Subject: Is YDL/KDE ready for prime time?
From: Bob Beaton (bobb@vt.edu)
Date: Mon Jan 21 2002 - 12:16:50 MST
Hi, folks.
I'm trying to decide if the latest YDL/KDE is ready for production-mode
office work. Basically, I'm a heavy Mac user who has relied on the MS-Office
suite (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Entourage) for the vast majority of his
office work. Since building about two dozen Mac-based Linux systems recently
for server applications, I'm beginning to explore using YDL/KDE for my daily
office work. So far, my experience has been less than trilling (although I
absolutely love YDL for my nubus and pci server machines!).
I'd appreciate hearing some comments on the following issues. Please
understand I'm using YDL 2.1 (latest KDE) on a G4/500-upgraded G3 B&W, 1 GB
RAM (no virtual), and 36 Mb (1 GB swap) disk, with a full T1 connection.
(1) Word Processing -- KWord application seem slow and limited compared to
the latest MS-Word for normal document layouts. Does not convert large Word
files as well as hoped. Is there a better alternative?
(2) Spreadsheet -- KSpread is very, very slow and does not read (import)
most of my MS-Excel spreadsheets. The Gnome spreadsheet seems much better at
importing and much faster at sorting large (500 row, 30 col) simple
spreadsheet pages. I have not explored the macro capabilities yet. Should I
expect any disappointments?
(3) Presentations -- KPresenter just doesn't cut it! It can't import any of
my MS-Powerpoint files, which contain simple text and pictures (no fancy
transition effects). Is there an alternative?
(4) EMail -- KMail seems okay, just slower and more limited than
MS-Entourage. I like its features for multiple email accounts on different
servers, but the filter setup is cumbersome. Is there a better email app?
In short, YDL/KDE seems like it could be ready for production-mode office
work, but it has a way to go to be equivalent to a standard Mac (errr...
classic Mac) setup. Moreover, and very important, I've noticed that KDE is
unstable. At times after closing an application, it just sits there with the
console KB locked up (although the clock still runs). I don't know the
equivalent CTL-ALT-ESC emergency kill command, so I usually just net login
from my Powerbook and reboot the YDL box. This is not a user-freindly
characteristic; although I suspect someone has got a far better solution to
the lock-ups.
I'd appreciate any comments.
Thanks,
Bob
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