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SuSE Linux for Desktops

GeneralMandible

By GeneralMandible
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GeneralMandible

GeneralMandible

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Ok, I know this is a MS SW forum, which I use extensively, but I am going to be testing Suse Linux for Desktops at work. I was just wondering if anybody here has tried it and would like to get feedback on it. Any info on how it works on a MS network, does it use MS Office format for documents, whatever. Thanks ahead of time.

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prathapml

prathapml

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i want to add: someone has tried SuSE + Ximian desktop??
Yes.

And it works just fine.

SuSe is commercially the most successful Linux distro maker (after RedHat), and has a very good reason for it. Go ahead, it is good to use. Just remember one thing - don't expect things to happen in the same way as in the windows world - and you'll be saved lots of disappointments/frustrations. The way of doing things is different in Linux, and if you remember your college days with Unix well enough, you're up and running in no time!

The UI is sufficiently easy to use. On the whole, speed of operation is quicker than windows on the same system Spec. It is suitably crash-proof (rock-solid, actually, if you get used to it) for work-a-day usage in offices. Lots of apps are available, whose counter-parts you'd use for parallel purposes on windows (XMMS for winamp, GIMP for photoshop). Configuration (tools/extent-of-reach) is one area where SuSE blows away competing distributions. It is compatible with TCP/IP based MS-LANs, support for Active Directory (ADS) domains should be considered experimental. It has OpenOffice/StarOffice suite (bundled), which can work with MS Office file-formats (all of them) - just remember that OpenOffice's native format is something else, so if you want to save to MS-Office compatible format by default, you'll have to go into its options and say so (instead of complaining about any office suite's native-format-by-default behaviour).

Hmmmm..... This is all you asked for (I don't have the ability to carry on-and-on about abstract philosophy about open source). Any other questions, and I'd be glad to help out. :)

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SiMoNsAyS

SiMoNsAyS

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what about the interface itself? i've seen beautiful screenshots of ximian running under linux but my only experience it's mandrake 8. what about installation? i've seen on ximian homepage that it's free but i don't know from where i need to download or what i must know

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GeneralMandible

GeneralMandible

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Thanks for all the info, prathapml! I'm excited to get started, but won't really be able to get into it for a couple of weeks. TCP/IP and ADS support will be great. I've looked at the office suites before and they seem pretty nice. I might be toying with the Ximian stuff too. I'll get back to this post after some testing.

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GeneralMandible

GeneralMandible

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Well, I couldn't wait. I have it installed on a workstation and am going to install the GroupWise email client. I won't be able to connect it to the network until I hear back from our Cyber Security officer. Once I get an ok on that I will try to focus on doing most of my work on that machine to see how it works.

More updates soon.

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prathapml

prathapml

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@GeneralMandible

Happy to hear that.

@SiMoNsAyS

I'd rather not repeat myself with the content that's on the official home-page of the Ximian project. I'm always ready to share info which is not available elsewhere.

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SiMoNsAyS

SiMoNsAyS

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i don't know from where i need to download or what i must know

let me quote myself, what i want to know if it can be downloaded from ximian website alone from linux and it's installed online, must be downloaded alone, or must be integrated with suse or redhat

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GeneralMandible

GeneralMandible

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So far this seems great. I have it connect to our network and can browse the web, check email, and I figured out how to print last night. I haven't crashed it yet either. I've had apps lock up for a few minutes, but I just send them to a different desktop and wait for them to get back to normal while I do other things. If I can map to my network drives I'll be cookin' with Crisco.

Later. :)

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GeneralMandible

GeneralMandible

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I am making this post from SuSE with the Gnome desktop from the Galeon browser on a virtual machine on top of my XP machine. I think I might try putting this on a machine that I can't get the NIC to work. The I might throw Apache on it and use it as a web server. Have to think about it though. I'll leave this thread alone for awhile now.

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needforspeed

needforspeed

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i don't know from where i need to download or what i must know

let me quote myself, what i want to know if it can be downloaded from ximian website alone from linux and it's installed online, must be downloaded alone, or must be integrated with suse or redhat

If you read Ximians site, it tells you how to install it. You'll simply use the wget command from a terminal and the address of the file and it will do everything else. It tells you exactly how to do it on their site.

I haven't had good luck with Ximian so far on Suse systems, but it's been great on Red Hat systems.

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