Linux Applications

Presentation for the Video Conference

2003-05-20
Structure

• Introduction

• Linux Applications for Desktops

• Linux Applications for Servers

• Some statistics
Microsoft and Linux
 Personal experience with Linux
Linux OS as a desktop application
• Connecting to the corporate application servers using Linux software.
rdesktop, vnc, samba, etc.
• Accessing email using Netscape Messenger
• Browsing the web using Galeon
• Chatting using Yahoo Messenger
• Handling digital photographs using GPhoto
• Connecting to Family Area Network (FAN) using SAMBA to exchange
files between computers
• Trying out other Linux applications to understand it better
 Personal experience with Linux
Linux OS as a Server
. Mail server using sendmail
. DNS Server using bind
. Firewall using iptables
. Proxy server using squid
. Webcast server using real networks on linux
…
Linux Applications for Desktops
Linux Applications for Desktops - Summary
Most common applications and their working
examples:
• Word processing – OO Writer, Kwriter, AbiWord,
etc.
• Spreadsheet – OO Calc, Kspread, Gnumeric, etc.
• Email access – Evolution, Kmail, Netscape
Messenger, etc.
• Web Browsing – Galeon, Netscape Navigator,
Opera, Mozilla, etc.
Very easy to use
Variety of applications for Linux available
Resources?
Linux Applications for Servers
Linux Applications for Servers - Summary

• All common Internet services available – Mail, Web, DNS,

etc.

• Easy administration using web based interface

• Very low resource utilization. A 486 66MHz can be your

firewall

• No cost to setup a server. As easy as download a CD and

install.

• Lower maintenance. Keeps running for years.

Why did we choose Linux for Internet Africa?
• Was available with all necessary Internet software 6 years
back when Microsoft Windows was not ready for Internet.

• Low cost compared to any other alternative. Sun Solaris,

Novell, MS Windows, etc.

• Extremely reliable. Have achieved no reboots in 450+

days.

• Easy to setup. Takes 4 easy steps to setup a mail server.

Download a CD, Burn it, Boot from it and the server is
ready for adding users and setting passwords.

• Lower hardware requirements. Pentium computer can act

as a fast mail server for 30 users.
Further Reference

www.linux.com - News, Software,

Documentation, Tutorials, etc.
www.linuxhq.com - Another great Linux
resource site.
www.linuxjournal.com - The Monthly
Magazine for Linux Community
www.tldp.org - The Linux Documentation
Project. Excellent help for beginners.
www.userfriendly.org - Linux cartoon strips
 Statistics
Evans Data survey shows in 2004, don't be surprised when Linux
overtakes Windows to become the main focus for developers.

Linux servers made up more than 14 percent of all servers shipped in the
United States in the first quarter

Revenue from sales of Linux-based servers surged 90 percent in the

fourth quarter 2002.

Percentage growth in the number of servers number up to June 30, 2002

Linux servers = 18%
Microsoft servers = 3%
Questions???