jpeters
Group: Members
Posts: 804
Joined: April 2006 |
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Posted: April 17 2006,07:49 |
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What's an OS without apps? A lot of the fun of trying out DSL has been trying out the loaded programs. Most Windows users haven't heard of open source programs other than Mozilla, Open Office, and Thunderbird, and are afraid that switching to Linux means they won't be able to do a lot of things they could do easily before.
For example, I know I have to give up my Microsoft Jazz Radio station, so one of the first things I did was try clicking on an MP3 stream at Jazz24.org. XMM loaded right up in about 2 seconds with a near CD quality broadcast of great jazz.
Next I loaded a few essential Excel spreadsheet into Siag. I was already sold on Mozilla. RSS extentions installed just like they did in XP (I wasn't sure with an OS loaded in RAM). Next I quickly loaded my essential rec.windsurfing group up in Sylpheed. Okay, how about spellcheckers...I loaded up Ted. A non-bloated wordprocesser, nice. I'm not a great fan of Word.
A terminal..great (I still miss DOS). I love the feel of Emelfm, moving files between two directories (like my FTP manager). Three days of playing with programs, and no freezeups with a message asking me whether I would like to send a review of the problem to Microsoft (and finding out that there's no way to shut down the app without rebooting (a ten minute + ordeal).
I would vote to keep selecting the best and most non-bloated essential software. The first few days of DSL for me involved getting my wireless card working, figuring out file management, learning the basics of the operating system, and infomation gathering from other users. I'm happy that I don't have to deal with finding and loading new apps that may or may not work with DSL before I can evaluate whether or not it's worth the effort.
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