[ale] Taking the plunge

[Dow Hurst]

Greg,
I use VMware to run WinXP everywhere I can.  It is so nice compared to
dual booting.  Under just about any distro you will need to mount the
usbfs since it isn't mounted the way VMware expects anymore.  The kernel
guys decided usbfs as originally done isn't secure.  There is a document
for SUSE on the opensuse wiki about how to fix it up.  Other distros
will vary.  I run Samba on the host and either bridge or NAT the VMware
guest.  What is great about WinXP in any virtual machine but especially
VMware is that you can have a pristine snapshot of the system fully
patched and all software installed as a backup for when the system will
eventually get hosed.

http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:VMware_-_USB_support

I've really like opensuse 10.2 on my laptop, and you will like the
OpenOffice they enhance if you use Calc.  They have visual basic macro
support which will help with compatibility with Excel.  I don't
recommend OO if your doing scientific writing since collaborations
invariably involve others using Word or Powerpoint and the fonts and
formatting just don't transfer right.  Also, whatever version of
MSoffice your office uses should be what you try with the most complex
Powerpoint or Word doc you can find before depending on OpenOffice.  I
think it is great for business applications but in science it just
doesn't cut it yet for compatibility with MSOffice.  We have enough
problems with different version of MSoffice and Mac versions of
MSoffice.  Throwing OO into the mix made it worse.

Remember to add the pacman repository.  Look at the opensuse build
service for other projects containing useful software.  The opensuse
wiki is finally getting pretty useful.  The Novell Cool solutions is
also a good resource to google for opensuse and SLED 10.x info.  Alot of
what applies to SLED applies to 10.2.  I found a document on taking a
current single root disk install and making it a mirrored root raid
using the suse way on the cool solutions site.  Worked great on my
workstation here at home which also runs opensuse 10.2.

By the way, "cp -a" worked well for copying my /home exactly with no errors.
Good luck,
Dow




Greg Freemyer wrote:
> Okay,
>
> My desktop office computer died yesterday.  I got a new Dell and it
> came with Vista.
>
> After 5 minutes use, I put in a new blank drive and installed OpenSUSE
> 10.2 as my new desktop OS.  I've been using UNIX/linux on servers for
> years (okay decades if the truth be known.), but this is my first
> desktop experience.
>
> So I expect to have some basic questions as I come up to speed.  I
> tend to use both the ALE list and the opensuse list to ask questions.
> Any thoughts of which is better for my forthcoming basic questions?
>
> My first basic question.  Should I go ahead and throw in the towel and
> install a Xen VM with XP on it just so I know I have a fallback for a
> couple Windows only apps I run?  (The new machine is a core DUO.
> Should have VT to allow Xen to run Windows.)
>
> My second basic question is which office solution to use since I have
> to be compatible with the rest of the company/clients.  ie.
> Interoperability is key.
>
> 1) Open Office 2.2 from the suse build service
> 2) Sun Office (from ??)
> 3) MS Office via wine (does it work?)
> 4) MS Office in a Xen VM.
>
> Question 3:
> I need to make a Viseo type drawing today.  I can deliver it to others
> as a PDF.  What tool should I use?
>
> Thanks
> Greg
>