The migration to a Linux desktop is almost complete.

[NSR Mick]

For a long time I have shunned the idea of using linux as my primary desktop os as I think it is lacking in a few areas when being used in a AD environment and should be left to doing what linux is good at. i.e. mail and web servers.

This week as I've not much on I thought I would see if I could successfully use linux to do what I do day to day on my laptop.

So far it has gone pretty smoothly, I have installed Fedora 10 and got all the hardware working and got equivalents of most of the software I use daily which is mainly.

Listening to and ripping MP3 streams - Achieved using a combination of Streamtuner, Streamripper and Audacious.

Web browsing - Firefox

MSN Chat - aMSN

Torrents - Azureus

Virtual test boxes - VMware Server

RDP - RDesktop

The only things I'm really missing at the moment are a remote desktop manager so that I can have all the RDP connections I need in one app and a mail client that talks to exchange properly otherwise I'm quite impressed and not an unlicensed bit of software in sight.

There are some programs I know I cant use such as Cisco's VPN client and CS4 but I'll just keep it dual booting with server2008 which some may think is a strange choice for a desktop OS but it has extra functionality that I use.

So all in all I'm quite happy and think I might spend more time using Fedora than Windows.


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If you dont like the way that I ride.......Stop trying to keep up!!!

[JonB]

I have just inherited an old laptop from my parents, which runs pretty slowly in XP, I was considering a lite version of XP, but also thinking of Linux.

Initial thoughts are Ubuntu, but wonder if there are any other incarnations that may be as good.

The one reason I am not a fan of using linux is that the GUI is so poor, looks like a kids building blocks set ala XP.
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Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[Itchy]

I'd have thought you'd have migrated ages ago, those HDDs had various different operating systems on them I had never heard of or knew existed.
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Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[Phil.]

Hi

I'm not sure if this is deb specific but i use vinagre to manage the machines in my house, seems to do the trick with the machines using real vnc and xp.

Same boat as you with exhange support, otherwise i'd of used it at work too.

[Nebzor]

[NSR Mick]

[nowhere.elysium]

Cisco did release a VPN client for Linux; you need to get the licensee to request a copy of it, I think.
Also; Azureus is far from being an efficient torrent program: I'd recommend Transmission any day: it should be in the Fedora repos.
Exchange compliance is an interesting one. I think you need to have the exchange web frontend running, but you can get Evolution to work with it.
Hope that info is of some use.
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[NSR Mick]

Trouble is I want full Exchange operability not just through IMAP or webmail. There is a connector out there but I don't want to have to pay for it when I've got a perfect functioning copy of outlook on my 2008 build.
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If you dont like the way that I ride.......Stop trying to keep up!!!

[nowhere.elysium]

Fair enough. I can't say that I've ever been all that fussed about exchange, in truth. Email's all I'm after: if a colleague needs to see what my calendar says, they can sodding well ask me first.

Not that I'm a secretive miserable git, or anything...
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[neil.]

Try vpnc + network-manager-vpnc as a Cisco compatible VPN client - it's an open source implimentation and has graphical front end support in the Network Manager applet for KDE and GNOME. I use it to connect to my work's VPN and you can import PCF files fine.

Evolution is a nice PIM that can do Exchange via OWA but the latest version with GNOME 2.26 now does it 'properly', so it *should* work better. I find the older version to work well for me via OWA from home anyway. It does all the calendar/permissions stuff too.

Also check out Transmission or Deluge as nice lightweight torrent clients. Azureus is quite resource hungry. Also check out VirtualBox as a free open source VM solution.
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CBT February 2008 | A2 June 2008 | Yamaha YBR125 (written off) | Honda CBF125 (current)

[nowhere.elysium]

Good call on VPNC Neil. Cheers for that
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'10 SV650SF, '83 GS650GT (it lives!), Questionable DIY dash project, 3D Printer project, Lasercutter project

[bazza]

Tsclient for RDP. Stores bookmarks and credentials for all your connections.
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"That's it. You people have stood in my way long enough. I'm going to clown college."
'98 Ducati 750SS, '08 Suzuki GSX650F ©2004-2014, Bazza's Harmless Banter

[NSR Mick]