Linux Question

[club_med]

I am interested in Linux, i am currently using Win98se (without problems).

However i was wondering what software works with Linux, here is a list of software i use:
(is there a version of Linux that supports all or most?)


Photoshop 6.0
MS Office Premium
MS Frontpage 2000
Creative SB Live player (sound card)
Spea Mirage v7 (graphics card)
Outlook Express
IE 5.5
Opera 5
ICQ v2000b
ZA
Inoculate IT
ACDSee 32
Winzip 8.0
Winamp


Which ones can i expect to be able to use in a certain version of Linux ?.

Thanks,
cm.

[Mntsnow]

Photoshop = Gimp
Office = Star office
Frontpage = ?
Sb live = Works
Mirage = works
Outlook = Kmail
IE = Kconquer or Netscape
Opera = Opera
ICQ = Licq
ZA = ?
Inoculate = ?
ACDSEE = Gimp
Winzip = TAR & GZ
Winamp = Kmp


Hope that helps. Others will probably have other Linux apps to suggest than the one's I mentioned

[club_med]

Thanks Mntsnow, but what do you mean by 'gimp' ? http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif.

And, what brand of Linux should i try to obtain in order to use most (if not all) of the above listed ?.

Thanks again,
cm.

[jamis]

The Gimp is a photoshop/paintshop like software package that is free and distributed with most linux distributions.

Mandrake 8.0 or Redhat 7.1 are both realitively easy to set up and come with just about everything you'll need.

[pbharris]

hello,
There are many html generators out there for linux.

i also think that norton or mcaffee have virus scaners for linux, which BTW is a bit more secure than windows IMHO.

[Andy_L]

Linux is mainly more secure simply because it is more profitable (havoc-wise) to write viruses for Microsoft programs/OS's, there are many many more foolish people running Win9x and willing to happily open whatever files they find in their inbox, than there are running Linux.

[club_med]

Thankyou for the detailed information.

What material should i start reading ?, i know very little about Linux.

cm.

[CMonster]

ZA = ipchains/iptables (choose your own config tool - I prefer PM-Firewall, I would use FireStarter, which is a legit program but I got burned by a trojaned copy so none of that for me)

Inoculate = ? Not really necessary but there are a couple AV progs available for Linux -a properly configured Linux box is also more secure because a virus would typically have to be run as root to inflict maximum dammage, and Linux users do not usually run as root.

Note: Linux use requires READING, this is not an OS you can effectivly learn by point-n-click/trial&error like you can learn Windows. Liken it to learning to fly an airplane vs learning to drive a car: Windows -most of us just got behind the wheel with minimal instruction and started driving before we learned the rules of the road and we probably never even opened that owners manual in the glove box. Linux -without learning some important rules, concepts, and the operation of some complex control we would not likely even get a plane off the ground -and if we did it is almost certain that the resulting crash would be a catastrophy.



[This message has been edited by CMonster (edited 05-15-2001).]

[linux_guru]

Yeah, like Mntsnow says ... (with a few additions)

Photoshop = Gimp, KDE Paint, Corel Paint for Linux
Office = Star office, Koffice, Wordperfect
Frontpage = ?, Coffee Cup, BlueFish
Sb live = Works
Mirage = works
Outlook = Kmail,Netscape Mail, Evolution, Sylpheed
IE = Kconquer or Netscape
Opera = Opera
ICQ = Licq
ZA = ? Dont need it if configured correctly.
Inoculate = ? Dont need it if secured correctly
ACDSEE = Gimp
Winzip = TAR & GZ
Winamp = Kmp Music Match for Linxux, XMMS

These are just off the top of my head. There are lots more.

[club_med]

What about reading materials ?.

cm.

[Mntsnow]

www.linuxnewbie.org (http://www.linuxnewbie.org) www.mandrake.com (http://www.mandrake.com)

and others that will be posted shortly I'm sure http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[CMonster]

It is hard for me to recommend an actual book that is not either already showing signs of age or very-very dry reading. I think Mntsnow has the right idea in directing you to online documentation.

Another great site: www.linux.org (http://www.linux.org)


I think the Manuals that come with SuSE 7.1 Professional are thorough and conscise, some of the best, most usefull documentation that I have seen come with a distribution.

[Goldwingnut]

GIMP=Graphic Image Manipulation Program. A poor choice of names, IMHO. I would get flamed by my boss if I used that name at work ( Federal government worksite ).

Regarding Linux Books: It appears to me that none were written by educators. All of the information you need is there, but not one takes you through what you need to learn in an orderly fashion.

Before I explain that, I will say that you should get a copy of "Red Hat Linux Unleashed" ( assuming that you are wisely running a Red Hat Linux ). You can read most of it free at www.informit.com (http://www.informit.com) You can download it, one chapter at a time, if you wish.

An example of what I meant above: Even if you are the only user, you should have three accounts set up on any Linux box: Root ( the administarator ), Programmer ( for installing and compiling new programs, even if you don't write original programs ) and User.

This is to bomb-proof the box. You can't accidentally overwrite a critical file if you are logged in as User, with mimimal permissions.

You won't find that bit of info in most Linux books.

Then you have to assign different levels of permissions to the different users. And you have to asign permissions to files when you copy them. So if you import HTML files from your Microsoft box, do it as User so Users permissions get applied. If you move the files as Root, you have to reassign permissions to every blinking file. It can be done recursively. Many people don't use the word recursively in everyday conversation.

There is no book that tells you what you need to learn, in what order. There are many books that tell you what you need to know, but you have to figure out for yourself what that is as you go along.

[linux_guru]

Just have a look here ....
http://linux.comp.nus.edu.sg/myths.html

[CMonster]

I've found cp -aRx useful for copying directories without having to reset permission on "every blinking file."

..er, maybe it was just cp -ax ...well, back to the book..

GIMP is awesome - really doesn't deserve such a "gimpy" name.

[This message has been edited by CMonster (edited 05-16-2001).]

[linux_guru]

er CMonster .........

I think it was cp -rp

r for recursive (directories)
p for preserve file attributes. http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[club_med]

Once again thanks to all for the info

linux_guru, thanks for the link, some impresive stuff there ! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif.

I have another question, compared to lets say Win98se, how demdaning is Linux ?, how much of my system resources would it use up ?

Im planning to try out Linux on a P133 with 72MB ram and a 45gig HDD.

cm.

[DiscoLando]

As for GIMP, I just don't think it compares to Photoshop.

If you're in a working in a professional environment (like me) Photoshop should be your choice of software. It all depends on what you're using Photoshop for, I guess. I have a dual-boot setup, 90% of which is just to use Photoshop.

[CMonster]

-a (does the same as -dpR right?) and I use -x if the directory might have sub dirs that are in other file systems -like the /mnt dir so it doesn't try to copy the entire Windows partition as well

[CMonster]

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2761566,00.html

Linux is making huge inroads into animation in Hollywood movie production, see the above link.

[club_med]

Hey I saw that movie (Shrek) on teusday, its really good, and funny, and now im even more impressed to hear it was made using the aid of Linux !.

cm.

[club_med]

Can anyone answere this question:

I have another question, compared to lets say Win98se, how demdaning is Linux ?, how much of my system resources would it use up ?

Im planning to try out Linux on a P133 with 72MB ram and a 45gig HDD.


cm.

[lynchmob]

ClubMed:I agree that online documentation is good and there is alot out there,but,three books I have found to be indispensible are:
1.O'reilly's Running Linux 3rd ed.
2.Sybex's Linux Command Instant Reference by Brian Pfaffenberger
3.Peter Norton's Complete Guide to Linux
There are more good books out there but I would say these help me the most.Books geared toward a specific distro are out there that usually include a cd(or cds)of that distro.
Also,you can always get help from the many how-tos and manual pages that are almost always included with a Linux distro.
And heres another site here (http://www.linuxquestions.org)
lynch

[linux_guru]

Linux is probably about as demanding of resources as win9x/ME. Less demanding than W2k. The biggest demand on resouces is the X-Windows part of it. The P-133 with 72Mb will run Linux OK, but may disappoint with performance (as would windows).