Linux Progress

Edited: I've found a way to sync my Palm TX using a DOS-looking program called pilot-xfer! I have to type in a CI (command line interface) but I think I understand just enough to be able to copy or even copy/paste to install what I need.

I'm still working on the text editing end-of-line replace, but I'm certain that it can be done and it's just a matter of time until I learn how to do it. Thanks to Jon's comments, I'm coming closer to understanding. I need to unravel something called "regular expressions," and I've found that box in KWord.

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I said a few weeks ago that my New Year's resolution was to take the year learning enough about Linux to replace Windows, with a tentative goal of installing by spring.

I ended up installing Ubuntu 7.10 a few days ago and it's so much like Windows that it's not going to take a year to learn it. I'm already editing html pages and uploading them (I installed gFTP), listening to my favorite radio station (it actually seems to work better with less cutting out on Linux!), and doing just about everything I was doing before. I was already familiar with the browser (Firefox), word processor (OpenOffice) and photo editor (Gimp).

Just a couple of glitches - I'm having trouble getting new files, documents and programs loaded onto my Palm TX PDA, and I have yet to find a text editor or word processor that removes line breaks (although I found an online program that does that!) While testing different editors, I found a replacement for Notepad, which is what I mostly used in Windows. It's called Leafpad, it's super simple, no bells or whistles, and opens and works pretty fast. I still plan to find something like Total Recorder, and I haven't yet tried burning a CD, although the system should be ready to do that. I just haven't done it yet.

Installation was easier than Windows - you install one CD (and even that's a free download) and everything is right on the screen - you click for your language preference, time, and keyboard layout preference. And after the single CD is installed, you don't have to install a bunch of programs because it comes with OpenOffice, Gimp, media players, Firefox, almost everything, already installed as part of the system.

Did I mention that all of this is free? The only thing I've spent is what I used to buy a couple of Ubuntu for Dummies types of books, but, really, with the forums (I've seen three) and Wiki's and how-to pages, the books weren't necessary. They just helped to lay out the information in sequence.