Thank you to Thetargos

[LesNagy]

I wanted to thank you for your help so far in the original thread :http://forum.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=169551

but I wasn't given the choice. I thought we were getting somewhere and you were helping me despite the other noise in the thread.

[JN4OldSchool]

Les, I hate thread closing more than anyone here and I followed your link hoping to get good and pissed that you were shut down for no reason. But I see why it was closed and I fully agree with that decision. It was not a reflection on you, rather on some other idiots this forum has that cant just drop something. As was noted, your mistake was referencing Windows at all. Most of us couldnt care less what you use, if you need help with Fedora we are glad to help.

Thet has you pretty well covered. There are great apps for points one, two and three but they will require that you learn how to use them. I seriously doubt you have any task that is so specialized that it cant be done in Gimp, Cinellera or Rosegarden. There are also numerous apps that supplement these apps. You might have to do one task in say Gimp then export to Scribus to lay the page out. But it can all be done in Linux.

Gameing? Well...The truth of the matter is there are some great games that are ported just for Windows and Wine and Cedega do suck. What do I do? I just forget those games. There are many great games that CAN be played in Linux. Maybe I am just an old man, but to me a FPS is a FPS.

You were right that these four topics are much discussed, especially the graphics apps. I think it would cut down on all the noise and flaming and idiot responses to your obviously sincere post if you did create a thread dealing with a specific topic...and dont mention that "other" OS :)

Just my 2¢ anyway, hope you stick around but you are facing a serious learning curve if you do.

[sailor]

Yup I agree with JN4 on this one. I followed your link too...it was posted in "Linux Chat" which is not the best place to get answers... it is a "chat" section and as such it is more likely to go off topic, then if you asked specific questions in the proper section(s).

As a side note, all of the applications you listed are top of the line Windows apps...If you use them for your income/job then sure, stick to the applications and OS that works for you. If you don't , then your pretty much like I was at one time. I "collected" lots of software without really needing it, I was bent on having the best of everything and having it work.
Did I need it, nope. I have windows available to me if I need it, but these days I don't.

I only have tried one linux video editing app...mainactor...but it is not something I know much about.
I am very comfortable with GIMP, it does all I need...BTW you need to setup your printer within GIMP for it to print correctly. It is no CS2.

Audio once again is not something I do much with, I know CakeWalk and have tried Cubase but these days I have little need for them.

Once software companies make software for linux users most of these issues will be moot. It is too easy to complain that linux apps don't stack up, because they don't. Linux developers have neither the money nor the backing of a major software company.

Stability and security are linux's strong points...all the other issues you mentioned are really in the software makers hands unfortunately...:(

[Cue]

LesNagy, if the graphical and video work you do is your profession as sailor said, I think you're asking a bit much out of open source apps if you expect them to suit your needs 100%. It could be possible, but not a guarantee.

These applications require you to be a bit more flexible and in some cases you will have to adjust your habits to them as opposed to flipping through a library of apps and buying (or "buying") the ones according to your habits. For example, midi sequencing I used to do a lot, had a music keyboard and everything. This was in windows and I tried a ton of midi programs and finally settled on just cakewalk. When I moved to linux, the only real choice was rosegarden, and I had to use it because it was there, not because I initially liked how it worked. I thought the gui system and keyboard shortcuts were plain silly, but they're not illogical.

And X server, it has some significant limits when working with graphics and video. That's not going to change at this moment. But a lot of things do work excellently.

[bob]

If I were in your situation, I'd certainly continue to use Windows when it suits your needs the best, but I'd dual-boot and set aside some time to ask questions and really test the open source alternatives to those programs. We have over 100,000 members and someone may give you hints that make them easier to use. Of course, there's also the communities that are attached to the software and other user groups to chat with. Personally, I've never found anything in Windows that I can't do equally well in linux, but my needs are not yours.

[Thetargos]

I wanted to thank you for your help so far in the original thread :http://forum.fedoraforum.org/showthread.php?t=169551

but I wasn't given the choice. I thought we were getting somewhere and you were helping me despite the other noise in the thread.
I'm flattered, no problem. I like to help whenever I can and know how...

I won't get much into what went wrong in the other thread, however I can safely say that no matter how many times you see a given issue posted, you can always phrase a new thread post in such a way that really reflects what you really mean, you'll see more often than not that many threads which deal with pretty much any topic have some sort of confusion in the redaction of the posts, and questions... It is actually quite tough to ask questions clearly enough that they couldn't be confused for something else (just look around these boards and the LinuxQuestions forums or Ubuntu forums).

I hope some of the tips I described in the other thread will help you...


And just for the record, I don't see the harm on posting that particular thread in the Linux Chat forum as even though the post was a bit ambiguous, it did mention other Linux distributions and not only Fedora, in my book that warrants for LinuxChat, as might stray away from Fedora and most likely if it had taken that route it would have ended up there anyway.

I don't mean to be harsh to anyone, not in the project proper, neither in the forums, but if something I've learned from the Fedora community is one thing: It is a tough community, from project management, to contribution, down to the forums and mailing lists... Not that it is bad as such, but might be discouraging for some or frightening. It has its reasons to be that way too (searching for its own identity independently of Red Hat [voiding its own name in the process], getting compared to Ubuntu at pretty much every turn... Yeah, it is tough)

[JN4OldSchool]

It is a community made up of ordinary, average people from all walks of life and from all around the world. It isnt any different than any other segment of internet society, if anything I would say this forum is a very clean, moderate, well run environment. But arguments will always break out and people will always disagree. Thats OK though. I think most times it is more beneficial to just let the discussion run it's course and let the world see where people stand. Yeah, you got trolls and flamers, but most are just trying to assert their point of view and there is no harm in that. If you have thin skin then the internet is probably not the place for you anyway, this isnt Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. Rules are rules and I have been impressed over the years how this forum allows just enough politics and religion to keep things interesting and to give people their say but will draw the line when it gets antagonistic. I see this changing and I hope the situation reverses soon or we will end up like many of the other forums on the web and we will probably lose some good people in the process. In trying to solve a non-existent problem we will end up creating one. We need to keep in mind that this is a community made up of people and not just a bunch of rules and regulations. Yes, it is a private web site created by a man passionate about Linux and it has become, probably, the best Linux forum on the www. Rules are in place and do not need to be flaunted or disregarded. But I am reminded of an Andy Griffith episode where Andy tries to teach a gung-ho Barny that enforcing the law is not just about writing tickets, locking people up and enforcing the rules with an iron fist. It is about compromise, respect for the people you are working to protect, flexibility in handling situations and allowing a certain amount of expression. It is also about humility and the ability to accept criticism without flying off the handle.

By the same right, us regular members also need to allow for the human element. The folks who run this board are good, dedicated people who do their best to try to be fair and keep problems in check. Many times I see things that make me mad, but so what? This is my problem! I am not forced to participate here. You suck it up, drop it and move on. It wont matter tomorrow anyhow and while I respect a great many people here I am not out to win friends or be anyone's buddy. I just like to drop by and BS a while and maybe help someone along if I can. Sometimes I am right, sometimes I am wrong and I am not any better or any worse than anyone else.

Anyway, I hijacked a dead thread but I wont apologize. I do not know where this rant, well...not really a rant, these observations came from but it was something I felt like saying and I did. I had a thread closed on me last night, and probably rightly so before it got ugly, but I sure would have liked to respond. And the people involved in the discussion are well known members who, while they may disagree, will still respect one another in the morning. It was a judgment call and I hold no grudges over it. But I hope what I have posted here will not be construed as criticism but rather a point of view many of us share that has been expressed to me privately by a few long standing members.