[TriLUG] Best Linux Desktop and Desktop Apps?

[Mark Freeze]

I have to agree with Jason.  I use a 5 year old Gateway laptop with
Ubuntu/Kubuntu installed and on most things it will smoke my brand new Dell
laptop with XP.

Regards,
Mark.



On 3/10/06, Jason Tower <jason at cerient.net> wrote:
>
> get a thinkpad t42 and install ubuntu (then install kubuntu-desktop).
> you really can't go wrong with this combo - everything works (with the
> possible exception of suspend/hibernate which i never use myself).  if
> you just gotta run windows apps, install vmware-player and run them in a
> virtual machine.  i don't do much multimedia stuff so i'll leave those
> app suggestions to future posts.
>
> jason
>
> Tarus Balog wrote:
> > Okay, this topic is a little long, so let me apologize in advance.
> >
> > My 12" Powerbook turned 3 last month, and it's time to think about a
> > new laptop. The Intel Powerbooks are too new for me (if I get one of
> > those I'll probably wait until this summer or if possible after the
> > Developer's Conference in August) although the one we have in the
> > office is screaming fast.
> >
> > While I love my Powerbook, I am getting a little nervous about the
> > direction that Apple is taking with respect to DRM. I used to have an
> > Alfa Romeo, and when a saw one in a movie I rented (they still sell
> > them in Europe) I want to send the picture to a friend to figure out
> > the model. So I placed the DVD in my Mac, paused on the frame with  car,
> > and tried to take a screenshot.
> >
> > A dialog popped up saying that I couldn't do that.
> >
> > What? I can understand taking steps to protect against ripping an
> > entire DVD, but a picture from it? Get real. I brought up VLC and  took
> > the picture anyway, but it did tarnish the love affair I was  having
> > with my laptop (no comments from the peanut gallery, please).
> >
> > Next, Mac hardware is just so darn expensive. Even the switch to  Intel
> > won't do much for that, and it looks like AMD is taking names  in the
> > speed department in any case. We bought an AMD64 powered  Shuttle for
> > demoes that is crazy fast.
> >
> > Finally, the Linux desktop, quite frankly, has gotten much, much  better
> > in the last three years. I usually run Debian on my servers  and have
> > little interaction with a graphical desktop, but I find it  easier to
> > use CentOS on 64-bit machines, and when I am using KDE on  those systems
> > I have been pleasantly surprised at how nice it is.
> >
> > So - before I buy my next Mac I was thinking about playing with using
> > Linux as a desktop again.
> >
> > On to the questions:
> >
> > 1) What should I look at in terms of a nice, clean, powerful desktop?  I
> > like KDE. Is there a distro out there that is stable enough to use  in a
> > mission critical application (i.e. my desktop) that is current  enough
> > to contain lots of cool, bright, shiny things? I think Debian  is out
> > since I don't want to run sid. CentOS? Ubuntu? I doubt anyone  has
> > duplicated the usefulness of Exposé, but one can hope.
> >
> > 2) Recommended apps? I believe I will have to have CodeWeavers just
> > because my job requires access to Office and I'd like access to  iTunes,
> > but others:
> >
> > Office: OpenOffice, KOffice?
> > iTunes: xmms?
> > Photoshop: Gimp
> > Mail: Thunderbird
> > Browser: Firefox
> > Widgets: ?
> > Calendar: ?
> > Address Book: ?
> > Adium: ?
> > iPhoto: Gallery?
> > iMovie: ?
> > iDVD: ?
> >
> > 3) Connectivity: How is the current support for wireless (I love the
> > "Location" feature of OSX) and bluetooth? iSync?
> >
> > I make my living with open source software and I truly believe in it.  I
> > think that the community has done a great job of porting standard  Linux
> > apps to OSX and creating new open source offerings for the  platform.
> > But there is something in the back of my mind that keeps  nagging me
> > that Apple may be turning evil, and now would be a good  time to figure
> > out if there are some alternatives. I may have grown  too comfortable
> > with my Mac "just working" but it is worth a shot.
> >
> > Thanks for any suggestions.
> >
> > -T
> >
> > -----
> >
> > Tarus Balog
> > The OpenNMS Group, Inc.
> > Main  : +1 919 545 2553   Fax:   +1 503-961-7746
> > Direct: +1 919 647 4749   Skype: tarusb
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> >
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