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Hello:

I know there are an number of folks on this forum who use Linux as an operating system. I have finally managed to get Fedora 10 up and running on the main PC permanently and the more I use it the more I like it. What pitfalls if any should I be on the lookout for? It feels good to be free of the Micro $oft shackles.

In Christ:
Einar

Hardware compatibility. Everything I read regarding Linux and the one time I tried it was that not all peripherals worked properly and some sort of Windows driver emulator had to used to install the Windows drivers. I tried Ubuntu 8.10(? it sits upstairs in a drawer) on an old PC and I had the worst time trying to get the wireless to work. After going to a number of support forums for answers, and trying different things, I finally gave up and reinstalled Windows. Besides it was an old computer that was for use by guests and something for me to tinker with. I did not want to spend more time maintaining the OS for that machine than my regular work computers combined.

Linux was considerably more work than I was ready to handle, and I am extremely proficient on both Windows and Mac OS, going back to the days of DOS and AppleDOS . So good luck. They are a few here on Linux, but not very many.

Depending on the computer processor, etc., this new release may be of interest to some. Moblin 2.0 Beta review [enduserblog.com]

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

The other thing to watch out for is dependency trees and piecemeal updating...

Unlike more commercial OS's, lots of stuff gets updated frequently, but those updates often don't get packaged together.

Often, the first you find out is when you go to install something, and wind up with 50 different dependencies that need updates; then the next couple hours are lost as the machine seeks and installs all those dependencies... or worse, you have to manually go out looking for them.

Just about the first thing to do once you've installed is to fire up fink, update fink, and then fink update-all.

Once a month, updating everything using fink or its equivalents is not just a good idea, but pretty much best practices. Also set fink only to grab stable packages.

One other thought: Be warned that a lot of stuff is not compiled to binaries. Some are a mixture of source and object files, which protects the proprietary code, but still allows customization for various systems. Which may be needed in some cases.

It depends of what is the purpose of the PC which is setup Fedora. Is workstation, is server etc? Do you use only Office and a mail client, or more as Photoshop, InDesign etc? Fedora is nice, (K)Ubuntu is also nice, etc. Learn the Linux basics.

Good thought is to join a dedicated forum of Fedora users http://fedoraforum.org/forum/ . A Fedora guide and of course learn to use the command lines. There are many resources. Personally I run Debian and Mac on 2 machines. Very stable combination.

Just research in function of your need. God help.

Einar,

Another reason I and maybe a number of others have found in regards to running Linux is the lack of workable applications for specific areas. I work a lot in graphic design, photography and video, and the applications I found that are "open source" are very basic and lack the tools I need, besides being very unstable and prone to crash. Many of these programs remind me of the limited programs of a decade ago that were available both in their design and functionality. In regards to such program like "Open Office", I find it is more of a headache than a help, thus I would prefer the "Office suite" I currently use on both the Mac and Windows platforms. As far as a home finance program, none of the open source programs match what I am getting with either MS Money or Quicken.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Peace to all,

I use Ubuntu 9.04 as my default OS on my notebook (same one that contains all of my work of the past five years).

Vista is too slow, (and I have 4GB Ram, 1G gpu Ati-2600 and a T7500 cpu) and it gives me a headache when it comes to networking. (I work in multiple places and I need to switch networks & connect to different hosts etc...)

I used Fedora, which is in fact a solid-state OS and truly a state of the art for those who have security, stability and livability in mind. That's why I use CentOS (Fedora's cousin) on a server I am maintaining for Charity.

I have never faced an issue with finding software to complement any software for windows or mac. (http://www.osalt.com/)
Worst case scenario is when I had to run some old software on XP machine - so I simply installed a virtual XP machine on my linux.

Gaming is always an issue on Linux - Multimedia was and will never be an issue with linux.

I find an answer to any question I've had in the user support groups for Ubuntu. I like the OS and was being frustrated by Vista's use of resources.

I game, but I play DOS games. I use a DOS emulator and all the games work fine.

Gosh, Father, I'm still waiting for a usable version of windows.

XP was the first version that I successfully installed (having failed from master disks on 3.1, 95, 98, etc.)

While linux is more a "kid's" Unix (I prefer FreeBSD), with the notable exception of wireless, I've had far less trouble with linux than windows.

I'm annoyed by by the lack of full mail-merge in OpenOffice (but then, I spend a week writing a better mail-merge than Word ever had to extend LyX when I needed to send out 200 applications ten years ago), but it has been more stable than MS Office for most purposes, and usually *succeeds* at recovering files that were open at system crash time--failing only as often as MS Office succeeds, give or take.

My systems crash far less often, andlose fa less data.

Gimp more than handles my photographic needs, although I understand that it can't handle four color separation.

I never really hated windows until I had to use it on a daily basis for a couple of years ago, and realized just how limited it was.

hawk

Doc,

I wish that was all that Gimp can not handle. I cringe whenever I have graphics or photos submitted to me in the office that were done in Gimp (the file's metadata always tells me in what program it was created in). Recently I had one sent in, and was amazed at the number of layers that were needed to create this graphic. I finally after a while working on it, decided to recreate the graphic in Photoshop Elements on my Mac using half the layers, and was able to do all the proper corrections along with other adjustments that the original Gimp file was not able to do, creating a file which had a much smaller size. It took me much less time to recreate the graphic, do all the proper corrections than it took the artist to create that original file.

While I am not a big Adobe fan (I find their products to be over-priced by a lot), I realize the tools I need to do a job properly are with the programs that they produce. Certain programs meet the needs of the individual using them, using that person's or organization's quality standard. I have to have the Adobe Creative Suite Design collection (which is on both my Macs and PC) to handle much of what is required in my ministry with the archdiocese. Gimp is alright for a lot of non-professional uses. I know, because I have tried it.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

OK, Canonical sent me the latest Ubuntu Desktop OS, 9.0.4. I decided to play with this, if for anything to expand my knowledge of another OS. I decided to use the guest room computer (HP ze5500 laptop with built-in wireless) as the guinea pig. It gave the option which I chose to run along side Windows as a separate partition. Everything went on just fine. I was able to adjust the setting, i.e. time and date. Now the issue is with the wireless connection. My wireless router is secure on a WPA network key. The issue is that when all the info is entered into setting up a network, the system shows as disconnected. For the Windows side, everything works including the wireless. On my Macs, the same. Nothing on Ubuntu.

Alright you Linux experts, before I have to call my ISP and spend at least 30 minutes with them, any ideas?

Already this is not endearing Ubuntu or Linux for that matter to me. This will be my second and final attempt at using a Linux OS.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

Isn't that more teh fault of the user than the program? Isn't photoshop vulnerable to the same misuse?

Then again, my need for either gets about as far as removing backgrounds, brightness adjustment, and fixing redeye [OK, I tend to threaten to change people's hair to blonde, too . . .]

Wireless is the current weak point for Linux, as far as I can tell. But I don't think you want to switch to FreeBSD, which handles them much better

Unfortunately, I'm more familiar with Kubuntu than Ubuntu; they use different network managers.

I'll try, though--what kind of network card is it?

(You'll probably get fast results at ubuntuforums.org, where there are plenty of helpful people who know far more about such things than I do . . .)

hawk

OK, after looking again this AM, it is a Broadcom B43legacy wireless driver that is needed. I just ran hardware drivers in the systems menu, and hit activate (and yes it is on the wired router) and nothing. No download and activation. I can get on Firefox but a search turned up nothing when googled. I finally packed it in because I have a couple appointments before getting to the office this morning and the laptop's battery finally was down quite a bit. Any ideas or links?

Any help I will try when I get home this evening.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+

This page may help. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessCardsSupported

Unfortunately I do not have the amount of time that it would require to go through the maze on their support forums. The link is good but does not apply to the new Desktop Edition 9.0.4 (a lot of changes in this version from previous). I did find the firmware update on the install disk (it took some searching) and extracted it. Rebooted the computer and tried again to activate it. It gets to 50% loaded and crashes. I shut down for the time being and will try again this evening if I have time. Maybe the wireless in itself must be turned off during the update? Or maybe the install CD must also be present?

As I said before, Linux is not endearing itself to me. But I am still trying.

In IC XC,
Father Anthony+