Work that is for my own use I save in OpenOffice's native format, such as.odf. Documents I make for wide general distribution, such as notices or announcements, I usually export to.pdf and send in that format. The only time I save something I authored to a Microsoft format is when I need to share a document of some kind with coworkers or other collaborators who use a Microsoft Office product. I frequently encourage others to try OpenOffice, particularly in preference to using a pirated copy of Windows Office.
Multiple calendars, color coded merged calendar display, task list with notes, percent completed, etc. etc. We don't have OpenExchange or Groupwise or MS Exchange or such (which Evolution could work with), but I can schedule meetings with other users of Evolution (and Outlook) directly via email, import iCal files, work with LDAP and sync to my palm pilot. The only things Evolution doesn't do that I would really like is to be able to select multiple calendar events based on the category and export the group rather than export one at a time, and an integrated notes component that syncs with my palm.
An Opteron for example. Try a quick customization of your own:
PC's
For Everyone
The default motherboard can take 8gb and higher end boards go from 16gb to 64gb. If Dell & friends can't supply you with what you want find a local custom build shop that has been around a while and has a good service record. As others have pointed out you can also build it yourself. For support there are plenty of third party on-site support companies, some specializing in Linux. Find one with reps in your area.
HTH
One annoying problem I've had with using an nvidia card and it's closed source driver. Every time I patch/upgrade my kernel (like security patches), I need to reboot to a lower runlevel (3) and reinstall the nvidia driver.
They are not cheap, but Currier Ware bags are the best you can buy when it comes to durability. The original bag was designed for bicycle curriers, by a couple of curriers. I had one of their bags for the two years I was a bike messenger, and continued to use it for another 7 years after that. The strap never broke. It never started leaking (yes, they're very water resistant). The inside lining started looking prety raged after nearly 10 years of heavy use, but functionally it was still in good shape. The only reason I stopped using it - I got married and my wife thought it looked to old and stained, so bought me a new shoulder bag (which broke a year later)!
Shortly after switching careers and going from a hobby to programming for a living, I got my first laptop. I went back to Currier Ware to see if they had a laptop/brief bag, and they do! I bought one without hesitation and was not let down in the least. They also sell neoprene laptop covers for some extra protection. An extreemly happy customer for 15 years now, I highly recomend them!
In a small enterprise this can actually still be managedwell enough. When you make a meeting in evolution, you can email invitations. And if your coworkers actually respond, than there, and your, calanders get updated. Certainly not as good as a centralized server, but functional.
There is also SuSE's OpenExchange server, which seems to be comming close to being not only an excellent replacement for MS Exchange, but an improvement in many aspects. In our trials our biggest complaint was in trying to customize. We found no way to adjust the look, even colors and such, so that it blended better with our site (I woudn't begrudge SuSE tagging on the copyright stuff in the footer, or even a little SuSE OpenExhange logo somewhere, but not everyone wants a green site), and making other customizations was a bit difficult. But I digress.
Looking to the future, Novell now owns Ximian, and is purchasing SuSE. I would think, since lack of a real replacement of the outlook/exchange setup has been a significant complaint from companies I've worked for in switching to Linux, that getting the next versions of OpenExchange and Ximian working together very tightly would be a goal of Novel's. If it works I'd certainly recomend it.
Now we just have to hope that Novel stays commited to keeping the parts that are currently open source open source, and to supporting GNU/Linux in a way that benifits them, and us.
I agree with this 100%. I also agree that pushing for a single 'standard' desktop is pointless, and not in the spirit of Linux or open source.
However, there are a few elements of the UI I would really appreciate the developers of the various desktops coming on some agreement for standardization. [not that any third party app developer would have to pay attention, but why wouldn't they by-in-large?]
cut&paste - Gads would I like this to work properly! It's also the most common complaint I here from people trying to switch from Windows [although highlight middle-click is one of my favorite features]
drag&drop - As someone else said, why can't I drag the icon in the file manager over to an email I'm writing an have it become an attachment? [interestingly, in Evolution I got the pathname of the file]
Guidelines for placement and short-cuts for the most common menu features.
That's all. With just those three things (not to say that accomplishing this would necessarily be simple), the user experience would be far more pleasant. I don't care about this in the sense of stealing market-share from M$ (not that I would weep for them either, and a little more market-share potentially means more $ for development support and jobs for 'us'), but mostly for my OWN
ease of use in day-to-day work (I develop for *nix on a a SuSE8.2 workstation).
Thanks
Slashdot Mirror
Work that is for my own use I save in OpenOffice's native format, such as .odf. Documents I make for wide general distribution, such as notices or announcements, I usually export to .pdf and send in that format. The only time I save something I authored to a Microsoft format is when I need to share a document of some kind with coworkers or other collaborators who use a Microsoft Office product. I frequently encourage others to try OpenOffice, particularly in preference to using a pirated copy of Windows Office.
Multiple calendars, color coded merged calendar display, task list with notes, percent completed, etc. etc. We don't have OpenExchange or Groupwise or MS Exchange or such (which Evolution could work with), but I can schedule meetings with other users of Evolution (and Outlook) directly via email, import iCal files, work with LDAP and sync to my palm pilot. The only things Evolution doesn't do that I would really like is to be able to select multiple calendar events based on the category and export the group rather than export one at a time, and an integrated notes component that syncs with my palm.
An Opteron for example. Try a quick customization of your own: PC's For Everyone The default motherboard can take 8gb and higher end boards go from 16gb to 64gb. If Dell & friends can't supply you with what you want find a local custom build shop that has been around a while and has a good service record. As others have pointed out you can also build it yourself. For support there are plenty of third party on-site support companies, some specializing in Linux. Find one with reps in your area. HTH
One annoying problem I've had with using an nvidia card and it's closed source driver. Every time I patch/upgrade my kernel (like security patches), I need to reboot to a lower runlevel (3) and reinstall the nvidia driver.
They are not cheap, but Currier Ware bags are the best you can buy when it comes to durability. The original bag was designed for bicycle curriers, by a couple of curriers. I had one of their bags for the two years I was a bike messenger, and continued to use it for another 7 years after that. The strap never broke. It never started leaking (yes, they're very water resistant). The inside lining started looking prety raged after nearly 10 years of heavy use, but functionally it was still in good shape. The only reason I stopped using it - I got married and my wife thought it looked to old and stained, so bought me a new shoulder bag (which broke a year later)!
Shortly after switching careers and going from a hobby to programming for a living, I got my first laptop. I went back to Currier Ware to see if they had a laptop/brief bag, and they do! I bought one without hesitation and was not let down in the least. They also sell neoprene laptop covers for some extra protection. An extreemly happy customer for 15 years now, I highly recomend them!
HTH!
http://www.courierwareusa.com/level.itml/icOid/11
Odd, my install of evolution does - and always has (started using at 1.0.?). I rely on those popups, and on the alarm from my PDA.
DOH! :use preview:
Sorry about that run-on. Forgot to add <P>'s.
In a small enterprise this can actually still be managedwell enough. When you make a meeting in evolution, you can email invitations. And if your coworkers actually respond, than there, and your, calanders get updated. Certainly not as good as a centralized server, but functional. There is also SuSE's OpenExchange server, which seems to be comming close to being not only an excellent replacement for MS Exchange, but an improvement in many aspects. In our trials our biggest complaint was in trying to customize. We found no way to adjust the look, even colors and such, so that it blended better with our site (I woudn't begrudge SuSE tagging on the copyright stuff in the footer, or even a little SuSE OpenExhange logo somewhere, but not everyone wants a green site), and making other customizations was a bit difficult. But I digress. Looking to the future, Novell now owns Ximian, and is purchasing SuSE. I would think, since lack of a real replacement of the outlook/exchange setup has been a significant complaint from companies I've worked for in switching to Linux, that getting the next versions of OpenExchange and Ximian working together very tightly would be a goal of Novel's. If it works I'd certainly recomend it. Now we just have to hope that Novel stays commited to keeping the parts that are currently open source open source, and to supporting GNU/Linux in a way that benifits them, and us.
- cut&paste - Gads would I like this to work properly! It's also the most common complaint I here from people trying to switch from Windows [although highlight middle-click is one of my favorite features]
- drag&drop - As someone else said, why can't I drag the icon in the file manager over to an email I'm writing an have it become an attachment? [interestingly, in Evolution I got the pathname of the file]
- Guidelines for placement and short-cuts for the most common menu features.
That's all. With just those three things (not to say that accomplishing this would necessarily be simple), the user experience would be far more pleasant. I don't care about this in the sense of stealing market-share from M$ (not that I would weep for them either, and a little more market-share potentially means more $ for development support and jobs for 'us'), but mostly for my OWN ease of use in day-to-day work (I develop for *nix on a a SuSE8.2 workstation). Thanks