Step Away From the Windows
Charles Olsen

It's Time to Embrace Linux

In my previous article I talked about some of the benefits of using Linux rather than Windows. These benefits included lower hardware requirements, lower software costs (much of the software is free), and lack of restrictive DRM (Digital Rights Management).

At that time I happened to have a second, older PC that I used to install Linux. Since not everyone has a second PC, in this article I'll talk about how to try Linux when you have only one PC, and need to continue using Windows XP -- at least for a while.

I mentioned that most versions of Linux, and a lot of Linux software, is available at no cost. To demonstrate that, I'm going to try to complete this setup without spending any money.

Here's a list of the Windows applications which I'm using:

• MS Excel
• MS Word
• MS PowerPoint
• MS Access
• Mozilla Firefox (web browser)
• Mozilla Thunderbird (email client)
• Forté Agent (newsgroup reader)
• SnagIt (capture screen images)
• Photoshop
• Final Draft (scriptwriting software)
• Writer's Blocks (capture and organize thoughts and research to aid in writing)
• Quicken
• Info Select (powerful note taking and retrieval software)

I will need to find software that can handle these functions at least as well as what I've been using in Windows. Two of the programs will be easy: Mozilla Firefox and Mozilla Thunderbird are available for Linux and Mac, as well as Windows. And both of them are free.

Once you've decided to try Linux, the sheer number of choices can be a bit overwhelming. The home page of DistroWatch.com lists one hundred different Linux distributions. And that's not even all of the available distros. How can you make an informed choice out of 100 different distros?

Fortunately, it's not difficult to make an initial choice and get started in Linux. There are a few choices that are not only easy, but similar enough to Windows that you can get to work without a lot of relearning.

I've been using Kubuntu on my other Linux PC. Kubuntu and Ubuntu are almost identical, apart from Kubuntu using KDE as its desktop while Ubuntu uses GNOME. I happen to like KDE better, but some prefer GNOME. Ubuntu/Kubuntu are great choices for your first step into Linux.

Since I'm doing a new install, I wanted to consider new possibilities. My first stop was the Linux Distribution Chooser. (The URL for the Distribution Chooser, as well as any other sites I mention, are included at the end of the article.) It's a great place to start when you're trying to decide which distribution to install. It will ask a few questions about your skill level, your hardware, and what you're looking for. Then it will recommend a few distros which fit those criteria.

When I worked through the questions, the Distribution Chooser recommended these distros for me:

• Debian
• Freespire
• Kubuntu
• PCLinuxOS
• Mandriva

After reading about each of these distributions in detail, I thought Freespire sounded like the easiest, friendliest distro for a new Linux user coming from Windows. And it's free to download and install.

Note that Freespire has an option called LiveCD, where you boot and run directly from the CD -- Linux is not installed to the hard drive. This is an option with several Linux distros, which  makes it easy to try Linux -- or several flavors of Linux -- before committing to an install.

I downloaded the ISO file and burned it to a CD, then used that CD to boot the PC. A text menu came up, offering several choices. I selected the choice to create or modify the partitions on my hard drive. GParted came up and displayed the existing partitions. All I had to do was select the main partition and drag the slider to select the new size. I had 180GB available, so I reduced that to 160GB to leave 20GB for Freespire. While 20GB isn't much by Windows XP/Vista standards, it's a good size for a Linux workstation. I clicked Apply, and GParted resized the partition. Then I created a new partition in the unallocated space.

Then another reboot from the CD, and this time I chose to install Freespire. One of the first screens offered the choices to "Take over an entire hard disk" or "Advanced Install," which lets you install to a specific drive or partition. Since I want dual boot, I chose Advanced Install. On the next screen I chose my new 20GB partition to install to.

On the next screen I named the computer, entered my full name, user name, and administrator password that I wanted to use. Then one more screen to confirm all the choices, and the install began. It only took a few minutes to complete the install, then it was time to remove the CD and reboot one more time.

On this reboot, I got a menu that allowed me to choose Freespire or Windows. I chose Freespire. The login screen asked for my Administrator login, which I had entered during the setup process. Then I had to accept the End User License Agreement.

Next was a screen to set the sound volume, then settings for time zone, date and time,  and Advanced Settings. The Advanced Settings included Display Resolution, Network and Dial-up Settings and Add Users.

When Freespire came up, it looked similar to a Windows screen. There was a taskbar along the bottom, with a Launch button in the bottom left corner where the Windows Start button would be. There are a few icons on the taskbar, allowing me to launch some of the more commonly-used programs with a single click. I can add or remove buttons there if I want.

At the top left is an icon labeled "My Computer." If I double-click My Computer, a window opens showing me all storage media (including hard drives, CD drives and DVD drives) as well as My Desktop and My Documents.

I clicked the Launch button and a menu came up, divided into three sections: Recently Used applications, Applications & Documents, and Computer. "Recently Used" is just what it says. "Computer" includes Settings, Help Center and Run Command. "Applications & Documents" includes Run Programs, Recent Documents, My Documents and Find Documents.

The Run Programs selection shows the following submenus:

• Audio & MP3
• Business & Finance
• Desktop Enhancements
• Games
• Home & Entertainment
• Internet
• Multimedia & Design
• Software Development
• Utilities
• Web Authoring

As I drill down deeper into the menus, I see that a lot of software is already installed. For example I already have OpenOffice, which can replace Microsoft Access, Excel, PowerPoint and Word.

This is an important point -- if I had just completed a new install of Windows, I would now be ready to start installing software to make the PC useful. But after installing Linux, the PC already has the software it needs to be a productive workstation. We already have 6 out of the 13 applications I need:

But that still leaves 7 more applications that I need to find and install. Freespire includes a program called CNR, which stands for "Click 'N' Run." CNR allows users to install, uninstall, manage and update thousands of software programs. In CNR you can browse software by category, or search by name or keyword.

CNR also includes user ratings. You can rate software from 1 to 5 stars, and add comments. And you can see the ratings and comments that other users have posted. I like to see what other users have written about programs (and other products, for that matter) before I decide what to try. I already love CNR.

My Internet applications were mostly covered after the initial install of Freespire. But I still needed something to replace Forté Agent, which I use to read messages in newsgroups. CNR offered Pan, which was highly rated and described as "loosely based on Agent and Gravity." That sounded perfect, so I clicked the button. In less than a minute, Pan had been installed.

I launched Pan, entered the information for newsgroup server name and login information, then Pan downloaded a full list of newsgroups. The interface is simple and easy to use. I quickly subscribed to a few groups and downloaded headers and messages.

Next I looked for replacements for the graphics applications --  SnagIt and Photoshop. I went to CNR and searched for SnagIt, hoping that some program would be described as a replacement for SnagIt -- but that didn't find anything. Then I searched for "Screen Capture" and CNR found a program called Screen Capture, which had a user rating of 4.5 stars. One click later, Screen Capture had been installed. Who says it's difficult to install applications in Linux?

Screen Capture is a simple program that does exactly what it's supposed to. It can capture the entire screen, a window, or a region that you specify by clicking and dragging. It can then save the file as Portable Bitmap, PCX, Portable Graymap, X Bitmap, Truevision Targa, PNG, Portable Bixmap, JPEG, X Pixmap, Encapsulated Postscript, BMP or SGI. I have no idea what most of those are -- I usually save my screen caps in JPG. Screen Capture did this very well, and it's free.

When I searched CNR for "Photoshop," it came back with two good possibilities. Both were free, and both had high user ratings. Krita had an average user rating of 4 stars, while GIMP had an average rating of 4.5. I've seen articles about people using GIMP as a replacement for Photoshop, so I decided to go with that one. Another click, another application installed.

I do some of my fiction writing in script format. Even if you're writing a novel, I've found that writing it first as a script is an easy way to get the story down on paper. In Windows, Final Draft is one of the most popular script writing program. At $229, it's not cheap.

I couldn't find anything in CNR for script writing, so I did a Google search. I discovered Celtx, a program that provides support for the entire pre-production process of a film. It has a script editor that properly formats all the script elements so you don't have to think about it when you're writing -- just press Tab or Enter to select the element (Scene Heading, Character, Dialogue, etc.).

Celtx can also track a breakdown of your film project, tagging items like props, wardrobe items and cast members. Celtx can generate several different reports of this information, and can also track your Calendar to organize your shoot. It also supports collaboration, letting you share your project so that others can work on it at the same time.

What would you expect to pay for a program with all these capabilities? Well, Celtx is free. And it's available for Linux, Windows and Mac.

Some writers like to plan a story by writing key elements on index cards, then arranging and rearranging the cards until they're satisfied with the story sequence. Writer's Blocks gives you an electronic version of these index cards in Windows.

I found a program called Writer's Cafe, which includes several tools for writers. Writer's Cafe consists of two main applications: Writer's Cafe Desk and Storylines.

Writer's Cafe Desk includes:

• a Journal for recording today's thoughts and ideas
• a Scrapbook where you can store your research and random ideas, including notes, pictures, documents and web links
• Writing Cookies, a collection of writing quotations
• Writing Prompts, an exercise to help get you started writing (especially if you're feeling blocked)
• Fiction: The Facts, an e-book that you can print or read on screen

Storylines provides a functionality very similar to Writer's Blocks. You can write story items into the cards, then drag and drop them within the same story arc or to different story arcs. There's also a virtual Pocket, where you can store cards if you're not sure yet where in the story to put them.

Writer's Cafe takes the place of Writer's Blocks, and at $45 it costs less than a third of Writer's Blocks $149 price tag. Writer's Cafe is also available for Windows, Mac, FreeBSD and Pocket PC 2003.

Neither Celtx nor Writer's Cafe are available through CNR. I found each of them through a Google search, then downloaded and installed them manually. Which is the same thing I'd have to do if I were setting this up on a Windows PC.

Then I looked for a replacement for Quicken. CNR had three good possibilities: KMyMoney, GnuCash, and Moneydance 2005. Moneydance costs $30, the other two are free.

I started with KMyMoney, even though it was version 0.8.4 and the last update was June 2006. But it choked on the QIF files I had exported from Quicken.

Then I tried the highly-rated GnuCash, even though the user ratings spoke of a steep learning curve. GnuCash imported the QIF files with no problem, but the user comments were right -- it takes some real commitment to learn how to use the program.

CNR offers Moneydance 2005, but the Moneydance web site had version 2007. I downloaded the trial version of Moneydance 2007 and tried it out. While it's not quite as easy or polished as Quicken, it was powerful and easy. I decided to spend the $30 for Moneydance 2007.

There's one more application: Info Select is a powerful program for storing and -- more importantly -- retrieving random notes. There are various note-taking programs available in Linux, but it took me a while to find something that could compete with Info Select.

I finally found BasKet. BasKet doesn't have all the power of Info Select, but I feel that Info Select has become unnecessarily bloated in recent versions. I haven't bothered to upgrade in a while, as I didn't need any of the new features. All I really wanted was a program where I could type or paste notes -- small notes and big notes -- with the ability to filter them quickly and easily.

BasKet not only does this, but it even looks a lot like Info Select. The left window pane displays the baskets you have created. When you select a basket, all notes in that basket are displayed in the right window pane. You can group related notes by putting them together in a basket. Text can include formatting such as bold, italic, underline and color. You can also put pictures into the notes.

While Info Select costs $250, BasKet is free. It's available through CNR, so it can be installed with one click.

Here's the final result of my Linux PC setup, with the cost to legally install and run the software:

As you can see, a setup that costs around $2000 in Windows can be accomplished in Linux for about $75.

While I don't do software development myself, I know someone who develops software in Linux. He develops in PHP, Ruby, Python, Perl, Java, C and C++. He told me that all the tools he uses for development in Linux are free. If you want to learn a new programming language in Linux, you don't have to buy anything -- just install it and find a tutorial.

There are some frustrations and limitations in Linux, of course. Certain hardware is not yet supported, or requires a lot of digging to find drivers. And while CNR makes it very easy to find and install software, I found that a lot of the programs listed are older versions. CNR offers Moneydance 2005 even though version 2007 is available, and CNR's version of BasKet is actually several releases behind the current release.

Also, you can't run most Windows games in Linux. If PC gaming is important to you, you'll want to keep a Windows partition on your PC.

Linux has a reputation of being difficult to install and use, and certainly there are some distributions that require a true Linux expert (and two or three days) just to get them installed on the PC. But there are now several distributions that are designed to be easy and friendly. Freespire and Linspire are good examples of this, along with Ubuntu, Kubuntu and PCLinuxOS. I've even heard of a distro called Linux XP Desktop, which is designed to look and act a lot like Windows XP -- but without the viruses and other security risks.

As I was writing this article, Dell made two significant announcements. First, they have gone back to offering Windows XP on their desktops and laptops, for users who don't want to buy computers with Vista pre-installed. Second, they are going to start offering Ubuntu Linux as the pre-installed OS on some of their desktops and laptops. That means you'll soon be able to order a PC with Linux installed and configured for that hardware. This will eliminate some of the problems people occasionally see when their chosen Linux distro doesn't support some part of the PC hardware.

For the most part, you can try Linux and a lot of its software without spending a dime. Linux can also run quite well on older PCs where you wouldn't dream of installing something like Vista. Some Linux distributions are becoming as easy as Windows -- and with programs like CNR, even easier than Windows.

If you want to save money, or play your media without Digital Rights Management getting in your way, Linux is a great choice for you.

Linux Distribution chooser
www.zegeniestudios.net/ldc/index.php

DistroWatch
http://distrowatch.com

Freespire
http://www.freespire.org/

The Open Source Definition
http://opensource.org/docs/definition.php

Charles Olsen is a writer, trainer and MIS professional. He can be reached at charles.olsen@pobox.com.

© 2007 by Charles M. Olsen

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Charles Olsen is a writer, trainer and MIS professional. He presents classes on Palm computing and time management on the Palm, and writes a monthly column about handheld computing for the HAL-PC magazine. He can be reached at charles.olsen@pobox.com.