News from PANUG/BizNix - October 16, 2003 http://panug.org - http://biznix.org PANUG MEETING TONIGHT Tonight is the October PANUG meeting. It starts at 6:15 with a Q&A session. At about 7:00, the main presentation will begin. The presentation is about Sealed Systems. This meeting is open to everyone - bring your associates, manager, etc. Please RSVP. LINUX FOR NEWBIES BizNix recently received a message from a non-member. Here's an edited version of that message: I am a one-person business low on revenue right now but needing a new computer. I have a dial-up modem and do no networking. I simply need to be able to exchange documents via email with others in my industry who are running Microsoft Windows. Currently, I run Windows 95, Word 6.0, Excel 5.0, and Access. My current computer is a 7-year old notebook with no CD-ROM drive, not enough memory for Adobe Acrobat, and not enough disk space. I feel that I need an MS XP Professsional or Windows 2000 system with Office XP or Office 2000 to be able to download forms, do graphics, get updated ISP software working on my computer again, etc. I'm considering an IBM thinkpad or a Dell. My housemate says to buy an Apple laptop but the law firm I sometimes do work for will not let a laptop running on the Apple operating system plug into their network. Much as I love the idea of Linux, what in the world could I do with it as a non-computer nerd normal business person type of computer user? It seems like a subcult albeit a wonderful one of people who not only use computers but program their own software, sort of computer world afficianados. More power to them but Linux it seems is not going to help me upgrade and continue my business in an efficient way. Am I correct that Linux is not the operating system for me at this time? The following PANUG/BizNix members responded to this message: Ray Robert: The Operating System (OS) is not the first thing to look at. Examine your applications. Those old Microsoft Office products, besides being insecure, won't run on newer Windows systems. Buying the current versions will set you back about as much as the new computer. There are cheaper and free word processors that work reasonably well with Microsoft Word documents, especially on Linux. Spreadsheet compatibility is fairly good, but you are pretty much stuck if you need PowerPoint or Access. A person with a dial-up modem who plugs into a client's network is in fact doing networking. Your client is going to become your ex-client if you end up unleashing a virus or worm on them, or they discover that somebody has sucked up all the information about them that you had stored on your PC. Get all business matters off Windows 95 ASAP since W95 is completely insecure. If you stay with Windows, use XP. The Home Edition might be adequate if you create a non-administrator account for everyday use. Learn how to apply security updates. Count on buying firewall and anti-virus software. When you get your information transferred, invest an extra $20-$40 for a basic network kit. Load Linux on your AST and use it as a file server. Store copies of your business documents on it. That will protect you in case of loss of, damage to, or failure of your business computer. Ken Barber: There is no such thing as a free lunch. While all of the technical challenges presented by the writer are easily solved in Linux, she will have trouble benefitting from free software without either paying someone to help her, or investing her own time in learning how to help herself. The first choice involves either paying someone to install and configure Linux for her, or buying a boxed distribution that offers tech support by telephone. In her case I would recommend Xandros, which is the easiest to install and offers the best Windows interoperabilty of any Linux distribution I've ever seen. Either way she'll be very happy and productive but she'll have to spend some money. At least it will be less money than she'd have to spend on equivalent Microsoft products. The second choice -- investing in oneself -- can be done without spending any money at all but she has to be willing to spend time & effort to learn some things. This might involve taking a class (which I believe FreeGeek offers), or attending LUG meetings, or reading voraciously. Her solution is going to cost her SOMETHING (either effort or money) whether she goes with Microsoft or Linux. There are lots of possible Linux solutions with varying balances between cost and effort, all of which are likely to cost a lot less than a Microsoft solution. Linux probably IS the operating system for her at this time, but finding the distribution that best fits her needs, and the right people to help her, might be a bit daunting. In the meantime, we Open Source evangelists need to become a lot more user-focused and a lot less focused on religious purity. We need to recognize that the "best fit" for a particular person might be a distro that we don't like. David may: This person has already made up her mind to use Windows. She is just looking for reassurance. This is a socialogical and psychological thing. Robert Young: It would depend on the kind of documents. If it is just basic word processing and spreadsheet files, then Linux and OpenOffice would work fine, and both are free. OpenOffice can read and write Word and Excel files. If you need to send and work on Access databases, then you may have to stick with Win/Office. Ed Sawicki: This person is typical of an army of Windows users who might like to move away from the high cost and problems of Windows but see themselves locked in by proprietary Microsoft applications. The issue is not Linux versus Windows but rather open applications versus highly-proprietary ones. They think that bad things will happen to them if they can't read and write Microsoft Office files - and they may be right - but someone needs to break the stranglehold the illegal monopoly has on the industry and the world. This person will continue to run Windows, use Microsoft Office, and spend more money than she needs to because it's too risky and scary not to. Perhaps user groups like PANUG and BizNix can do more to make these people aware of the possibilities and more comfortable with making the switch. DISCLAIMER PANUG and BizNix welcome contributions from all members. Member contributions do not necessarily represent the official positions of PANUG or BizNix. 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