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Hi
I installed Linux Mandrake 8.1 on a seperate drive on my PC.
I am very cheesed of at windows and I would like to migrate .
But slowly like.
My main hang up is Star Office I need it to read my Windows Office files...
Which brings me to my question
How come when I instal the rpm package downloaded from sun
version5.2..
I dont get no icons anywhere and have to launch the app from the shortcut I created on the desk top.
I would like to know the correct way to install this If I should do it under root or a user??
Next question ..
Last nite Mandrake just jammed while I was on the WWW
< under a user .. I dont go under root I noticed that its really easy to bug the whole show in just under 15 seconds LoL>
SO
I had to reset the pc and now off course Linux wont start..
I am going to reinstall .....so Any tips on doing a real clean set up
Just a graphic workstation with WWW FTP acces No Apache or other MYSQL for now ...I tend to ambel along dont I ??
which brings me to the question .
Why Mandrake ??
I allso have RED HAT 7 Kern 2.4 does this work better should I try this...
Phil www.acrea81.com
Distribution: K/Ubuntu 18.04-14.04, Scientific Linux 6.3-6.4, Android-x86, Pretty much all distros at one point...
Posts: 1,802
Rep:
I'm a Mandrake user and used 8.1 before upgrading to 8.2.
When re-installing, make sure you make your /home partition a seperate partition from the root partition.
That way you can reinstall without loosing your users' data. All you do is not reformat the /home partition, and recreate users with the same names.
Also, you may want to consider using a reiserfs partition rather than EXT2. Reiserfs takes bad shutdowns better than EXT2. If you don't want to migrate to reiserfs for some reason, use EXT3, at least it's a jounalised file system.
As for setting up StarOffice, why didn't you use the version of StarOffice that comes with the Mandrake disto??? It's also 5.2
Mandrake 8.2 also has OpenOffice.org (an open source offshoot from Star Office).
Normally, under mandrake, StarOffice is installed under the Office menu.
Also, you should post what your specific boot problem is rather than just reinstall. There may be some users who can help you if it's a Lilo problem.
Distribution: (depends on the week - usually redhat or slackware)
Posts: 35
Rep:
Quote:
Mandrake 8.2 also has OpenOffice.org (an open source offshoot from Star Office).
ta hee hee - now i could be wrong, but i believe that its the OTHER way around. Star Office is a (now proprietary) off shoot from open office, and the main differences are star office has a database and a different dictionary engine
Distribution: (depends on the week - usually redhat or slackware)
Posts: 35
Rep:
it appears we're both right and wrong:
Quote:
StarDivision, the original author of the StarOffice suite of software, was founded in Germany in the mid-1980s. It was acquired by Sun Microsystems during the summer of 1999 and StarOffice 5.2 was released in June of 2000. Future versions of StarOffice software, beginning with 6.0, will be built using the OpenOffice.org source, APIs, file formats, and reference implementation.
phil, do yourself a favour and either download OpenOffice.org 1.0 or get Star Office 6.0 because 5.2 is absolutely ancient
As for icons, well it depends on the software as to whether icons for KDE or GNOME are installed. FWIW, the OpenOffice.org installer does install menus for users in both KDE and GNOME.
Distro choice is a personal thing - I like Red Hat but found it to be a bit bare-bones even though it was pretty stable and professionally produced, so I've gone back to Debian. Mandrake take a different philosophy of throwing in a zillion brand-new RPMs and then not really testing a bulk of them properly (so things crash). Which you use depends on whether you want more choice of software or greater stability.
I found SuSE to be a happy medium between the too, but I'm a student so can't afford to buy their boxed sets.
OpenOffice.org is absolutely awesome, not perfect, just awesome -- and all I'm using is version 641D. That version did stick an entry in my KDE menu, but it was rather obtuse. I simply added another spot in my KDE menu for OpenOffice.org -- where it made more sense to me.
StarOffice 6.0 and OpenOffice.org are separate, but parallel developments. StarOffice is proprietary now (but still very good), is aimed at business users, and costs a nominal charge, unless you get it in a distro. OpenOffice.org (not Open Office, BTW!!) is open source, aimed at the home user (or anyone else for that matter), and is free for the download (but it ain't small ).
OpenOffice.org will take in a large percentage of M$Office files, and outputs all but the most complex, unless they include some proprietary M$ stuff. You just need to try version 1.0 -- YMMV.
I use evolution, [and openoffice.org] evolution is a outlook
clone for linux. look at www.ximian.com.
The redcarpet updater is cool, keeps all of your gnome desktop
uptodate.
I recommend this, I cannot say just how good it is....
I use Balsa, and it kicks some butt,
I hope there's never an outlook for Outlook.
and yeah, OpenOffice.org rocks. You guys know that MSoffice runs at 600+ bucks?, damn Bill psycho!
"I installed Linux Mandrake 8.1 on a seperate drive on my PC..." - One brave soul, phil you know that.
"I would like to know the correct way to install this If I should do it under root or a user??" - Normally, you install software under root unless the proggy will be used exclusively by the user. The proper icon will show up in KDE menu under Office or Apps. Not sure about gnome.
"Last nite Mandrake just jammed while I was on the WWW" - That's why Linux is multi-user. In the event like this, hold CTRL, ALT and F1-10. F7 is your current user. Log in as root in text mode. Type
ps -A
Find the freezing app from the bottom of list, I assume it's konqueror or mozilla. Type
kill -KILL [number]
Log out and return to your console CTRL ALT F7.
"Why Mandrake ??" - It's a question I'd like to ask you myself. Mandy is known for rushing things out the door. Bugs are a part of things. Personally, I find ASP-Linux to be the best for my taste. Basically it's the same as RedHat.
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