[Elecraft] Elecraft's linux utilities - somewhat OT, or maybe not

[Thomas Taylor]

On Tue, 27 May 2014 22:14:23 -0400
Don Wilhelm <w3fpr at embarqmail.com> wrote:

> Steve,
> 
> If you use that laptop 'standalone', and do not have to share files with 
> other computers on a network, the Ubuntu or Linux Mint distros are quite 
> usable.  Firefox is an excellent web browser, and Thunderbird is a fine 
> email application, add a calendering function with the Lightning plugin, 
> and for work on documents, Open Office or Libra Office will give you all 
> the capability that MS Office offers - BTW, those applications work 
> quite well in Windows too for those who do not want to spend money to 
> purchase MS Office - the GUI interface is almost the same, so any MS 
> Office user will feel comfortable with the Open Office interface.  All 
> free of cost and Open Source applications.  I recommend that for any 
> computer that is currently running WinXP.  The problems come in if the 
> computer is part of a home network that must share files between the 
> various computers on the network.
> 
> The "rub" comes in when one wants to network computers, printers, and 
> all other network things.  Getting the Samba config file to have the 
> necessary settings to talk with other Windows based computers and file 
> servers is what has caused me difficulty in the past.  I finally managed 
> to create a Samba.config file that would allow me to view my Windows 
> network, but the permission settings of all my files would have to be 
> changed (they are shared to the entire Windows network) to allow 
> read/write access from the Linux computer(s).  In my Windows network, 
> the files can be accessed and changed based on the Windows logon, but 
> special steps are needed to allow the same functionality for access 
> using Linux (i.e. I would have to change the file permissions for each 
> and every file).  This is not a good thing when my home network is an 
> isolated unit where all files can be accessed by any computer on the 
> network.  With Linux, I have to set the file permissions to grant access 
> on each and every file - it may be a security 'thing', but in my case it 
> is a PITA.
> 


It's a PITA because you don't know how to do it properly.  I can easily change
the ownership/permissions of entire folders (including sub-folders) with only
one command.  (chmod -R a+rw /folder-name changes full read/write to ALL files
in that folder).


> So, to keep it more "On Topic", those running WinXP on the hamshack 
> computers might want to load Linux Ubuntu or Linux Mint and use the 
> Linux Utility programs.  There are many Amateur Radio applications that 
> can be used as well, certainly N1MM and such programs are only Windows 
> based, but similar functionality can be found in Linux based 
> applications.  WinXP poses a security hazard if connected to the 
> internet, so its continued use should be discouraged for computer 
> security considerations.  Moving to a currently supported OS is the only 
> reasonable answer.


agree


> 
> Bottom line, if you want to keep your current Windows applications, 
> upgrade to Windows 7 or Windows 8.1, but if you are willing to accept 
> alternatives to the applications you are currently using under Windows, 
> you may find alternatives running under Linux - it is a good OS, but has 
> a learning curve if you want to do things 'out of the ordinary'.
> 


That learning curve is partially dependent upon the version of Linux.  I use
mostly openSUSE which I have modified (easily done) to work more like windows
in most respects.


> 73,
> Don W3FPR
> 

<<<<< snip >>>>>

I have been using/programming computers starting with a single board 8008 cpu
with BASIC, assembler, C, COBOL, RPG, FORTRAN, along with machine code and have
built over 40 systems from scratch.  

One reason that Linux is superior is that configuration files are kept as
individual files in a central location, unlike the windows "registry".
Therefore, if one device config gets corrupted it doesn't screw up other device
configs.  

73 & thanks, Tom  KG7CFC

-- 
Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years.  People grow old only by
deserting their ideals. - Douglas MacArthur

^^  --...  ...--  / -.-  --.  --...  -.-.  ..-.  -.-.

^^^^
Tom Taylor  KG7CFC
openSUSE 13.1 (64-bit), Kernel 3.11.6-4-default,
KDE 4.11.2, AMD Phenom X4 955, GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Nvidia 325.15)
16GB RAM -- 3x1.5TB sata2 -- 128GB-SSD
FF 27.0, claws-mail 3.9.2
registered linux user 263467