Bombing of Dresden (was Plea for help: The detriment of using Microsoft products)

[glenn at aoi.ultranet.com (Glenn Burkhardt)]

> I gather from reading the posts on this list that most of
> you guys are pretty much computer heavyweights. I'm not. Although I'm a bit of a
> guru to my immediate circle of friends, I'm still the guy who (after countless
> tries) could not install Star Office, has appoplectic seisures at the thought of
> configuring Pine and has never been within 100 yards of a server. 

Curious.  I've done it a number of times with no trouble, following the 
instructions that came with my Mandrake distributions.  Just 'rpm -i', and
away it went.  Invoking /opt/Office51/bin/setup did the rest, and even
setup my KDE menus.

> I've
> got CAD programs, calendars, word processors, you name it. All free. Most of
> the freeware I get for my Linux box, I can't install or if it does install, it
> won't work. 

There's certainly a wide range of stuff out there, but for most of the stuff
I've tried, 'configure, make, make install' seems to do the trick.  I've also
not had trouble using the "rpm's" I've found.  What specifically do you do 
that doesn't work?

> How do you get the "Clone" feature to work in GIMP? The one in
> PhotoDeluxe (freeware) works great. 

I find the GIMP's user interface opaque.  You have to read the manual :-)


> Furthermore, let us not forget that there
> are also companies out there who do not give away their Linux products either.
> Corel WP8 has two versions. You can down load a crippled and timed demo which
> they say you can register and recieve a key, but I've never been able to get
> that pipe dream to come true. 

Again, worked for me with no trouble.  But I did end up getting the shrink
wrapped version (so I had ExpressDocs, etc.) for $20 at CompUSA, and received
the $10 rebate shortly thereafter.  Absolutely no trouble with the install or
usage, after following the instructions.  One trick:  if your using KDE, 
add the executable directory to your search path (either in /etc/bashrc,
or your local .bashrc).  Then run kappfinder.  It'll add Wordperfect to your
KDE menus.

> Since
> we're all in the land of the bean and the cod, I propose a barter. You help me
> with my Linux box, and I'll help you shake your floors and rattle your windows
> (no pun intended).

Hmmmm....  Sounds like BLU might want to start running clinics.  You might
want to bring your machine to the next Installfest.  Specific problems 
probably could be handled on the list (if you provide specifics!), or maybe
with a short phone call.

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