On Mon, 30 Oct 2000, Bill Thoen wrote:
> Michael Naughton wrote:
> >
> > Was wondering if anybody was using Linux in any way with MapInfo products
> > (MySql, DB2, Oracle, Java products etc....). I myself am using Linux as a
> > file server right now but I wish to increase its use and was wondering how
> > others were integrating Linux into their workplace.
Michael, et al.:
We've been running Microsoft-free for three years now. Except that I have
a copy of VMware 2.<something> that hosts a virtual-win98. The only apps on
that are the GPS mission planning/differential correction software and MI
4.5.2 (when I stopped upgrading).
I set up a samba share on the linux side (/mnt/usr2/winshare) and that's
where I transfer files between the virtual-MI and linux.
All other business/science applications are linux based; only six are
proprietary products for which I paid money: WordPerfect-8 (network edition);
BRU2000 (backup software; network edition), XessSE-4.x (spreadsheet), VMware
(for the virtual win98), ESP PrintPro (the CUPS printing system and printer
drivers to get the maximum from my HP 2500C color ink jet), and ... I
_think_ there's one other. Everything else we use is no cost, open source
and of the highest quality.
I'm on two open source project development teams (as if I had any extra
time, anyway). One is the GRASS GIS project (the windows port is almost
complete) which is a no-cost, comprehensive GIS that handles raster, vector,
remotely sensed, etc. data in probably the most complete and powerful
spatial analytic environment. I think we're up to about 400 modules now,
including 3D visualization and the integration of hydrologic/sediment
transport model (SWAT), groundwater hydrology (MODAM; in the intial stages
of integration) and 2D hydraulic/sediment dynamics (either CCHE2D or the
core of HEC-RAS). I have to test the MapInfo->GRASS converter later today;
once that's working on all my data, I'll move totally from MI to GRASS.
The other open source project is called OpenACCT. It's going to be the
most comprehensive and complete accounting package available in the
linux/UNIX world. After spending $1,000 to upgrade my single user version of
the commercial accounting package I've been using to a network version that
includes client billing, I still don't have all the capabilities I need.
OpenACCT will be no cost and will be adaptable to product oriented and
service oriented companies. It will be multi-company, multi-currency, etc.
The plan now is to quickly put out a core package. Then other modules will
be added, and end users can contract to have specific capabilities written
for them, or to have the code modified for their needs.
If you want a frame-oriented, page layout package, take a look at KWord,
the KOffice word processing package. There are two, major, competing desktop
environments in the linux world: KDE and Gnome. Both offer multiple
desktops, integrated applications and an application development
environment. I use neither, but I do use some apps from both. Heck, you can
have both installed on your machine and switch between them. Or, use others
(such as the Xfce I run).
Users have a plethora of choices in linux. I run pine as my mail reader;
my wife (the company's administrator) uses Netscape Communicator. There are
at least a dozen more from which to choose, and every individual can use
his/her preference transparently.
Build yourself a floppyfw firewall. Take an old, 386 or 486 with 16M RAM,
two NICs, a floppy drive, and a cheap video card. floppyfw is a micro linux
kernel and IP masquerading/forwarding/filtering system that takes about 600K
on a floppy disk. Other than having a motherboard fail after 7 months of
use, our firewall has been sitting under my desk, at the back, running
continuously since July 1999. Never crashed once. No monitor, no keyboard,
and the DSL switch ("modem") sits on top and runs away. Now and then I crawl
under there and blow out the dog fir and dust.
We're running two linux workstations, the firewall and two portables. No
machine has crashed on us. My wife has had Netscape lock up on her, but
that's because she was running 8 or 10 copies simultaneously (forgetting
on which desktop she was working, and on which ones Communicator was already
running). Even with the dialup modem we could both be downloading web pages,
ftp'ing files and having fetchmail collecting mail every two minutes. Now,
with the DSL connection, I regularly have 6 or 7 Netscape Navigator
downloads running simultaneously, be fully functional on other processes
(e.g., MapInfo plodding away in its virtual machine), working on a word
processing task, or entering accounting data. I regularly use all 8 virtual
desktops, with at least one application open in each; my wife makes good use
of 6 desktops. And, she can be logged in remotely (via telnet) on my
workstation to run applications installed there. Invisible multi-tasking
with no visible speed degradation no matter what we run.
Take my word as you will, but I've been running and growing my business
using almost nothing but linux-based software, and I'll not go back to
anything else. Linux is ready for prime-time. Not every business or end user
is.
Rich
Dr. Richard B. Shepard, President
Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. (TM)
Making environmentally-responsible mining happen. (SM)
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