Questions from a novice

[ron177]

I am a Mac user and am considering whether Linux is for me.

The most important thing for me (at this point at least) is (1) whether I can use identical applications (Adobe Reader comes to mind) across platforms.

(2) I also wonder whether I can write documents, create files, etc. on a Linus-based machine and then use them (read and modify them) on my Apple machines. In addition I am curious to know if I can do the reverse of this: that is, read and modify files that I create on my Apple computers: such as pdf files, rtf (rich text format) documents, etc.

(3) In the Mac world, we still suffer from softwares that are made only for Windows computers and therefore are not easily usable on a Mac. Through softwares such as Parallels it is possible to run a Windows Operating System on a Mac and then run these applications. But this often slows down the computer and takes an unreasonable amount of space. I have therefore avoided it so far. I wonder how effective is softwares such as Wine (in terms of speed and space needed for its operation) which tries to do the same thing for Linux-based machines. Is there any other alternative to Wine?

(4) Finally, I hear that Linux is perfect for servers and not very great for users of desktops, laptops, or netbooks. I wonder if people on this forum disagree with this. I would be interested in using Linux on a personal computer (preferably a laptop).

Many thanks in advance for considering these questions.

[techieMoe]

I am a Mac user and am considering whether Linux is for me.

The most important thing for me (at this point at least) is (1) whether I can use identical applications (Adobe Reader comes to mind) across platforms.

Adobe has a version of Reader for Linux, but the native PDF readers for Linux tend to have better features. As far as I know you can open/create/save PDF files you create in Linux using Adobe's official reader on other platforms. OpenOffice also has a "save as PDF" option for documents.

(2) I also wonder whether I can write documents, create files, etc. on a Linus-based machine and then use them (read and modify them) on my Apple machines. In addition I am curious to know if I can do the reverse of this: that is, read and modify files that I create on my Apple computers: such as pdf files, rtf (rich text format) documents, etc.

Linux will read and write just about any text format known to man. Office programs like OpenOffice.org or AbiWord can speak Word fluently, provided you don't use any really weird macros or annotation features. Rich Text is universal.

Same goes the other way - you can save documents created in OpenOffice/Abiword/etc in just about any format you want.

(3) In the Mac world, we still suffer from softwares that are made only for Windows computers and therefore are not easily usable on a Mac. Through softwares such as Parallels it is possible to run a Windows Operating System on a Mac and then run these applications.

Parallels is nice, but I've found myself using VirtualBox more often these days. Not only is it free, it works on just about any OS including Linux.

I wonder how effective is softwares such as Wine (in terms of speed and space needed for its operation) which tries to do the same thing for Linux-based machines. Is there any other alternative to Wine?

WINE is a very different beast from Parallels or Virtualbox. The name itself is an anagram for "WINE is not an emulator." Rather than trying to virtualize a whole computer it simply attempts to translate the system calls made by Windows-programmed software into something Linux can use. It works, more or less, to various degrees depending on the program you're trying to use. Games are notoriously buggy.

http://www.winehq.com/appdb

(4) Finally, I hear that Linux is perfect for servers and not very great for users of desktops, laptops, or netbooks. I wonder if people on this forum disagree with this. I would be interested in using Linux on a personal computer (preferably a laptop).

Many thanks in advance for considering these questions.

Yep, we most certainly would disagree. Linux can most certainly be useful for desktops/laptops and netbooks. In fact, some major netbook manufacturers use a modified version of Linux as their OS already. We can't really tell you if Linux will be right for you, but it's free so you're certainly welcome to give it a go.

[scathefire]

1) Yes there are many programs, adobe etc that are compatible or have been ported to Linux

2) Of course you can. Its all a matter of file format.

3) Programs like Wine have been very successful in emulating Windows, but its far from perfect. It can buggy, but so can Windows

4) Linux is a perfect operating system for a person who likes to get their hands dirty. If you prefer to just point-click repeat, then Linux is probably not the system for you... yet. There have been great strides in making various OSes more user friendly. Ubuntu comes to mind as a good starting place for most novices.

[ron177]

Thank you for informative responses. A couple of more questions:

1. Can I run Linux on a computer that already has a Windows software? Should I uninstall Windows and then run Linux? What about an Apple computer? Can I run Linux on an old iBook?

2. For personal use (consisting of email use, college writing, web browsing, reading pdf files, and such) what hardware specifications should I keep in mind for the purpose of installing and effectively using, let's say, Ubuntu?

Appreciatively.

[scathefire]

The community tends to keep up with requirements: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...emRequirements

If you don't want to uninstall, you can either get another hard drive and install it on there or run something like VMware server. The two OSes will have little to do with one another. But there are lots sites and info about dual-booting.

Here is one of a million: Dual-Boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu in Perfect Harmony - windows 7 - Lifehacker

[undermind]

1. You most certainly can. Most mainstream distributions like Ubuntu and Debian will automatically partition the harddrive and write the bootloader so it can run both systems. This is known as Dual-Booting. I wouldn't reccoment removing windows and then put on Linux, as this would either leave you Windows-free, or require a lot of fiddling and Command line ventures to get working. I think it's the same for MacOS, although i haven't worked with Mac's.

2. There should'nt be any issues regarding everyday use (websurfing, writing documents etc.) other than learning to use the Package System. Most distributions nowadays have automatic dependancy resolution, but it still requires a bit of getting used to if you're migrating from Windows. i don't know about how MacOS manages software.

[techieMoe]

Thank you for informative responses. A couple of more questions:

1. Can I run Linux on a computer that already has a Windows software?

Yes. You have several options, including a virtual machine (least risk), a side-by-side install using Ubuntu's WUBI installer (still low risk), or a dual-boot system using a spare partition on your harddrive (high risk if you don't know what you're doing). You can, of course, wipe your Windows system entirely and use just Linux, but I wouldn't recommend it as a first experience.

Should I uninstall Windows and then run Linux?

You can, but if you're just going to wipe the system it's not necessary. Linux will remove it and install its own file system on top with little or no effort on your part.

What about an Apple computer? Can I run Linux on an old iBook?

iBooks ran on PowerPC chips if I'm not mistaken. Very few modern Linux distributions still support that architecture, aside from perhaps Debian. You'd have better luck on a newer Mac with an Intel CPU, especially with something like BootCamp.

2. For personal use (consisting of email use, college writing, web browsing, reading pdf files, and such) what hardware specifications should I keep in mind for the purpose of installing and effectively using, let's say, Ubuntu?

Appreciatively.

Ubuntu isn't the smallest Linux you can use, but it's certainly very popular and more likely to have all the features you want out of the box. I'd recommend around 5-10GB of space for Ubuntu and at least 1GB of RAM to run it comfortably.

Nvidia cards work best, but ATI is a close second. Intel sometimes works great, sometimes not at all. Drivers are the issue here, not the OS itself. All cards will work just fine for 2D office-type work, they just won't have flashy OpenGL-enhanced desktop effects.

Wireless is a mixed bag. The vast majority of wireless cards out there will work just fine with Ubuntu (or any other current Linux distro) as they all share the same kernel and driver sets. Intel wireless has offered me the most consistent performance in my personal experience. Your mileage may vary.