Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1999 17:31:32 +0100 From: Dominic Mitchell <Dom.Mitchell@palmerharvey.co.uk> To: Wim Livens <livensw@rc.bel.alcatel.be> Cc: freebsd-chat@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Wordprocessor/OS recommendation ? Message-ID: <19990730173131.A93553@voodoo.pandhm.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <19990730180512.J20292@rc.bel.alcatel.be>; from Wim Livens on Fri, Jul 30, 1999 at 06:05:12PM %2B0200 References: <19990730180512.J20292@rc.bel.alcatel.be>
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On Fri, Jul 30, 1999 at 06:05:12PM +0200, Wim Livens wrote: > I looking for some recommendations here. > > A friend of mine just got a new PC and is sick and tired of Windows. > He never heard of unix before, but I got him very enthousiatic. He > doesn't like fancy stuff, just somthing that *works*. He doesn't > know anything about computers but just want to run a word processor, > spreadsheet and some database application. > > Now, I don't know what I should recommend to someone like him. First > choice is the OS: FreeBSD or Linux ? As a FreeBSD administrator, > programmer, enthousiast I like him to use that so I can help with > installation, etc. But since his primary use is desktop applications > maybe he's better of with linux instead of running a lot of stuff > (like wordperfect etc.) under emulation. > > Next, what's the easiest wordprocessor ? LyX ? WP ? StarOffice ? (I > don't think I can get him as far as learning LaTeX...) > > So, is anyone using FreeBSD a lot for wordprocessing and such that is > NOT a programmer / computer-addict / unix-guru ? Well, I'd personally reccomend LyX. It's really easy to use for simple documents (all I've ever needed), and because it's LaTeX as the backend, you get very nice output. You may need to spend a bit of time with him to do the initial setup (depending on his needs; the defaults are quite good), but after that, it'll be plain sailing. I don't think abiword is ready for prime time yet. http://www.abisource.com I've never used StarOffice or Applix. He may also like to try WordPerfect (it installs pretty easily from the port, but it's a big download. One of these days I might even get around to writing to that front-end to troff that I've always wanted... :-) -- Dom Mitchell -- Palmer & Harvey McLane -- Unix Systems Administrator In Mountain View did Larry Wall Sedately launch a quiet plea: That DOS, the ancient system, shall On boxes pleasureless to all Run Perl though lack they C. -- ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the system manager. This footnote also confirms that this email message has been swept by MIMEsweeper for the presence of computer viruses. ********************************************************************** To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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