Linux

[waterhead]

I ran Vista Advisor on my original PC and it says that I will be fine with Vista.  Now the manufacturer of my printer and my accounting software says that is not true.

So I'm loading Vista back on the notebook and doing more testing......

:confused:   :co1:

If your old programs won't run on Vista, why not install Linux? They won't run on Linux either.  You will also break the cycle of dependency that running proprietary software on a proprietary operating system creates.

[tazman]

If your old programs won't run on Vista, why not install Linux? They won't run on Linux either.  You will also break the cycle of dependency that running proprietary software on a proprietary operating system creates.

I'm glad to see someone is supporting a good OS.  If it weren't for the damand or pressure from other family members at the time, I would still be using it.  Or at least still have it installed as a dual boot setup.  I dropped out of the LINUX camp when I purchased my present computer and havn't bothered remaking the needed partitions or to configure it for dual booting.  I started out with Yggdrasils release of LINUX back in the early 90's and got out of it about 3 years ago when I bought the new computer.  Caldera's OpenLINUX 2.4 was the last LINUX release that I used with the KDE desktop.  At that time, the LINUX camp had not been keeping up with the latest support needed USB devices.  That has probably changed by now.

I have often thought about getting back in again, but I'm not sure whose distribution would be best suited for me.  Toward the end of my LINUX years, GIMP was one of the only programs that I used under LINUX.  Since I bought the new computer 3 years ago.  I also found that they compiled a windows version of GIMP.  That also took away alot of my motivation to get back in into LINUX.

By the way, whose distribution are you running and what kernel level are they up to.

[waterhead]

I have been using SuSE Linux. Version 10.1 has served me well. I have it on my laptop and do all of my web related tasks with it (like MilwukeeHDTV.org Forums). I also have it installed on a PC that I use for MythTV. It is a dual boot with Fedora Core 5 (no Windows). I developed a problem with the MythTV mySQL database on the SuSE install, so I have been using the FC5 install for MythTV.

SuSE 10.1 only officially supports kernel version 2.6.21-0.13, but I compiled 2.6.19.2 on my laptop because the newer kernel has native support for the Broadcom wireless in my laptop. The latest stable kernel is 2.6.20.

SuSE 10.2 has been out for a while, it has 2.6.18.2. I would recommend SuSE because it is better at hardware recognition, and it has a multitute of programs easily available.

[CrashCamomilli]

I have been using SuSE Linux. Version 10.1 has served me well. I have it on my laptop and do all of my web related tasks with it (like MilwukeeHDTV.org Forums). I also have it installed on a PC that I use for MythTV. It is a dual boot with Fedora Core 5 (no Windows). I developed a problem with the MythTV mySQL database on the SuSE install, so I have been using the FC5 install for MythTV.

SuSE 10.1 only officially supports kernel version 2.6.21-0.13, but I compiled 2.6.19.2 on my laptop because the newer kernel has native support for the Broadcom wireless in my laptop. The latest stable kernel is 2.6.20.

SuSE 10.2 has been out for a while, it has 2.6.18.2. I would recommend SuSE because it is better at hardware recognition, and it has a multitute of programs easily available.

I have been playing around with SLED 10 also.  I had ignored linux since I last tried it in 2000-2001, and I'm really impressed with how far it has come.  I have 5 computers running right now, and the thought of upgrading them all to run vista seems overly wasteful.

I think many people would be impressed to learn how much driver support there is for linux right now.  Even my VIVO box, based on an ATI X800 All in Wonder, has a native linux driver avalible from ATI.

I believe that the shear cost of upgrading coupled with the massive resource consumption of Vista will push more Power Users to other alternatives.  I haven't tested the final release of Vista yet, but the amount of resources needed by the betas was unacceptable.  

I don't think linux is ready for the big time, but as windows becomes more bloated and more users migrate to other platforms, I believe linux will gain the user base it needs to push forward.

[waterhead]

Since this thread has gone slightly off topic, I would like to shamelessly promote a local Linux group.

I am a member of the Milwaukee Linux Users Group (MLUG). We have monthly meetings to promote Linux and Linux applications.
We also have a monthly "beer" meeting to promote social drinking.{cheers}  Glug2  It is usually held at the Ale House.

Here's a link to their site:
http://www.milwaukeelug.org/tiki/tiki-index.php

I have been prodded into giving a presentation on MythTV, at some future date. New members are always welcome.

[tazman]

Since this thread has gone slightly off topic, I would like to shamelessly promote a local Linux group.

I am a member of the Milwaukee Linux Users Group (MLUG). We have monthly meetings to promote Linux and Linux applications.
We also have a monthly "beer" meeting to promote social drinking.{cheers}  Glug2  It is usually held at the Ale House.

Here's a link to their site:
http://www.milwaukeelug.org/tiki/tiki-index.php

I have been prodded into giving a presentation on MythTV, at some future date. New members are always welcome.

Thanks for the response  Waterhead:)

I have 2 other older computers down in the basemant that I retired awhile back.  They are both dual P-2's with adaptect SCSI buses.  I might have to put one of those back into service and just remote shell to it using Exceed on my windows computer.  I don't have alot of room to set up another whole computer, but just the box would work.  I never formaly belonged to a user group, but had subscribed to LJ since their first issue.  I'll have to stay in touch if time and motivation pushes me more in that direction.

Thanks:wave:

[StarvingForHDTV]

If your old programs won't run on Vista, why not install Linux? They won't run on Linux either.  You will also break the cycle of dependency that running proprietary software on a proprietary operating system creates.

Does Linux have decent accounting software available?  These laptop computers are for primarily business.

I think there is a good free office suite that would work with Linux.  Is that true?

[Gregg Lengling]

Split this thread and moved the Linux related posts to this new thread.

[jkane]

Micky$oft owns all the rights to SuSE.  Using it still supports the plans of the Evil Emperor!

I have SuSe too, but it's like version 7.3 or so.  Next time I have 3 spare days to upgrade, it'll be to another distribution.

[Tom Snyder]

All our Linux guys run Open Office as their office suite... and there's even a Windows version of it that opens Word Docs and Excel spreadsheets.

http://www.openoffice.org/

As far as a Linux distribution, we have worked with all of them. Originally chose SuSE as our primary, switched to Debian a few years back, and are now migrating to Ubuntu.

[waterhead]

Does Linux have decent accounting software available?  These laptop computers are for primarily business.

I think there is a good free office suite that would work with Linux.  Is that true?

Besides Open Office, I've heard of Crossover Office. They claim that you can run MS Office on Linux with it.

As for Open Office, I tried it on some spreadsheets that I set up at work. These spreadsheets used Visual Basic to do complex calculations, and Open Office could not run them. I have head that Visual Basic will be accessable in an upcoming version.

Micky$oft owns all the rights to SuSE.  Using it still supports the plans of the Evil Emperor!

I would like to know the source of your information, as I have never heard anything about this. If you are referring to the agreement that Novell made with MS not to sue each other, that is not the same as owning SuSE rights. And, openSuSE is free. Try getting Vista for free.

[tazman]

There was also Star Office at the time I was still involved.  That happened to be a SUN Micro Systems product and was compiled for LINUX.  It was sold as a commercial product and was on the shelf at Best Buy a few years back.  There also was a port of Word Perfect back then too.  I ran that under LINUX, but it was a little buggy.  Not sure what the current state of WINE is, that is the windows emulator for LINUX.  Waterhead would propably know more about that than me.  Like I said, I've been out of it for more than 3 years now.

If anyone is interested in an Open Source Graphics product that rivales PhotoShop CS, then try GIMP.  I've been using it for years.  Fantastic program.

[waterhead]

I actually only used WINE for the first time last week. I used it to extract a BIOS upgrade for a PC, it was a .exe file. It worked OK on that.

If I really want to run a Windows application, I still have a PC or two with WinXP on it.

[StarvingForHDTV]

I'm interested in Linux and open source.  I do have doubts about having the right drivers available for newer computers.  I also wonder if there is a suitable replacement to Quickbooks Pro or Peachtree for accounting software.

I have about 10 days left before I lose my privilege to return my notebooks to Circuit City.  Right now they are essentially useless to me as they can't run Quickbooks Pro in Vista and with XP installed there is a serious lack of drivers that work.

Usually I love technology, but in this case.... that is not true.

[kevbeck122]

The only driver issues I've had in Linux were usually video card related or sound.. but with the newer versions of the distros I haven't had as many problems.  Also wireless cards.. but I haven't tried Linux on my laptop in ages.  I'm sure there's good support by now.

Someday I want to try FC5 or 6 on my PS3.. just for fun .