Going Open Source - Part 1

For a few months now I have had the idea that I would force myself to spend some time and see if it was yet possible to replace all my software with open source equivalents and get to a state where I could work as I normally would. Now, I've had this idea for a while but never quite managed to get round to it.

Then my hard disk on my laptop decided to crash the heads on the disk right into all the files that it needs to start Windows. OK then. Faced with the choice of reinstalling Windows, and the opportunity to try something else, I seized the moment.

To make sure that I can actually work, though, I am allowing myself a get out clause: I can use MS Windows software, but on the condition that I can get it running on my Linux installation (and not in a virtual machine either).

Next comes the choice of which of many flavours of the Linux distribution to use. This is a hard choice: there are a lot of good distributions now which provide for easy installation and a good user experience.

I have some experience with Ubuntu Linux distributions (I have my backup service running at home on an old PC with a lot of disk space under Ubuntu) and was interested to see that they now have Ubuntu Studio – a distribution aimed at creatives and packed with graphics, audio and video tools.

The download of 800MB went smoothly, as did burning the image onto a DVD-R.

I assumed that this wasn't going to go smoothly. I thought that this was going to take more than one go. I guessed that I would end up with a mostly working laptop but things like graphics drivers, remote control, web cam, maybe even audio would not be working right.

I'm amazed to say, 2 days after doing the install, that everything works. And more-or-less from the moment it's installed.

Now, there are a few differences between a Linux install and a Windows install that a habitual Windows user (that would be me) will find interesting.

First and foremost, you don't have to answer 40 or so questions to get the install completed. I went with the defaults and opted to configure the network elements later. All went smoothly first time.

Secondly, because of the wealth of open source software available for Linux, the operating system comes with its own application install manager that already knows about a large proportion of the software (and drivers) that are available and can just go ahead and install it for you.

My wireless network card was automatically identified and installed, and my NVidia graphics card was identified and 'safe' drivers used. All I had to do was ask the application installer to add the drivers for my graphics card, and hey presto, one re-boot later, working graphics.

Audio needed no attention and worked straight away.

Then it came down to applications. Ubuntu studio comes with a huge amount of software: 3D modelling and animation, 2D graphics, print document layout, audio and video editing to name just some of the things that are catered for.

My problem is that I love Dreamweaver. And what I am still struggling with (and will take any recommendations for) is a Linux native web page design tool with a good interface and site management and ftp tools built in. This is where my get out clause comes into effect: until I find an alternative I want to use Dreamweaver.

Windows software on a Linux OS? Yes, with the help of a compatibility library called Wine. This is available via the application installer and allows Windows software to be run under Linux. Essentially, you just run the installer from a terminal window, and the application installs, icons appear in your application menu and it just works. Amazing huh?

So, where I am right now is writing this, in Open office Writer, I have Flock, Second Life, Thunderbird, Skype, MS Remote Desktop client and Dreamweaver all installed and working.

The most important thing for me is to find a good graphics package that is as close as possible to the way Adobe Photoshop works. Photoshop is probably the main tool that I use because of it's versatility. Then I need to sort out fonts and printers. To find out what happens, watch the Pale Heretic site or blog for part 2.

Pale