Re: Writing and drawing tools in Linux

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>]

> KMcLauchlan -at- chrysalis-its -dot- com wrote:
 
> When I installed SuSE Linux 7, the default desktop was
> KDE (which was fine with me), but there was a list of
> optional desktops that could be loaded instead, one of
> which was KDE2.   Um, it looked purty until it crashed.
> I didn't bother futzing with it.  Maybe it was still the
> Beta, but even a Beta should be more solid than that.

>From what I've heard, a lot of people have had trouble with the
various KDE2 betas. Personally, I tried the current beta around the
start of August, then decided it was too unstable to mess with. I'd
hope that the final version was more stable, but it might be a good
idea to wait a few weeks and read a few reviews before jumping into
it. KDE1 was very solid, so, with luck KDE2 will shake down well,
too.

> Come to think of it, I believe it was StarOffice that I
> was running when KDE2 crashed, both times. StarOffice
> (which somebody referred to as bloatware) has been
> handling my e-mail, my browsing, and my MSWord documents
> for the past couple of weeks, and has been reasonably
> stable on KDE.

I should mention that, as of October 13, StarOffice is now available
as free software as Open ffice (www.openoffice.org). One of the
goals of OpenOffice is to let you open apps one at a time, which
should go a long way to answering charges of bloatware.

Anyway, StarOffice/OpenOffice is bloated only by Linux standards. I
don't have exact figures, but I believe that it only uses about a
third to a quarter of the space used by MS Office.

> An exception has been the browser, which abruptly quits
> and takes SO with it, when I connect to some pages
> (save often, save often, save often... hey! isn't that
> the mantra I remember from Windoze and MSOffice??)  :-)

>From all accounts, the browser is worth avoiding. If you're looking
for browser information, Maximum Linux did a roundup a few issues
ago. Some of the reviews have hit the web site at:

http://www.maximumlinux.com/reviews/index.html

Most people seem to rely on Netscape, although the Linux version
apparently has a memory leak. Also, people are just waiting for
Mozilla, which will be Open Source. It's not quite ready for prime
time, however.

 
> Overall, I'm pleased with it, so far. David V. has almost
> persuaded me to try Applixware.  Almost.

You should be able to download a time-limited demo of Applixware.

Free software issues aside, I like Applixware as a basic word
processor. I'm not sure that it's especially suited to
documentation, however.


-- 
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
604.421.7189

"Haven't you ever harbored the secret thought that Huck and Jim are
- at this instant - poling their raft down some river just beyond
our reach, so much more real are they than the shoe clerk who fitted
us just a forgotten day ago?"
- Dan Simmons, "Hyperion"

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