From Sfvlug

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Revision as of 01:25, 26 February 2009

Up Front

This is a work in progress, an attempt to make amends for a bad presentation. I've started with the original outline for my presentation but after getting a better idea of the types of solutions people new to Linux are looking for I'm in the process of revision and improvement. I will also add links to help make it a better resource.--Miasma 20:23, 23 February 2009 (PST)

Brief History of Computing

This section is included to give some background for understanding why open source software is important even to people that have no intention of learning how to program a computer themselves.
manual & mechanical calculating devices
WWII code breaking machines, Alan Turing
hard wire programming using patch cables
software (recipe, magic spell)
machine instructions (on/off switches representing ones and zeros)
high level instructions
interpreters, compilers, byte code
source code
open source vs proprietary
operating systems [1]
single task, single user
multiuser multi-task
common uses of computers
server
scientific educational
personal (desktop) computing

Brief History of GNU/Linux

GNU created as free alternative to UNIX [2]

Linux started by student as a hobby [3] [4] [5]

GNU/Linux

Advantages

free as in no or low cost
free as in freedom
can be modified easily by user
projects need not die with original author
options, customizable workspace
designed for usability not profitability

Disadvantages

incompatible with some proprietary software, mostly games
drivers for new hardware can be delayed and may lack features

Common Uses of GNU/Linux

Server

file server
web server
firewall/router

Desktop Environment

workstation
application server
kiosk
development (traditional programming)
user - system administrator - developer
Common User Applications
Linux Alternatives To Popular Windows Applications
http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20070701111340544/Equivalents.html
http://goldgod.wordpress.com/2008/05/17/windows-equivalent-to-linux/
http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/Linux_software_equivalent_to_Windows_software
http://www.linuxrsp.ru/win-lin-soft/table-eng.html
http://www.linuxalt.com/

Cross Platform Applications Available For Windows And Linux

Web

SeaMonkey Web Suite (Browser, E-mail, HTML Editor, Chat Client) [6]
Firefox Web Browser http://www.mozilla.com
Amaya Web Browser http://www.w3.org/Amaya/
Thunderbird E-mail http://www.mozilla.com
X-Chat IRC Client http://www.xchat.org/
Pidgin Instant Messaging http://www.pidgin.im/
RSSOwl RSS Client http://www.rssowl.org/
Azureus P2P File Sharing http://azureus.sourceforge.net/
Filezilla FTP Client http://filezilla-project.org/

Office

OpenOffice.org Office Suite http://www.openoffice.org/
Abiword Word Processor http://www.abisource.com/
Scribus Desktop Publishing http://www.scribus.net/
Media Tools
VLC Media Player http://www.videolan.org/
MPlayer Media Player http://www.mplayerhq.hu
Handbrake DVD DVD to MPEG-4 Converter http://handbrake.fr/
Juice Podcast Manager http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/index.php
Audacity Audio Authoring http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Graphic Tools

Gimp Graphic Tools http://www.gimp.org/
Inkscape Vector Graphic Tools http://inkscape.org/
Blender 3D Graphic Tools http://www.blender.org/

File Tools

PeaZip Archive Manager http://peazip.sourceforge.net/

Educational

Celestia Digital Planetarium http://www.shatters.net/celestia/index.html
Stellarium Digital Planetarium http://www.stellarium.org/

Fun

BZFlag Game http://bzflag.org/
Battle For Wesnoth Game http://www.wesnoth.org/

Development Tools

XEmacs Editor http://www.xemacs.org/index.html
SciTE Editor http://scintilla.sourceforge.net/SciTEDownload.html
Eclipse Extensible Platform & Java IDE http://www.eclipse.org/

Wget Web Download Tool http://www.gnu.org/software/wget/
cURL Web File Transfer Tool http://curl.haxx.se/
TightVNC Control Remote Computer http://www.tightvnc.com/

Selecting A Distribution

The selection of a distribution depends on several factors but the two most important are the type(s) of work you intend to do and what type of support you will need. While it is possible to modify any distribution to accomplish virtually any task you could expect from any other distribution it is a good idea to start off with something already close to what you need. In selecting a distribution you should consider which desktop environment comes standard as well as what applications are provided. While it is possible to install virtually any desktop environment and any applications on any distribution it is quicker and easier to start out with a distribution already configured close to what you expect you will be using.

The selection of a distribution also depends on what type of support you expect you will need. If you are still a bit shaky with your computer skills support should be one of your major considerations Ubuntu and its siblings should be on your short list but, having a friend that is familiar with a particular distribution is a big help and can be more important than some of the other considerations.

When I was starting out in Linux I was lucky to have a couple of older computers that I could use for experimentation. I must have tried every major distribution available and continued to experiment ever since. If you don't have the time or inclination for experimentation and aren't sure which distribution to choose take as much time as you have available and do some research. Lacking time for research just go with the current most popular distribution which at the time of this writing is Ubuntu.

Here are some sites with information useful in comparing distributions:

DistroWatch.com
Wikipedia
ibiblio

Selecting A Desktop Environment

A desktop environment is the workspace in which you run GUI (Graphic User Interface) applications. It provides a consistent look and feel to applications that may not have been designed to work in the same environment. It accomplishes this by providing basic standards and libraries (prewritten code designed to be used by other applications) that help make it easier for developers to write programs that need a GUI. This also helps developers to write applications that can more easily share data with other programs.

The basis of most current GNU/Linux distribution desktop environments is the X Window System which like many open source projects has split into two forks, XFree86 and X.org, with most recent distribution releases using X.org. The X Window System needs a window manager to help complete the proper display of a GUI application. The window manager draws the frames around the application's window and controls the window's placement. Some of the lines between the components that make up the total desktop environment are not distinct.

There are nearly unlimited variations possible for configuring the desktop environment, but many of the available choices and configurations should be left to experienced user. For beginners I suggest going with one of the following three choices. Then after gaining more experience you may then want to experiment.

Gnome

Gnome is one of the oldest and most popular desktop environments for the GNU/Linux desktop. The current philosophy of Gnome is minimalistic and basic. It is fairly easy to learn and master but lags in the capacity for easy customization, especially if you stick to the default Metacity window manager. If you have a fairly modern computer with a decent 3D graphic card and you want to jazz up Gnome you may want to give Compiz a try. Some distributions include Compiz but it will not work properly if you don't have a 3D graphic card with appropriate drivers installed. Since many graphic card vendors do not provide open source drivers you may need to install them yourself. Many distributions include tools that make it fairly easy to download and install the necessary drivers.

KDE

KDE is also one of the oldest and most popular desktop environments. The philosophy of KDE encourages the inclusion of many features and customizability. Unfortunately, the new KDE 4 release is still not stable and is lacking many features found in the older 3.5 version. This is due to some major changes in architecture designed to make it easier for developers and users to allow applications to share information. As of this writing the current release is 4.2 and while it may be stable enough for some users and for some purposes I'd recommend staying away from using it for any serious work until they get more of the kinks worked out.

XFCE4

XFCE is a lightweight desktop environment that works well with older systems. Since the release of XFCE4 it has become much more of a contender. It still has fewer applications that were written specifically to run under it than Gnome or KDE but it does a good job at running applications designed to be run under Gnome or KDE.

How to get help

manuals (man pages)
books (printed or electronic)
periodicals (printed or electronic)
online (wikis, forums, newsgroups, blogs)
Google (specific techniques, google.com/linux)
IRC (how to ask a question (favor) from a stranger)
schools
people (friends, co-workers)
LUGS, invitation to visit SFVLUG booth

Linux 101