AmpersUK
January 31st, 2010, 01:44 PM
Greetings from Finchley,
I am a retired Journalist who has been using Ubuntu since 7.10 and would like to do more for the community. However I am not that technically minded and my only programming experience was when in 1979, I wrote an invoicing program in B.A.S.I.C. :-)
In addition I am 70 so although active, a little too old to learn really involved new tricks.
So I thought I would use what skills I have to help and write an article.
This will be aimed at Windows users who are too timid to take the plunge. It will be along the lines of the 70,000 PCs of the French Gendarmerie who introduced their users to new software that was available on Windows and Linux such as Firefox, Thunderbird and Open Office. After eighteen months of their users getting used to the new software, they switched everybody to Ubuntu - no fuss!
I have been researching a list of programs that work on the Mac, Windows and Linux. I have included the Mac as this is important as well. However I am only giving Windows and Linux alternatives as I believe Mac users are probably well aware of what is available out there on Windows. How could they not be?
My list, so far, is:
Internet Explorer - Firefox
Outlook email - Thunderbird
Windows Office - Open Office
Photoshop - The Gimp
Adobe InDesign - Scribus (and mention the excellent "official" book on Amazon)
CorelDraw - Inkscape
I will also research commercial books on each program.
CAN YOU HELP?
It would be desirable to have a list of ten to fifteen programs of the more common ones required in Linux so that people can get used to them in Windows before they make the switch.
I will also add the article to the various publication websites out there such as ISSUU, Knol and Scribd - have I missed any out?
My thinking is there must be a huge number of people who have heard about Linux but who are just too timid to make the change because they think that they will not be able to do their work if they can't have their Windows programs.
Over to you...
Ampers
I am a retired Journalist who has been using Ubuntu since 7.10 and would like to do more for the community. However I am not that technically minded and my only programming experience was when in 1979, I wrote an invoicing program in B.A.S.I.C. :-)
In addition I am 70 so although active, a little too old to learn really involved new tricks.
So I thought I would use what skills I have to help and write an article.
This will be aimed at Windows users who are too timid to take the plunge. It will be along the lines of the 70,000 PCs of the French Gendarmerie who introduced their users to new software that was available on Windows and Linux such as Firefox, Thunderbird and Open Office. After eighteen months of their users getting used to the new software, they switched everybody to Ubuntu - no fuss!
I have been researching a list of programs that work on the Mac, Windows and Linux. I have included the Mac as this is important as well. However I am only giving Windows and Linux alternatives as I believe Mac users are probably well aware of what is available out there on Windows. How could they not be?
My list, so far, is:
Internet Explorer - Firefox
Outlook email - Thunderbird
Windows Office - Open Office
Photoshop - The Gimp
Adobe InDesign - Scribus (and mention the excellent "official" book on Amazon)
CorelDraw - Inkscape
I will also research commercial books on each program.
CAN YOU HELP?
It would be desirable to have a list of ten to fifteen programs of the more common ones required in Linux so that people can get used to them in Windows before they make the switch.
I will also add the article to the various publication websites out there such as ISSUU, Knol and Scribd - have I missed any out?
My thinking is there must be a huge number of people who have heard about Linux but who are just too timid to make the change because they think that they will not be able to do their work if they can't have their Windows programs.
Over to you...
Ampers