[NBLUG/talk] Linux for refurbished computers (was: Re: Distributing OpenOffice...)

E Frank Ball frankb at efball.com
Mon Aug 11 22:26:01 PDT 2003


On Mon, Aug 11, 2003 at 09:23:53PM -0700, Lincoln Peters wrote:
} >
} >Also note that for older computers, alternatives to heavy applications
} >like OpenOffice.org and Mozilla should be considered.
} >
} >AbiWord is popular for word processing.  Gnumeric for spreadsheets.
} >Konqueror or Mozilla-variants (like Galeon) for web browsing.

Gnumeric is fast.  It can also save excel files to very *readable* html
code.  I haven't tried Abiword since it was beta code, but it's probably
worth another look.  I haven't seen any fast alternative for powerpoint
files.


} I use Konqueror regularly, and it does seem more responsive than Mozilla.  
} The only feature I miss from Mozilla is "Block images from this server" 
} (blocking ad banners makes the web pages load faster).  It also handles FTP 
} better than any other web browser I've ever used.
} 
} Galeon also looks like a capable web browser.  I remember that the last 
} time I used it, it suffered from seemingly-random crashes, but that must 
} have been several versions ago.  Any Galeon users want to comment?

Galeon rules.  Try it again.  It deals with tabs far better than
mozilla.  I have to use mozilla at work (I'm running HP-UX), but I'm
using Galeon at home.

Last time I tried Konqueror it was pathetic, it seemed to be missing
capability necessary for displaying many web pages.


} >Oh, and also consider lighter window managers, like IceWM or Fluxbox, 
} >rather
} >than KDE or Gnome...
} 
} Well, I think that the last thing anyone wants is for a third-grader's 
} first experience with Linux to be looking at the screen and saying "Huh?" 
} (as I did when I saw the default setup for fvwm in RedHat 7.1).  Do you, or 
} another, know how to configure one of those "lighter" window managers with 
} a look and feel that would be familiar to a Windows veteran?

fvwm does have a windows clone theme:
http://fvwm-themes.sourceforge.net/screenshots/full/redmond98.png
This is probably much more advanced than the fvwm95 configuration that
was floating around years ago.

fvwm takes a couple hundred kB, compared to 10s of MB for gnome.  For
old hardware it's the way to go.  You can also check out xfce.org

For really old slow hardware there is a browser called dillo.  200kB.
Damned fast, but no frames, it doesn't do centering right, captions for
tables are always below the table, etc.  It's beta code, but if you want
a graphical browser on a 100Mhz box with not much RAM it's the way to go.
I saw it running on a PDA at the Linux Expo.

-- 

   E Frank Ball                frankb at efball.com



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