[wplug-announce] The Open Pitt, 3rd edition
Beth Lynn
bethlynn at wplug.org
Fri Aug 13 14:19:00 EDT 2004
Hello,
For your reading enjoyment, behold the 3rd edition of The Open Pitt,
WPLUG's official newsletter.
Hard copy will be available at the Saturday August 14th GUM
http://www.wplug.org/pipermail/wplug-announce/2004-August/000136.html
If you have any questions or comments about The Open Pitt, please contact
the editors at top at wplug.org
Thanks,
Beth Lynn
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE OPEN PITT
What's cooking in Linux and Open Source in Western Pennsylvania
===========================================================================
Issue 3 August 2004
www.wplug.org
===========================================================================
In this issue:
Switching to Open Source on the Desktop, Part 2
July Roundup
Giving Back to the Community
From the Editors: Open Source in Government
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coming Events
Aug. 8: 3rd Annual WPLUG Open Source Picnic. 1pm to 6pm, Snyder Park,
Whitehall
Aug. 14: General User Meeting, Topic: File Sharing with Samba. 10am to
2pm, 1507 Newell-Simon Hall, CMU
Sep. 18: Installfest. 10am to 5pm, 1507 Newell-Simon Hall, CMU
Sep. 25: General User Meeting, Topic: Using Open Source to Solve E-Mail
Problems. 10am to 2pm, 1507 Newell-Simon Hall, CMU
Oct. 2: Ohio LinuxFest. 10am to 6pm, Columbus, Ohio: see
<http://www.ohiolinux.org/>
Oct. 9: General User Meeting. 10am to 2pm, 1507 Newell-Simon Hall, CMU
The public is welcome at all events
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Switching to Open Source on the Desktop, Part 2
by Carl Benedict
Last month, we looked at some commonly-used applications. Now we'll
finish
by covering other items you will need to consider when switching over to
an
open-source desktop.
Compatibility Concerns
Connecting to Windows-based systems is generally not a problem. There are
many software packages devoted to bridging this gap. Worthy of special
note is Samba, which allows you to connect to Windows network drives and
printers. For managing or remotely logging in to Windows-based systems,
Rdesktop is an Open Source program that connects to Windows terminal
servers. There is also an ICA Client available from Citrix for their
MetaFrame terminal servers.
Another hurdle is compatibility of file formats. Make sure you do your
homework on each application that you intend to use for day-to-day
operation. Don't assume that programs that complete similar tasks will
read and write the same files. Businesses need to be especially conscious
of file formats since they often have to exchange files with clients,
vendors, and others using Windows. If you really need to have Word and
Excel, check out Crossover Office, Wine, VMware, or Win4Lin.
If you already have a lot of files that you wish to bring into the Linux
world, you will want to look at your options in regards to reading these
files. It may be desirable to convert these files to a new format,
especially if the source format is a proprietary one. This will increase
the portability of your files. Of course, using caution when doing this
so you don't lose important data. Make sure you have a backup before you
begin.
What about Support?
So you've gotten stuck. The first obvious place to look is the software's
documentation. The man command is often helpful, and many programs put
additional help documents under /usr/share/doc. If you can't find an
answer there, most software has online support forums where users can ask
questions about the product. Take a look at their website or try Google.
You might also want to look at Usenet newsgroups under comp.os.linux for
related articles. Your local Linux users group (LUG) mailing list is
another great resource. You are very likely to get some type of
assistance
using these methods.
If you still are unable to find an answer, it may be desirable to hire a
professional to assist you. For some, this can be a confusing point.
After all, isn't it supposed to be free? As it says in the preamble of
the
GNU General Public License, "When we speak of free software, we are
referring to freedom, not price."
In The End
From choosing a Linux distribution to setting aside your Windows
software,
taking the open source path isn't always easy. However, it can be done
through patience, research, a willingness to learn, and a desire for
something better. As more migrate to open source each day, the process
gets easier for everyone. In the end, we each have to make the choice for
ourselves. I, for one, will never look back.
Carl Benedict is the owner/operator of Pittsburgh Techs in Cranberry
Township <http://www.pittsburghtechs.com/>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
July Roundup
Jul. 17 General User Meeting: Mark Dalrymple of Borkware presented his
method of using the rsync utility to perform backups. He covered backing
up static files and the trickier cases of PostgreSQL databases and qmail
files. A PDF version of Mark's slides and a detailed article are
available. <http://www.wplug.org/meetings/one-meeting?wp_meeting_id=3008>
Slides - <http://www.wplug.org/files/rsync-slides.pdf>
Web Article - <http://borkware.com/rants/rsync-backups/>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Giving Back to the Community
Jeremey Wise posted a message to the WPLUG mailing list describing his
experience with Northside Common Ministries, a Pittsburgh homeless shelter
and food bank. He came in from Cleveland to do normal volunteer
activities
but was quickly conscripted to help straighten out their computer systems,
which were rife with viruses and adware.
As in many nonprofit groups, the hardware is aging and nobody performs
support on a consistent basis. Jeremey asked if anyone could volunteer
their time to perform a more thorough review and clean-up of their
systems,
and several WPLUGers stepped forward.
Dirk Kalp, Aaron Riley, and Brian Sammon have visited on-site and done
some
initial assessment. In addition to the problems noted above, there is no
central file storage and an Access database used for important data has
serious stability problems. Also needed is a firewall to cut down on the
viruses and other problems coming in from the Internet.
Preliminary plans are to set up a file server and MySQL or PostgreSQL to
take over the back-end database functions. The possibility of adding some
Linux desktops is being investigated, perhaps in a thin-client
configuration.
What You Can Do
While a pool of volunteer labor has been assembled, there is still a need
for hardware. In particular, the following items would be helpful:
* RAM (16 MB and larger SIMMs or 32 MB and larger DIMMs)
* Hard Drives (IDE, 4GB and larger)
* PCMCIA (not CardBus) Ethernet adapters
If you have any of these lying around, you can donate them by either
posting to the general WPLUG mailing list or to a project-specific list
which has been established (see URL at the bottom of this article).
<http://mail.brians.pghfreenet.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-volunteers_brians.pghfreenet.org>
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the Editors: Open Source in Government
As more Linux adoption happens in offices everywhere, one important
category to watch is government users. A crucial aspect of government
purchases is that, at least in theory, they are free of any prejudice or
bias. The requirement should be clearly defined, and a purchase made
based
on which offer provides the best value.
Of course, in practice no process is free of bias. But the hope is that
government purchases don't resemble a Dilbert cartoon quite as much as
private-sector purchases. This gives Open Source a chance to compete
fairly against proprietary alternatives.
Not that it isn't used already. In late 2002, the MITRE Corporation
released a study written for the Defense Information Systems Agency
identifying over a hundred Free and Open Source software applications used
within the U.S. Department of Defense. Some have gone even further. The
city of Largo, Florida, uses thin clients for most of its desktops. They
connect to Linux servers which are centrally managed, eliminating the
hassles of dealing with hundreds of PCs scattered throughout various
departments. Even the police cars are equipped with thin-client tablets.
As we are acutely aware in this region, government entities are strapped
for cash and cannot afford to spend a lot on expensive proprietary
licenses. Largo officials reckon that information technology costs them
half as much as most cities of the same size. Also, governments often
have
customized software, which can be more easily tweaked with knowledge of
the
underlying operating system code (and bugs in the OS itself found and
fixed). Finally, a basic principle of our system of government is open
public access to records and decision-making processes. Doesn't it make
sense that the software which powers these processes would be open as
well?
Recent news of note includes guidance issued by the Department of Defense
and the White House's Office of Management and Budget on acquiring Open
Source software. Massachusetts has put out a statewide policy requiring
software purchases to comply with open standards. And the federal court
system is in the midst of a large-scale server migration to Linux.
It has not all been smooth sailing, however. Activists Tom Adelstein in
Texas and Ken Barber in Oregon tried to get their respective state
legislatures to ensure that Open Source solutions were given equal
consideration in acquisitions. Both ran head-on into fierce lobbying by
proprietary software interests.
But they have not given up, and resources like eGovOS and Government Forge
have sprung up to support government users of Open Source. In the end,
it's all about providing the greatest value for the taxpayer's dollar.
May
the best software win.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sound Off!
Have something to say? The Open Pitt needs contributors to write on how
Linux and Open Source are used locally.
Just send e-mail to the editors at <top at wplug.org> and we'll work out the
details. Who knows, this could be your ticket to fame and fortune!
===========================================================================
The Open Pitt is published by the Western Pennsylvania Linux Users Group
<http://www.wplug.org/top/>
Editors: Elwin Green, Vance Kochenderfer
Copyright 2004 Western Pennsylvania Linux Users Group. Any article in
this newsletter may be reprinted elsewhere in any medium, provided it is
not changed and attribution is given to the author and WPLUG.
More information about the wplug-announce
mailing list