chrsgrain
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| posted on 22/6/07 at 12:06 PM |
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Linux question - not at all car related!
Hi all,
there seems to be a reasonable body of experience on here with Linux in its various guises.... I have a specific situation and am wondering if Linux
might be the answer....
Nearly finished the Rush, next project is restoring a 1967 TR4 for which I'm going to take lots of pictures and write down as many details as
possible as I take the whole thing apart - so I'll need a word processor, a spreadsheet programme and a photo browser of some kind. That's
all - no internet or anything else...
I've got an oldish Celeron powered computer in the loft which got put there when I switched to Mac... would one of the Linux variants do what I
want faster and easier than windows ?? (windows 98 on the machine at the moment and it really creaks along!)
Thanks
Chris
Spoing! - the sound of an irony meter breaking...
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Fatgadget
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| posted on 22/6/07 at 12:21 PM |
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Open Office. Works on Windoze boxes too.Best of all..It's FREE!
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Bluemoon
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| posted on 22/6/07 at 12:25 PM |
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You could try: xubuntu
Cheers
Dan
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andyharding
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| posted on 22/6/07 at 12:37 PM |
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CentOS + OpenOrifice
Are you a Mac user or a retard?
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britishtrident
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| posted on 22/6/07 at 12:39 PM |
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Win 98 is probably creaking because of "wincrap" the detritus that builds up on the disk and registry the longer you run Windows without a
fresh install.
You can try booting the computer from a Knoppix CD to see what Linux is like (other Linux distro will run from CD but Knoppix is the fastest), Knoppix
needs 128mb ram to run this way.
Booting from the CD Knoppix will run at about 1/3 to 1/2 the speed of a proper hard disk install, but you should get the flavour of what it is
like.
If you like Linux install a proper Linux distro such as Mint or Ubuntu (Mint is just a version of Ubuntu but it is pre-configured closer to your
needs)
Linux has a wide choice of applications which will meet your needs -- Open Office is good but I use Abiword for word processing and Gnumeric as my
spread sheet -- both of which read/write MSoffice formats.
For photo storage and correction Google Picasa works pretty well for 99% of home users needs, much more advanced photo retouching/effects software is
available free for Linux but it (The Gimp) has a steep learning curve.
However for photo editing you need a lot of memory and disk space no matter what the operating system.
[Edited on 22/6/07 by britishtrident]
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David Jenkins
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| posted on 22/6/07 at 12:41 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Bluemoon
You could try: xubuntu
Just what I was going to say - like Ubuntu, but uses a less greedy windowing system that leaves more resources for the programmes.
I've used this on an aged laptop with great success.
You can download a live disk that runs from the CD-ROM - but it is often painfully slow. If you know that you're going to install it anyway (or
are happy to install on the off-chance you'll like it) then look down the download page for the 'alternative' version. This is
purely for installation, and doesn't slow you down while you wait for the windows system to load - takes about half the time to install when
compared to the live system.
David
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Jed
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| posted on 22/6/07 at 05:58 PM |
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I've found Fedora Core 6 works well on low spec PCs and use it on my 700Mhz P3 laptop.
For ease of install Mint Linux 3.0 was very good and worked straight away. I have this on a couple of PCs now and recommend it to any Windows users
wanting to try Linux.
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SixedUp
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| posted on 22/6/07 at 07:20 PM |
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I'd echo the previous recommendations.
Mint is basically full Ubuntu with extra customisation to give you full access to all the proprietary multimedia & applications that Ubuntu
don't provide by default. Downside is that its based off a back-level version of Ubuntu, so its hardware detection isn't quite as good.
Personally I prefer Ubuntu & to hand-customise, but if you're new to Linux you may have other priorities.
For low spec machines, Xubuntu is excellent (works well on a 400Mhz laptop with only 256MB ram) and can use all the same programs as Ubuntu.
For *very* low spec machines, try Puppy Linux, which runs in practically nothing, yet still provides you with a raft of applications.
Cheers
Richard
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britishtrident
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| posted on 23/6/07 at 08:21 AM |
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Curent ie Mint Casandra and Cassandra Light are based on the latest Ubuntu version Fiesty Fawn
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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