Re: Should be installing Linux soon. Questions.
On Wed, 2 Dec 1998, Jeff Browning wrote:
> Howdy all,
>
> I am a Windoze user tired of having 5 lockups a day. I should be
> installing Linux soon and I have a few questions.
>
> 1. Could someone please explain X-Windows to me. What are desktop
> environments, window managers, etc.?
X-Windows is a graphical user interface for unix/linux. It's basically
composed of two parts: the server and the clients. The server is the
"engine" that provides the under-the-hood mechanics of drawing lines and
squares, etc. The clients are apps, such as Netscape or Wordperfect.
Window Managers are clients that dictate how your screen looks/behaves.
You can think of a window manager as being the Win95 vs Win95withIE vs
Win3.x's Program Manager interface; choose a different wm and you get a
different interface, such as a Win95 look-a-like or a Mac-look-a-like or a
Next-look-a-like, etc. A desktop environment is kind of a package deal,
including a window manager and other tools, such a an email client and a
mini-web/file browser, etc.
> 2. Is Star Office compatible with Office 97 documents? Does it have a
> spell checker.
My understanding is "Yes" and "Yes", but not having any personal
experience with it I suggest you don't take my word as gospel.
> 3. I currently have two networked computers. Both with Windoze 98. I am
> only going to install Linux on one of them. Is there any way that I
> could network them so when I install Linux, I can FTP Netscape, KDE,
> Star Office, etc. from the Windoze computer to the Linux one?
If I understand what you're asking, "Yes". You'd have a Win98 box and a
Linux box on the same network. You can sit at your Win98 box and ftp or
telnet to your Linux box. However, to run apps that are sitting on your
Linux box and have the display/keystrokes happening on your Win98 box,
you'd need an X-Server that can run on your Win98 box. I'm running the
freebie Mix X Server on my NT box to access a Linux box, and it works
okay. I've seen other comments that say Mix isn't so great and those
people would recommend going with a commercial X server for Windows. But
I'm cheap, and Mix works well-enough for me.
> That's all for now. Thanks in advance!
>
> Jeff
>
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--
Kent West
kent.west@infotech.acu.edu
KC5ENO - Amateur Radio: When all else fails.
Linux - Finally! A real OS for the Intel PC!
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