Linux has been receiving a lot of attention lately. It has always been touted as a stable and secure server platform, but is now beginning to make inroads on the desktop as well. About a year ago, I decided to try it out and see how it fit for my use. Many others have also made the switch. The question is, does it fit?
Before I get started, I should probably tell you that I am not really a rabid follower of any particular operating system. Years ago, when I was selling computers, I frequently told my prospective customers that the usefulness of a computer was determined by how well it met your needs, not by the operating system. In other words, your computer selection criteria should be based on applications, not necessarily platforms. Of course at the time, I was selling Amiga computers to a DOS/Windows world. I've always maintained that attitude, and when I left the retail environment and went to work for others, I spent considerable time on both Windows and Macintosh (in addition to my Amiga system).
I have also spent many years working with, installing, and troubleshooting various Windows systems, both as a retailer, a consultant, and as a user. I spent a number of years working for software companies who produced applications for Windows, so I had to use Windows systems and most of the Microsoft Office products (especially when creating online help files).
This past year, I have been working with a group of partners that creates, installs, and manages enterprise servers for small to medium sized businesses. The standard platform of our business is Linux. For a while, I maintained my Windows environment on my home computer. Most of our tools and communications were web-based and it didn't really matter which platform I was on (one partner uses a Macintosh). However, after a few months, I felt I needed to become more familiar with Linux.
Now, I am not a server administrator. I am a business administrator and a writer. I don't, and probably never will, get into the messy insides of server configuration and maintenance. That's what my other partners are for. But that doesn't mean that I shouldn't be familiar with the environment in which we operate. So, about a year ago, I installed a second hard drive in my home computer and had my partner help me install Linux on it.
I probably could have done this first installation on my own, but since I wasn't really familiar with the environment, I felt it was better to have an expert set it up and I would watch and try to learn. The installation went very smoothly. There were a couple times when my partner would drop out of the graphics interface and just use the command line to configure certain aspects of the system. For him it was faster and provided more flexibility. For me it wouldn't have been an option.
It only took a couple hours and I had a functioning Windows/Linux system where I could use the Linux boot manager (grub) to choose an OS at boot time. I set the default for Windows because it was a family computer and my wife and kids weren't really interested in my experiments. They had their applications and knew how to get to them and I didn't want to rock that boat. I did have my friend set up access to my Windows drive so that I could get to all my work files currently in use. This was accomplished with a simple mount configuration (it is very easy to mount a Windows drive from Linux).
My first task was to take stock of the applications I used on a daily basis for work. I left out my personal applications since I was only planning on using Linux for work. As a result, the list isn't very long:
I had been using MS Outlook for e-mail, appointments, contacts, and notes, but with all the e-mail virus problems, I dropped it in favor of Eudora for e-mail and just used my Handspring/Palm devices for the rest.
On a more limited basis, I also use the following specialized tools:
Now that I have my list, I went looking for equivalent appliations in the Linux environment. I played with both KDE and Gnome for the desktop and have used them both at one time or another. It really doesn't make much difference as the applications I use don't care either way. Initially, I used KDE, but recently switched to Gnome when I set up a new Linux-only computer on my home network. The look and feel are about the same and switching is easy, so go ahead and try them both.
Replacing the office applications (word processing and spreadsheet) was very easy. I just installed OpenOffice and had what I needed. For the most part, OpenOffice can read and write Microsoft files. However, there are some catches. If you are put in the unfortunate position of having to work with a very complicated and heavily formatted Word file, you may have trouble with some of the formatting. I don't use much formatting in Word or Excel files. If I want a good, detailed layout, I use FrameMaker.
The real key here is, what do other people need to see from me? Within my company, plain text or HTML files are the norm. So, when I use OpenOffice writer, I often just save a text file for distribution to the other partners. If I am creating a proposal for a client, I will send it for internal review as a text file. When it is time to deliver the proposal to the client, I don't want to send a modifiable document anyway. I generally use OpenOffice's PDF converter to create a formatted Acrobat file for distribution to clients. In both instances, I can produce a distributable document in an easily used format without any extra effort.
As for my spreadsheets, they aren't too complicated, but I haven't had any trouble working on .xls files within OpenOffice and saving them again in Excel format. Others seem to be able to use them just fine, even with multiple tabs, referenced cells, etc. As a safeguard, I also installed OpenOffice on my Windows partition (since it is available for Windows as well). It runs just fine and I haven't had any trouble using it there either. Besides, the price is right — it's free.
Choosing an e-mail client was a little more difficult. I tried several, but I wanted to be able to convert my existing Eudora e-mail folders to whatever I chose to use in Linux. I finally settled on Ximian's Evolution, which installs with the Gnome environment (although it works fine in KDE as well). This is a nice all-in-one suite that corresponds in look and feel to MS Outlook, but without all the security flaws. Most important, I was able to copy my existing Eudora data over to Evolution's folders without too much work. I had to create some blank e-mail folders and then copy and rename the Eudora data files, but it wasn't hard and it worked. In fact, it couldn't be hard if I figured it out on my own.
Evolution also has calendar, task, and contact applications integrated into a single interface. With my past Outlook experience, it had a familiar feel that made it a comfortable and easy-to-use choice. The only piece it lacks is a notes function. I use electronic note files quite a bit, and I really miss this feature. However, I have settled on a workable alternative. I just use the vim editor from a terminal window and I keep all my note files in a single folder. It isn't as convenient as Outlook notes, but it still works easily. I have also played with Kate, a KDE text editor that keeps a list of open files in a sidebar (they open automatically each time you load Kate). At least I have plenty of options. If one application doesn't work out as I want, I just try another.
For my web browser, I selected Mozilla. It is installed with Red Hat Linux, and it works well. I could have chosen Netscape's Linux browser as well, but my partner steered me toward Mozilla. Netscape uses the same basic browser engine (Mozilla), but the Mozilla implementation is more current and more frequently updated. I have been able to get all the standard plug-ins that I generally use without any problem, including Java, Acrobat, Flash, Real, and so on.
For HTML editing, I just use vi, more from the desire to learn it than from any real analysis of other alternatives. I don't have to write that much HTML these days, so it is a workable solution. In addition, there are a several text editors included in the standard Linux desktop. They are easy to use and provide a simple transition for those familiar with Window's Notepad.
These applications easily satisfied my day-to-day needs and since that covers over 95 percent of my work, I wasn't too worried about the rest. I have played a bit with Gimp as a replacement for Photoshop. It does some things, but it has a steeper learning curve than I have time to give it at the moment. I haven't found a Linux alternative for FrameMaker either. I have heard that the Unix version of FrameMaker runs under Linux, but I haven't found a copy to try yet. I've thought about trying to learn LaTex for formatting and layout, but I haven't had time to play with it.
The lack of FrameMaker and Photoshop is a minor inconvenience. When I needed those applications, I would have to reboot into Windows. I didn't use them that often, but when I did, it was a little frustrating. I have since installed a second computer that is Linux only, so I leave my family machine in Windows all the time. This makes it easy since all I have to do is move to the other computer on the occasional day I need my layout tools. This also makes my family happy because they were tired of me using the computer all the time.
The one area where I have had trouble is printing. The default printing language for Linux is Postscript. This is great for print quality, but only if you have a Postscript printer. I don't. I have an Epson Stylus 600 inkjet printer. With Red Hat 7 (my initial installation version), LPRng was the default printing sub-system. The inkjet drivers for the LPRng system were not very good at rendering fonts and I was always printing in bold letters.
After struggling for some time with this problem, I managed to create a work-around, but it wasn't very convenient. I would save all my print jobs as Acrobat PDF files, stored on my common Windows/Linux directories. Then, when my stored printing reached 'critical mass,' I would reboot into Windows and print the files using my Windows inkjet drivers that worked. Ugly, but at least I could get decent printouts. At this point, if I hadn't been making a conscious effort to learn Linux, I probably would have abandoned it altogether and just returned to Windows.
One of the nice thing about Linux, however, is the number of choices you have. I was told by several people that CUPS (Common Unix Printing System) was much better than LPR. However, when I had upgraded to Red Hat 8.2, I hadn't installed CUPS, and I just never got around to finding it and installing it. I had also been told that the CUPS printer drivers were much better as this was the direction all new development efforts were focused. LPR was old, CUPS was the future.
When I set up my new computer, I installed Red Hat Linux 9 on it (by myself, I'm pleased to say). I selected CUPS as the printing sub-system. The inkjet printer is still on my Windows computer, so I just defined a Windows-based network printer. I was able to see my Windows computer and select the shared printer right from the printer definition dialogs, so it was an easy process. I selected the Epson Stylus 600 printer definition, and printed a test page. It was beautiful. I then tried a printed page from OpenOffice. It worked wonderfully. Printing problems solved.
I would say the answer is yes. All the standard office applications are readily available, and the compatibility level with Windows applications is very good. All but specialized tasks can be easily handled through a Linux desktop. Since very few people need those specialized applications, most offices could replace 95 percent or more of their desktops with Linux. Most designers I know work on a Macintosh, which is now also Unix-based, so I guess it is just a question of the front-end.
Because of Linux's implementation of standards and communications protocols, those people who need specialized applications or operating systems are easily integrated into a Linux-based network. I was able to configure my Linux computer to talk to my Windows computer without too much trouble at all. I now use my Windows computer as my network file server (since that's where all my work files were anyway), and I share printers and files seamlessly.
In the final analysis, I would be very comfortable recommending and supporting Linux desktops for most business offices. Like the operating system, every piece of software I use in Linux is absolutely free. Being able to be productive with a price tag of zero is a huge bonus both for me as a business person and for my business. And for all who rely on pirated software or 'shared' serial numbers to keep costs down, moving to Linux will eliminate the fear of software audits.
Another bonus of Linux is the capability to use older hardware. My computers are currently running AMD K6-2 400Mhz and 450Mhz processors, respectively. This is well below the current technology level, but the machines run just fine. I don't notice any significant delays in processing, nor do I spend much time waiting for the computer to finish thinking about a task. I would hesitate to put Windows 2000 or XP on either of these computers, but Linux does just fine.
Here are links to websites associated with software referenced in this article:
Michael Morgan serves as director of operations for Iodynamics. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Utah State University, but has spent the past 15 years in marketing, technical writing, and corporate communications. He has been a computer user for over 20 years (he started later in life) and has used, built, and supported various platforms and operating systems, including DOS, Windows, Macintosh, Amiga, and Linux. You can reach Michael Morgan at mlmorgan@iodynamics.com.