dacs.doc electric

Fishin’ for apps
on the Linux desktop

By John Gallichotte

 

[IMAGE] TuxMembers in attendance at the August General Meeting were treated to a rather complete look at Linux on the desktop. The results of a show-of-hands poll taken at the very start surprised me. I had assumed that all of those present except for a very few were already computer users and surely all computer users have at least heard of Linux? I know that a show of hands is not what would be called a real survey but only about half indicated they had heard of Linux. That surprised me but even more of those that had heard of Linux almost half of those were using it or had at least tried to use it. A brief survey from a small sample of seventy-five members and guests showed that there a really is a great interest in Linux.

Presenter Bill Keane reviewed the history of Unix prior to the emergence in 1991 of Linux. The prior decade had introduced GNU (GNU is Not Unix) and the FSF (Free Software Foundation) important steps and components of what we today know as Open Software. Bill started his journey before there was a Linux. Some of his formative years were spent at ATT, with early retirement taken in 1991, starting with a 5Mhz computer and a lot of work Bill spent a period of time getting early software (using the Linux 1.2 kernel) up and running properly. Since then I think he has slid down the slippery slope towards total addiction with Unix/Linux computing (how many people do you know who carry a Linux based computer in their pocket. Ask Bill to show you his hand held Linux computer. Since 1995 we have newer faster computers at greatly reduced prices to support improved feature rich software based on Linux. Most of the audience saw for the first time, and bigger than life, an 8 x 10 foot projected image of a modern Linux desktop.

The Linux on the desktop we saw was Mandrake Linux distribution version 9.0. It was run on an AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) Model K6-2 processor with 160MB (Megabyte) of RAM (Random Access Memory).

When the Linux desktop appeared on the screen I immediately started comparing it with the Windows screens that I stare at all day long. I thought to myself this looks just like a Windows desktop except it’s different. In the upper right hand corner of the screen were the familiar three buttons to Minimize-Maximize-Close screens. As the mouse cursor was moved around the screen I saw that a click on the lower left corner (i.e. start) button produced a popup window just like Windows. The full screen that appeared was in reality a new Linux desktop that looks like the familiar Word for Windows screen with multiple tool bars along the top. The icons along the bottom of the screen look just like the task bar on Windows.

Although not a fan of the GUI (Graphical User Interface) this one should be easy to learn. In the lower right corner where Windows has the System Tray were 4 buttons to select each of four different desktops. A maximum of sixteen can be used if desired. Bill had set up his four desktops to include a Console, The Open Office application suite, and a Browser.

Bill proceeded via a Linux version of a Powerpoint presentation to show us Open Office a suite of office applications including a word processor and spread sheet. A number of browsers are available and were discussed along with various Email clients. Many Windows users are concerned that if they use Linux they won’t be able to do the things they currently do. Such is not the case with Open Office as users can read Window ‘.doc’ files and edit then as in Windows. The browsers such as Netscape (and now Mozilla) have stood the test of time as have there mail clients. In most cases the virus attacks of all types apply only to Windows.

We learned that the demonstrated system’s GUI was KDE (was originally called the Kool Desktop Environment but as it matured it has become K Development Environment). We could have used GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) or other GUIs. Of the browsers there is Mozilla or Netscape or Opera. Many browsers include Email clients. Separate mail clients are also available.

It has been said that with Linux one gets choices and that was clearly the case as Bill moved through the various features of Linux. Bill tried with great zeal his best to show us everything that one could do with Linux and definitely scratched the surface rather deeply. Bill didn’t have time to fully cover all the available developer tools and there are plenty of them.

The Mandrake Linux distribution is a very modern, mature, and complete OS (Operating System) and with the Applications included meets all of one’s basic computer software requirements. There are so many choices of which components you choose to run. The installation process is easier than ever with very few questions to answer during installation. Once installed it is easy to make changes and update your system.

If you have software requirements not met in the standard distribution there plenty of web sites to get software to fill in the gaps. Although most software is available free for downloading in special some software requires purchase.


John Gallichotte is a founding member of DACS member and a member of the board. He hosts the Microcontroller SIG..

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