.org www.idir.net/~gromitkc/winmodem.html -- cmg Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] A Few Questions Before I Take The Plunge
On Monday 24 June 2002 12:29, Nick Andriash wrote: > I have been humming and hawing about installing Mandrake 8.2 for some time > now, but perhaps you fine people can help allay my fears: No need to be frightened. Its fun Most installs are incident free. If you have an issue just drop us a line. You will be amazed at just how good 'free' software is. Your Mandrake CDs will have over 3000 applications on them that would cost $000's in a Windows world. > > 1) I will be purchasing a new Box to install 8.2 on, and most likely will > be a P III 1.3Ghz with a 40 GB HDD, CDRW, etc., but am worried about > having enough RAM. It is all relative. Windows XP does not work well with less than 256MB of RAM, well Linux with a KDE Window Manager will work quite nicely with 128MB. Give it 256MB and its really flying. As for processor. My laptop has a 233MHz processor and is a bit too slow for KDE 400MHz and upwards is fine. > I see there are already discussions on GNOME, KDE and > Enlightenment... which I presume are GUI's for Linux... that are all > seemingly resource hungry, so I will try for 512 MB RAM with the 1.13Ghz > chip and hopefully that will be enough for any one I choose. BTW, are > those choices made during install? Can you install more than one and then > switch back and forth? Again its all relative. Some list members use what would today be 'low end' hardware, so they absolutely need to maximise performance with a lightweight window manager. Your proposed system will run all the possible window managers with ease. But install them all anyway. Its fun trying them out. Some will be reassuringly comfortable to you, while others will seem really weird. Mandrake go to great trouble so that KDE and Gnome are set up nicely. Some of the other WM's require a bit of manual setting up by the user, and are probably not the first choice for a newbie. But install them anyway. All it costs is disc space. At least you get a choice, unlike what you get with you know who :-) > 3) I have a lot of Word XP Documents and Excel Spreadsheets that I need to > keep around, so is there any Linux Software out there that will allow me > to read and edit those files? Better still, is there such a thing as MS > Office for Linux? Better alternatives? Open Office is best because - It is free (both in cost and freedom) It comes on your CD's (one version behind the latest) It imports and exports to Word,Excel and Powerpoint format almost perfectly. It is quite a resource hog but will be fine on your system. Star Office6.0 is next best- It is almost identical to OpenOffice but costs money (for enterprises whose accounts departments cannot cope with software not costing anything) (It also has a database not in OO) KWord and Abiword are MS Word replacements but with fewer features and only partial importing capability and no export to Word format. They are lightweight and quick. (Abiword is not on the CDs but can be downloaded) KSpead and Gnumeric are Excel replacements. Again only partial importing and no exporting. They are lightweight and on your CDs Finally is you are really paranoid about MS Office compatibility you can actually run MS Office under Linux. There are 2 ways to do this (ignoring the expensive VMware solution) 1/ Buy a copy of Win4Lin this is $79 if bought from Mandrake club by Wednesday or else $89 normally (www.netraverse.com). It allows you to run Win98 or Win Me as a window *inside* Linux You can then run most 2D applications like MSOffice just like as in Windows. The bad news is you still need a Win98 license and pay for a copy of MS Office which just perpetuates the evil empire. 2/ Buy a copy of Codeweavers Office (www.codeweavers.com) This is software which allows *some* Windows apps to run natively inside Linux *without* a copy of Windows on the computer. MS Office is a supported application. The bad news is you still have to pay for MS office evil empire etc. > > 4) I work a lot with PGP and GnuPG, so the Mail Client that I end up with > will have to support both Programs... but at least GnuPG. Is Linux like > Windows where you can download any Client you want, or does the Mail > Client come packaged with the Desktop or GUI such as KDE and GNOME? There are a 'zillion' mail clients for Linux. Just use the one you like best. Kmail is simple (I am using it now), Evolution is 'Outlook' like and can even synchronise with MS exchange servers (If you buy an addon plugin)Others include Sylpheed, Mozilla Mail etc. > > Thanks for your help enjoy your new OS derek Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
Re: [newbie] A Few Questions Before I Take The Plunge
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Monday 24 June 2002 12:29 pm, Nick Andriash wrote: > I have been humming and hawing about installing Mandrake 8.2 for some > time now, but perhaps you fine people can help allay my fears: > > 1) I will be purchasing a new Box to install 8.2 on, and most likely > will be a P III 1.3Ghz with a 40 GB HDD, CDRW, etc., but am worried > about having enough RAM. I see there are already discussions on > GNOME, KDE and Enlightenment... which I presume are GUI's for > Linux... that are all seemingly resource hungry, so I will try for > 512 MB RAM with the 1.13Ghz chip and hopefully that will be enough > for any one I choose. BTW, are those choices made during install? Can > you install more than one and then switch back and forth? 256MB on a 1GB PIII is fine for me with KDE 3.0.1. If you select multiple window managers when installing Mandrake switching between them is straightforward: you pick from a list when logging in. > 2) I have a Palm M515 and it is imperative that I be able to Sync > with my Desktop. I understand JPilot will do that... which requires a > whole bunch of other Programs to make it work it seems. Does anyone > have any experience having their Palm work with Linux? I'm using a Clie with Mandrake. But I don't bother with Linux synchronisation and desktop software (and have never really used the todo, mail, diary and address book); far easier is to mount the Clie's memory stick as an extra device - support for doing this is built in - and manipulate files directly on it. > 3) I have a lot of Word XP Documents and Excel Spreadsheets that I > need to keep around, so is there any Linux Software out there that > will allow me to read and edit those files? Better still, is there > such a thing as MS Office for Linux? Better alternatives? OpenOffice.org 1.0 (www.openoffice.org) is what you need; it's essemtially an Office clone. KOffice (www.koffice.org) comes with KDE and is also good, although the compatibility with Word documents is not quite as thorough as that in OOo. OOo has opened everything I've thrown at it with only minor glitches, including documents which Word refused to open (!) > 4) I work a lot with PGP and GnuPG, so the Mail Client that I end up > with will have to support both Programs... but at least GnuPG. Is > Linux like Windows where you can download any Client you want, or > does the Mail Client come packaged with the Desktop or GUI such as > KDE and GNOME? You can download any client you want, and most are integrated with GnuPG and PGP. Both KDE and Gnome come with email clients - kmail (kmail.kde.org) and evolution (www.ximian.org/products/ximian_evolution/) respectively which are as good as any. Alastair - -- Alastair Scott (London, United Kingdom) http://www.unmetered.org.uk/ -BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE- Version: GnuPG v1.0.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org iD8DBQE9FwWvCv59vFiSU4YRAl5MAJ4qk/zO7xdzQ8aihTAk0ldNeL9KhACgxx4n pd3T3iO2HyND5xQE9zj8MiQ= =UjRQ -END PGP SIGNATURE- Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
