A Microsoft guy tackles Linux

– by Nissan Dookeran –
I am not especially a Linux advocate. I go with whatever software works best for
me in terms of usefulness and feasibility. I’m Microsoft-certified, so persons
meeting me classify me as The Microsoft Guy. However, thanks to the people I met
at last month’s Free, Libre and Open Source Conference,
and guidance from the Trinidad and Tobago Linux
Users’ Group (TTLUG) mailing list, I have learned that free and open source
applications are ready for mainstream use. Armed with my newfound knowledge, not only
was it unbelievably easy to move from Windows XP to Red
Hat Linux 9, I had fun doing it!

With my first Linux experience installing Slackware back in 1996 or 1997,
I had to do lots of homework. There were things you needed to know including stuff
most computer users would not want to bother with, such as the correct vertical
and horizontal refresh rates of your specific brand of monitor. You had to set
these correctly (manually — there was no auto-detect feature then) or else
you would literally fry your monitor. This instantly discouraged mere mortals
from trying Linux.

Since that time I have learned Windows 9x/2000/XP desktop and server variants and
various applications for them because they’re what most people were using and
where most people needed support. I kept tabs on Linux, trusting that the open
source community would keep improving Linux to the point where I could confidently
advise people about using Linux as a viable alternative.

Now, with the release of Red Hat 9 and the existence of bootable Linux variants
like Knoppix and dyne:bolic, I believed I could start
talking about Linux without being branded Microsoft heretic or Linux advocate,
but simply as someone using common sense.

To evaluate the feasibility of a permanent crossover to Red Hat 9 I listed the
software I use so that when I started using Linux I could weigh whether I had
all the tools I needed. I created a table listing my
tasks and the applications I found to satisfy them in both Windows and Linux.

Let me take a moment to have a heart-to-heart with anyone who thinks he cannot
live without a particular application. Applications only aid tasks. Before Windows
Notepad there was the physical notepad. Before the word processor, there was
the typewriter, before the typwriter a pencil. The key for one looking to get
out of the neverending cycle of paying for upgrades to proprietary software
is to distinguish between the application and the tasks the application assists
with. When you approach things from this angle, finding applications to fulfill
tasks in Linux becomes tons easier.

The initial “application I could not get rid of even though I wanted to” was
Windows Media Player 9. But once I realized my system was just too slow when
running Media Player’s processor-intensive super-graphics I realized Linux offered
an alternative I just didn’t have under Windows.

After a clean, error-free installation of Red Hat 9 I had a nice interface
running, pointing and clicking just like Windows. As the interface changes between
DOS and Windows 3.1 and 3.1 and Windows 95 demonstrate, interface changes
happen even with Windows. Using the need to learn a new interface as an excuse
to not consider Linux is just an uninformed opinion. Looking at Red Hat’s GUI,
aside from the lack of a Program Files menu, I could imagine I was running an
upgrade of Windows XP (and I am sure my friends in TTLUG would argue I am).

However, I now hit a snag. I couldn’t get online, because Red Hat’s Internet
setup wizard couldn’t find my Conexant Winmodem.

Winmodems are cheap, controllerless “software modems” that come supplied with
drivers for Windows only. I believe the majority of computer users who purchase
generic non-brand-name machines do so because they’re more affordable. I know
I’ll probably buy a new computer within a year or two anyway, so the less I
invest now, the less it hurts in two years time when I want a new system. Then
I’ll look at the specifications from several brand-name manufacturers, do my
homework on what parts I really need and what I can reuse from my old system,
and build my own system using wholesaled parts available at low cost. When I
was buying my current system I didn’t expect to be moving from Windows to any
other operating system.

I was lost for a time. TTLUG to the rescue! I asked for help on TTLUG’s mailing
list and I got my answer. It was like having a free helpdesk. Not only that,
but I’m sure at least one other person on the list saw my question and the answer
and was able to either use it himself or share the answer with someone who came
along with a similar question.

Without getting into too much of the nitty gritty technical detail, I got the
modem working, and I was on my way with the next steps towards Linux migration.
I’ve hit more snags along the way, but I had the Internet and my mailing list
buddies to guide me where I got stuck.

Look at all this free stuff! What is it?

Many first-time Linux users get lost simply because they do not know what software
does the job they want to do. That’s another power of the Linux users group
mailing list. If I didn’t at first know what program I was looking for to do
the job I wanted, there was a good chance at least one of the hundred-odd persons
on my LUG’s mailing list would.

Another wonderful thing about FOSS is that upgrades are consistent and free,
so if I have a problem, I can fix it, or if I can’t fix it, chances are someone
else who has my problem can fix it. Now that I’ve done it a few times, I can
install and uninstall software easily.

I have now migrated 90% of my tasks to Linux. I boot Windows XP just to play
a game or two that I haven’t been able to figure out how to migrate to Linux,
or to download images from my digital camera, since I haven’t figured out how
to get the driver to work yet. (Anyone own a Polaroid Fun Flash 640SE and have
it working under Linux ?)

I’ll end this article with the table of Linux application alternatives
that I have found to satisfy my tasks. Please e-mail me or leave a comment below if you want to
add any information or comments about the tasks I have not yet migrated to Linux,
or better yet, if you’ve found a better way for me to accomplish my tasks.

Task Fulfilled	Application Under Windows	Application Under Linux	Comments on Quality of Replacement
Browse and view files on my local machine	Windows Explorer	Nautilus	Nautilus much more configurable. I still need to figure out how to change the default application associated with file extensions.
View images (single images or a series of images sequentially)	Windows Fax and Image viewer	Nautilus	Nautilus previews the pictures as I browse the folder and opens them if I want to, so I don’t have to browse and open individual images to find what I want. However, I do miss the slide show feature Windows Fax and Image viewer offered.
Dial-up to the Internet	Dial-Up Networking/Network and Dial-Up Connections	Modem Lights 2.2.0	Wonderfully light. I parked it in my tray. It doesn’t disappear when I disconnect from the net, meaning I can log on with fewer clicks. Took a little effort to install, but nothing a 12-year-old couldn’t do. WinModem support is limited though; you have to install drivers manually.
Browse Web pages	Internet Explorer 6, Mozilla	Galeon, Mozilla	I haven’t had a crash of Mozilla yet, and if I ever do, I’m sure it won’t take my taskbar with it.
Check email	Microsoft Outlook	Ximian Evolution	Loads faster than Outlook
Write documents with spell checking and formating	Microsoft Word	OpenOffice.org Writer	Similar menus and features. Autosuggestion of completion of my words as I type is also a cool feature that I wish Word had; wish I could make it autocomplete by tabbing rather than pressing Enter though. Haven’t investigated how well- supported fonts are. I noticed something like a 50% reduction in file size without quality loss when I saved documents in native OO format, and this document had images to boot. However, I did also notice about a 50% increase in file size when I took a native Word XP document, and saved it back in Office XP format using OO.
Schedule appointments	Microsoft Outlook	Ximian Evolution	Could practically be called Outlook for Linux, that’s how similar they are
Play DVDs	Windows Media Player 9	Ogle DVD Player/Xine	Some manual configuration needed setting up ogle and xine, because of package dependency issues.
Play music CDs	Windows Media Player 9	Xine/Gnome CD Player	Gnome CD Player is better, since I don’t have to wait for the monstrous Media Player UI to load.
Play Divx, AVI, WMV, MPG movies	Windows Media Player 9	Xine Library, XineUI and/or Totem front end.	I prefer the XineUI front end. One interesting note: Windows Media Player 9 had a tendency to crash or refuse continued play on “damaged” AVIs or other movie and sound files. These same files continued to play in Xine, although there was a slight distortion of the image as it read over the damaged bits.
Play QuickTime movies	QuickTime		Investigating, although I have found plugins for Xine to support QuickTime, I have not installed or tested them yet
Play RealPlayer files	RealOne		Investigating. I think there is a RealOne for Linux but have not investigated this yet.
Instant messenging	ICQ/MSN/Yahoo Messenger/AOL IM	GAIM	Better than XP. Shows all instant message programs under one window, reducing clutter. It supports a wide range of IMs (some I’ve never heard of).
Play MP3s	Winamp/ Windows Media Player 9	Xine	Nautilus browser didn’t automatically associate my MP3s with Xine though, and the XMMS Winamp-like program it did associate my MP3s with couldn’t play them because of “IP issues with the MP3 decoder”
Play MP3 playlists	Winamp/ Windows Media Player 9	Xine	Xine has playlists, like Winamp.
Spreadsheet	Microsoft Excel	OpenOffice.org Calc	As good as Excel.
Download pictures from digital camera	Polaroid Drivers	Camera Tool (gtkam)	Red Hat is not picking up my camera when i activate it. Have to investigate more why it fails. Large listing of different camera types though.
Edit pictures	Photoshop/Paint/Paint Shop Pro	The Gimp/XPaint	Works for me, but I’m no graphic artist.
Create Web sites	Microsoft FrontPage 2000	Mozilla Editor	FrontPage has better site management and templates, but Mozilla is good for a quick Web page design. Currently on the lookout for a more suitable alternative for large site management.
File sharing	Kazaalite	Investigating, but it looks like BitTorrent or Kazaalite running through WinE (Windows Emulator for Linux)	Need to learn how to set up WinE.
Project management	Microsoft Project	MrProject 0.9	Untested, not doing much project management
Drawing data flow diagrams	Microsoft Visio	Dia Diagram Editor 0.9	Untested, but I wish I had had this in Form 4/5 to assist with my O-level project. Dia loads faster than Visio.
View PDF documents	Adobe Acrobat Reader	xpdf	Xpdf loads PDF files faster. Need to figure out how to make the default association of PDFs with xpdf rather than ggv. This is a Nautilis issue, rather than an xpdf problem, since Nautilus is the file manager.
Avoid nasty macro viruses and other viruses	AVG Anti Virus	None	Linux doesn’t have viruses! Still, I’ve been told I need a tool to make sure I don’t propogate viruses.
Junk spam	None	SpamAssassin	Finally!
Host Web sites on my local machine for testing	Internet Information Server	Apache Web Server	Not tested yet
Updating and patching system bugs/security holes	Windows Update	Red Hat Update Agent	Because of nature of open source, bugs fixes are more frequent and more stable
Share office documents	Microsoft Word/Excel/PowerPoint	OpenOffice.org	90% compatible. Some things display slightly different in OO, but print preview is the same. Robin “Roblimo” Miller made an interesting point when I heard him speak on this issue, saying that if it’s formatted to the point where it didn’t translate properly, it was probably badly or overly formatted anyway.
Optimize desktop use	None	Workspaces pane	Wonderful tool! I wish Windows had it naturally, can’t tell you how much this reduces my desktop clutter.
Fast desktop switching	Windows XP feature for non-networked computers	Ctrl+Alt+F1, login as new user at command-line interface, start GUI by entering command startx -- :1. Switch between screens using Ctrl+Alt+F7 or F8 depending on user. Can log on to six users concurrently this way.	XP wins here. Even when I switch to a new console so my brother can use the computer while I am still logged on, I didn’t want him to have to restart X through a command prompt. I just wanted him to be presented with a GUI automatically and log on just as he does with Windows. However, if I had my full network up, I wouldn’t be able to log on as two users at once with XP, and I’d lose my desktop switching tool the moment I joined the domain. This doesn’t matter in Red Hat since it treats security and user logons a bit differently.

Nissan Reddi Dookeran is an IT professional/consultant in Trinidad, West
Indies. He is an active member of the Trinidad and Tobago Computer Society (TTCS)
and Trinidad and Tobago Linux Users’ Group (TTLUG), and holds a B.Sc. Computer
Science and Management from the University of the West Indies. He is MCSA (Win2K)
and MCDBA (SQL2K) certified.