One solid month with nothing but Linux

#1
Vercingetorix

Vercingetorix

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#1
Okay, so I lost a bet to another computer-geek type last weekend, and now I have to spend the entire month of August using Linux as my sole desktop operating system. For everything. (You would think we would wager money or beer like men, but no, this came out of a stupid operating system argument. Yay.) This is probably a long shot, but are there any serious Linux users on this board who can give me a few tips as far as current software? I last used Linux even semi-seriously about seven or eight years ago, so I'm way out of date.

(Yes, I fully expect this thread to sink like a stone. Thought I'd at least ask here before I head into the hellhole of the Linux forums, though...)
 
#2
#2
I had a Linux bax a while back but haven't touched it in a while. Been thinking of building another one.

I believe Freak is a Linux user
 
#5
#5
utvolpj said:
I had a Linux bax a while back but haven't touched it in a while. Been thinking of building another one.

I believe Freak is a Linux user
Click to expand...

First order of business is to decide whether to run it on my Mac in a partition or to use an old laptop for a month. Then I've got to pick a distribution. Then I've got to decide on Gnome or KDE. Etc. etc. etc. Yuck.

I mostly just hope that I don't have to spend half the month getting my hardware to work. SURELY they've improved things since the last time I went at this.
 
#8
#8
before you install anything, find a distro of Knoppix, download the .iso image and burn it to a CD, making sure you make the cd bootable (nero and other burning programs will allow you this option). Then set your computer to boot from the CD, knoppix will then take over and you can take some time learning your way around before you commit a hard drive partition to linux.

KNOPPIX - Live Linux Filesystem On CD
 
#9
#9
Thanks. Downloading it now. I think I'm probably going to just use my old laptop rather than partition up my Mac, but a bootable CD like this should let me pick out a distribution that at least finds most of my hardware to begin with. Last time I used Linux, I spent a LONG time trying to get X Windows to work at all, so I'd rather avoid that if possible.
 
#10
#10
Anybody used OpenOffice's spreadsheet much? I'm starting to think that the worst part of this deal is that I'm going to have to put together a football pool spreadsheet next month for the first weekend of college games, and Windows users will need to be able to print it out without it looking like crap. Has OpenOffice come far enough that I shouldn't be worried about it?
 
#11
#11
Vercingetorix said:
Anybody used OpenOffice's spreadsheet much? I'm starting to think that the worst part of this deal is that I'm going to have to put together a football pool spreadsheet next month for the first weekend of college games, and Windows users will need to be able to print it out without it looking like crap. Has OpenOffice come far enough that I shouldn't be worried about it?
Click to expand...

OpenOffice should be able to save and open documents in Office Format.
 
#12
#12
OpenOffice is to the point of being a perfect replacement for WORKS. I don't think it really competes with true MS Office, but is perfectly capable of opening and editing Office documents.

I would use KDE... Knoppix is definitely a good idea if you want to use your Mac. I certainly would NOT set up a dual boot just for a silly bet. Possibly if you were actually interested in going to Linux. There are other distros based on Knoppix that could be valuable. Remember that you have to build your boot CD with all your software.

Ubuntu and Gentoo are also pretty popular these days. Ubuntu is based on Debian just like Knoppix is... it has a LiveCD option as well.

Check out this link for the most common distributions, with short briefs on each.
http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major
 
#13
#13
g8terh8ter_eric said:
OpenOffice should be able to save and open documents in Office Format.
Click to expand...

I know it'll open and save them, but what I don't know is how crappy it's going to look. A football pool spreadsheet with 20-25 games on it is the kind of thing that has to be set up just right as far as spacing, margins, fonts, etc., or else when people open it, it will look awful and print on three pages instead of one. I.e., exactly the kind of thing that converting into and out of OpenOffice is likely to break. Last time I used OpenOffice (which was shortly after it quit being called Star Office), it sucked at that kind of thing.

Maybe I can set the whole spreadsheet up beforehand and just fill in the point spreads in OpenOffice. Surely that won't screw it up. Oh well, I've got a week to experiment with it.
 
#14
#14
rwemyss said:
OpenOffice is to the point of being a perfect replacement for WORKS. I don't think it really competes with true MS Office, but is perfectly capable of opening and editing Office documents.

I would use KDE... Knoppix is definitely a good idea if you want to use your Mac. I certainly would NOT set up a dual boot just for a silly bet. Possibly if you were actually interested in going to Linux. There are other distros based on Knoppix that could be valuable. Remember that you have to build your boot CD with all your software.

Ubuntu and Gentoo are also pretty popular these days. Ubuntu is based on Debian just like Knoppix is... it has a LiveCD option as well.

Check out this link for the most common distributions, with short briefs on each.
DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.
Click to expand...

I've got a Boot Camp partition already set up on this Macbook Pro that I'm not really using, so I considered just formatting it and loading Linux there so that I could continue to use this physical laptop; it's a heck of a lot nicer machine than the old Compaq laptop which is my alternative. I don't think I'm going to deal with it, though.

I've downloaded Knoppix and Ubuntu CD images. I think actually running off of a Live CD is against the spirit of the bet, so I'm going to play with both of those some tonight to see which one seems to see the hardware on my old laptop better, and then format the HDD and load the winner. And then I'll just use that machine for a month. I want a Debian-based distro, because that's what I used about a million years ago and I'm at least vaguely familiar with their package-based distribution system.

Eh, it'll be interesting. Will I be able to figure out how to stream music to my stereo through my Airport Express? Will I figure out a way to sync up my RSS feeds to my iPhone like I'm doing now? Will I find any good games, or will I be stuck playing Nethack for a month? (I like Nethack, just not for a month.)

Speaking of my phone, I just realized that I'm going to have to sync it up occasionally with my Mac. Hm. Gonna have to check with my friend and do some negotiation about that.
 
#16
#16
vader said:
You computer guys and your wacky wagers...
Click to expand...

My friend and I are both Mac users. He's your archetypal pro-Mac zealot/snob -- everything else sucks, Windows is for idiots, I am so smug, blah blah blah. I regard a computer (and its operating system) as basically a hammer. It's a tool, not a lifestyle choice. Different people have different needs, so therefore different tools make sense. Etc.

So we were bickering it about over a few beers at 2 am one night this weekend. (Maybe a lot of beers.) I argued that, despite his contention that Windows is for the brain-dead, I could handle moving into the tech-heavy anarchy of Linux easier than he could deal with having to use Windows, where everything's not on rails for him like it is on a Mac. A wager took shape. The winner was determined by a round of Drunken Wii Golf. It didn't go my way, so now I'm a Linux user for a month.

(He's a little better at Wii Golf than I am, but the idea of him having to install Boot Camp and use Windows on his precious Macbook was just too delicious to pass up.)
 
#17
#17
Like everything else on the entire Internet, VolNation looks like complete crap in the Konqueror web browser. At least with the default settings -- surely there's some futzing around with fonts I can do to make it look better.

This is gonna be a very, very long month.
 
#18
#18
Vercingetorix said:
Like everything else on the entire Internet, VolNation looks like complete crap in the Konqueror web browser. At least with the default settings -- surely there's some futzing around with fonts I can do to make it look better.

This is gonna be a very, very long month.
Click to expand...

No Firefox in the distro?
 
#19
#19
Had the same thought, so I loaded Firefox, but it still looks awful, IMO. Got to be something with the system fonts, I guess. Probably fixable.

I went with Kubuntu, because Ubuntu found all my hardware automatically, including not only setting up the video correctly, but also my wireless card (!) and even the physical volume/mute buttons on the case (!!!). I went with KDE over Gnome based purely on looks, although I'll probably install the Gnome desktop and try them both out.

School's about done, so I guess I needed a project anyway...
 
#20
#20
towelie.jpg
 
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