on Sun, Sep 28, 2003 at 11:19:06AM +1200, Edward Murrell (edward@murrell.co.nz) wrote: > Hi there, > > A friend of mine has had Windows installed for over a year. He's getting > somewhat sick of it due to the recent spate of virus and spyware that's > rendered his machine unusable. He's asked me to reinstall Windows, and > Linux in a dual boot configuration. > > The problem is this; while I've been running Debian on the desktop for > over two years, a large proportion of the average Joe desktop stuff has > never graced my machine. I've never seriously looked at any hotplug, > automounting, gui configuration tools, hardware auto-detection, or any > of the other little things that make an OS 'easy' for non-tech people. > > I'm hoping for a list of applications and software that people have come > across which has worked (properly) every time. I am doing my own > research, but I'm hoping other people may know something that I don't > find. > > I'm aiming at a GNOME desktop, but am perfectly happy to recommend KDE > if the applications support is better. > > * Things that I'm seeking information on specifically; > > * Automount of CD's for KDE. (Gnome has magicdev) apt-get install autofs. Edit /etc/auto.misc to automount CDROM and floppy devices on access. > * Automount / appear on desktop, of USB / firewire devices. Not sure. > * Video editing/collection applications. The guy has a Sony digital cam, > and likes to rip and edit movies. Connects via USB and/or firewire. > * Versions of GNOME 2.x, and KDE 3.x that are stable - and that goes for > the bundled applications as well. I like the bleeding edge, but the > average user is not so forgiving. You're going to have to compromise between "stable" and "cutting edge". I'd stick with the current stuff, and upgrade to 2.x / 3.x when they are available. This and other "upgrade when it's available" issues are why I'd recommend a Debian-based distribution. If not Debian itself, then Libranet, Lindows, Xandros, and the now-defunct general-public distributions from Corel, Progeny, and Stormix. A more complete listing, though it includes a number of defunct products, is here: http://www.debian.org/misc/children-distros > * Automagical detection of hardware. Look into kudzu, available for Debian. > * Something to handle screen resolution changes. Define. Unfortunately, until very recently, not something handled well by X11. > * DHCP for the network, overridable by the ppp (dial-up modem) > connection that doesn't hold up the system if no DHCP server is > available. dhcp-client or pump. > * An apt-get shell that lists applications, rather than packages (this > probably doesn't exist). Currently your best bet is Synaptic. > * Basic image editing software (preferably not something as complicated > as the GIMP). Well, there's the GIMP. And I'd recommend it. Or TuxPaint, which is aimed at kids. > * Those apps and libs you don't notice until you discover you forgot to > install them - like gnome-spell. Viva la apt. That's the magick of Debian. > * Anything anyone else can think of. Your friend sounds like a good candidate for a prepackaged distribution. I'm hearing good "reviews" (e.g.: installation diaries) for Lindows. I don't know how readily it converts to full-on Debian. Some of the stuff you don't mention: - Fonts. You'll want the msttcore fonts (installer in Debian, fonts are on Sourceforge). And the freely available fonts someone packaged for GNU/Linux and free software. - Multimedia support. Patents are the major issue here. mplayer supports pretty much anything, but has legal issues. 3rd party DEBs are available. - Sound daemon. Getting a daemon installed means handling sound from multiple sources at once. - Browser. There are several choices. Starting anew, I'd probably look hard at Firebird and Konqueror. I've been a *VERY* happy Galeon user through 1.2.5. More recently, Galeon has done some incredibly brain-dead stuff in the name of GNOME compatibility, largely being feature removal. about: is your friend. - WINE and/or Crossover Office. Realizing that binary Win32 compatibility has its place, you may want to look at a compatibility tool which lets you run legacy MS Windows software on GNU/Linux. Crossover Office and/or WINE go a long way to this goal. There's still a bit of work to go before an absolute drop-in replacement is available. GNU/Linux absolutely *can* be used as a primary user desktop. It shouldn't be pitched as a legacy MS Windows replacement because it's not -- there are some things it doesn't do as well, and there are a large number of things it does far better. View it for its strengths, be realistic about its weaknesses. Peace. -- Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://kmself.home.netcom.com/ What Part of "Gestalt" don't you understand? LNX-BBC: Bootable GNU/Linux -- Don't leave /home without it. http://www.lnx-bbc.org/
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