Rid of those Windows Desktops!

[doug at polands.org]

On Thu, Oct 21, 2004 at 02:07:29PM +0100, Brian  wrote:
> 
> Can people recommend some nice window managers, email clients etc ?
> 
I support end-users running both KDE and GNOME.  I personally use either 
WindowMaker or XFCE, depending on my mood :).   Here's my observations:

KDE and GNOME:  

Pro: 
		Both would be best for someone coming directly from MS Windows.

		Both have high sex-appeal for the great un-washed masses.  I
		know it sounds superfluous, but people's impressions are their
		realities.  If someone coming off Windows thinks they're getting
		a plain-vanilla, featureless environemtn, they won't be as
		satisfied.  If it's "cool" and has lots of bells and whistles,
		they *might* have a more favorable impression.

		Both have so many included programs, you may not have to install
		separate applications.

Con:
		Both are a bear to support AND upgrade.  They are huge compiles
		from ports and prone to tricky upgrade/compile problems.  

		Both have way too many included programs.  Most is not used but
		yet you must compile and support them anyway.

If you're going to implement either of these two, I suggest one of the
following methods for builds/updates.

	Builds:  dedicate a machine that you can use to for
	building/rebuilding troubleshooting the desktop environment.  When
	you've got it working, build packages and install them on the
	workstations.

	XDM:  Even better than having these huge desktop environments
	running on many boxes, configure a beefy server to be an X client
	and have users run off the the server.  It will simplify many
	aspects of user management and you'll only have to deploy once!

Alternative.  I've found a happy medium between the austerity of
WindowMaker and the kitchen-sink effect of KDE/GNOME.  That is, XFCE
with ROX-FILER.  It's light and fast like WM but featureful and
good-looking.  It doesn't bundle in tons of apps that you'll never use.
In fact, if you use Mozilla (Firefox/Thunderbird) for browser/email, 
OpenOffice.org for productivity apps, you've got the majority of the
apps "general" workers will need.

Final caveat... I support people mostly browsing, emailing, writing
documents, making HTML docs, editing graphics, occassionally
ripping/burning CDs.  Not power users by any stretch.  If your users are
developers or power users, many of the experiences I've tried to convey
many not be applicable.

-- 
Regards,
Doug






> Or point to some documentation on building a secure stable desktop
> enviroment.
>