Learning Debian GNU/LinuxBy Bill McCarty
1st Edition September 1999
1-56592-705-2, Order Number: 7052
360 pages, $34.95 , Includes CD-ROM
This chapter describes how you can use Linux for common desktop computing tasks. You'll learn about popular desktop suites and applications. This chapter also introduces VMWare, a program that lets you run Microsoft Windows and Linux simultaneously, and WINE, a program that lets you run some Microsoft applictions under Linux.
The Debian Project is firmly committed to including only truly Open Source software in its main distribution. Not all the programs mentioned in this chapter and the next meet the Open Source definition. Part of the beauty of Linux, though, is the ease with which it can be enhanced. The Contributed and Non-free archives on the Debian site include a wealth of additional software, and some programs are available direct from third party providers.
Not long ago, running Linux meant abandoning your easy-to-use WYSIWYG word processor or configuring your system for dual boot, so that you could boot Microsoft Windows or IBM OS/2 to access friendly and familiar desktop applications. At that time, Linux supported no robust, full-featured graphical desktop suites.
Today, Linux supports several desktop suites; several more are under development. Apparently, if rumors are to be believed, even Microsoft is considering adapting their Office desktop suite to run under Linux. Whether or not Linux users can expect to soon run Microsoft Office for Linux (or whatever name Microsoft might give this potential product), Linux users who prefer to avoid other operating systems can now do so without compromising their ability to produce first-rate documents, spreadsheets, and graphics.
This section describes the three most popular desktop applications for Linux:
In addition, this section briefly describes other desktop options:
The final section presents two entirely different approaches to desktop computing:
Applix distributes Applixware, a desktop suite available for a variety of platforms, including Microsoft Windows 9x, Microsoft Windows NT, and several varieties of UNIX, including Linux. Applixware is commercial software, but much less expensive than Microsoft Word. Currently, Applixware for Linux is priced at $99 (US); you can purchase it from the Applix web site, http://www.applix.com/. Print documentation and support programs are also available, at additional cost. If you prefer to try before buying, you can download a feature-disabled demo version; however, the download is quite large (over 38 MB) and therefore time-consuming (over 3 hours at 28.8 Kbps) unless you have a high-speed connection to the Internet.
Applixware includes eight main components:
Once you've installed Applixware, you can run it by starting X and using a terminal window to issue the following commands:DISPLAY=localhost:0 /opt/applix/applix
If you installed Applixware to a directory other than /opt/applix, you'll need to adapt the second command accordingly.
When Applixware starts up, it displays a window containing the Applixware main menu, shown in Figure 8.1. From the toolbar of the main menu, you can simply click to launch Words, Graphics and Presents, Spreadsheets, Mail, or Data. Alternatively, you can click on the asterisk icon, causing Applixware to display a menu, as shown in Figure 8.2.
Figure 8.3 shows the Words application. Words includes a spelling checker and supports document templates, tables, multimedia, and live links to Applixware and third-party documents. Moreover, it lets you import and export a variety of document formats, including Microsoft Word 2.0, 6.0, 7.0/95, and 97.
Figure 8.4 shows the Presents application, which lets you create presentations in a way that resembles that provided by Microsoft PowerPoint. Presents provides features such as transitions and animation, HTML export, and templates. Its drawing tools let you draw lines, curves, and shapes, and perform other operations, such as rotations and fills. Presents can also import and export PowerPoint presentations and a variety o