It’s time to try moving to a Linux desktop.
I have a spare x86 desktop, and I have a couple of reasons to want a Linux setup at home (a decent toolchain for the NSLU2, a build and debug system for mt-daapd, and the ability to script and automate the applications I run regularly). I don’t do much on the windows system, but what I do, I need to have working efficiently. Here are the activities I think I care about, (with the incumbent helper apps):
- Web browsing
- Occasional spreadsheets and documents (MS Excel and MS Word)
- Photo management
- Upload via USB
- Management and editing (Picasa)
- Publishing to www.abercrombie-family.org (Frontpage)
- Layout and printing (PowerPoint)
- Rotating AVI movies through 90 degrees (Virtual Dub)
- Audio tools
- download from the BBC (HiDownload, RealPlayer)
- upload to iPod (iTunes)
- rip from CD (iTunes)
- manage music, generate playlists compatible with mt-daapd (iTunes)
- record from tape (Audacity) and cut up into tracks (CD Wave)
- Share and Backup to/from NSLU2
Idris’s games can stay on the old windows system. Need to keep the old thing up for (at least) turbotax, google earth, printing key ring inserts, updating iPod firmware, making floppies for bios flashes.
I’ll be trying Ubuntu 6.06; I’ve had good experiences with Debian before (better than with RedHat), and I’ve read one or two favourable things recently about switching from OS X to Ubuntu (http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/07/03/1934251)
Let’s see how this goes