Subject: Re: RH7 & libpng 1.0.8-1
cjm2@lewiston.com
Date: Sun Dec 10 2000 - 11:09:50 CST
steve davis wrote:
> Thanks guys for your suggestions.
> Being a newcomer to all things Linux (about 2 weeks) I need to take the
> simplist approach to any problem.
>
> So I started with Diego's suggestion and downloaded the Mandrake
> abisuite rpm. The rpm complained with a message about "libstdc++-libc
> 6.1-2.so.3". I ignored this, but AbiWord did not run, so I unistalled.
>
> Next I took Colin's advise & tried to download the static tar, but the
> link on the abisource site does not appear to work. However I will try
> this again later.
Frustrating, isn't it? Try
this...ftp://ftp.abisource.com/releases/0.7.11/AbiWord/linux/i386
The one you want is 3rd from the top of the directory.
>
>
> Finally I took Mike's advice and downloaded the Helix rpm for RH7. When
> run, this asked for "libgnomeprint6" which I duely downloaded. But when
> I run this rpm I get a conflict between "libgnomeprint.so.6.3.1" and
> "gnome-print-0.20-8". With my lack of experience I'm reluctant to delete
> a file/package without a better understanding of what's going on.
>
> Any further suggestions would be gratefully received. My wife suggests I
> up-grade this old pc so I can get StarOffice running at a reasonable
> speed and forget about AbiWord! (..beginning to sound like a good idea).
>
I think you will be disappointed :-) Seriously, if your PC is already
able
to run Mandrake, then it is already
fairly powerful. I have found Star Office quite useful when installed
on
an application server to permit
multiple users to run it simultaneously from Xterminals. However, the
first user to open Star Office still has to wait a long while for the
application to load from the disk. Subsequent users benefit some from
the
fact that much of the libraries are already loaded in ram.
As a non expert, I believe disk i/o is the major reason people complain
about Star Office performance. So, if this is
a standalone workstation, be prepared to experience only an incremental
increase in performance after you have spent hundreds of dollars (or
even a
couple grand) for a more powerful machine.
And therein lies the beauty of AbiWord. Even the static linked version
is
small enough to run reasonably fast
on any machine that can run Xwindows to your satisfaction. And that
includes some pretty minimal i486 boxes.
Save your money. Try the ftp site for AbiWord. If that doesn't work to
get AbiWord running on your machine, you could then try:
1. A different Linux distribution. My favorites are Slackware and
Debian
(and I can confirm that Abiword runs fine on them).
2. Consider upgrading to KDE 2.x and run KWord (part of the KOffice
suite). It isn't as elegantly slim as
AbiWord, but it consumes fewer resources than Star Office, and runs much
faster than Star Office on my machines.
3. And if you must stick with Mandrake, and if you must install and use
Star Office, keep the computer you have,
and simply add 32 to 64 MB ram. IMHOP that will make more difference
than
will doubling the speed of your processor, because it will allow more of
the bloated Star Office suite to run in physical ram rather than in
"virtual ram," ie., a "swap" partition.
At our company, AbiWord is the first choice for basic word processing
-- mostly business letters -- and Star Office is relegated to the tasks for which it is uniquely able to perform: opening MS Office 2000 spreadsheets, the newspaper templates, etc. Star Office is just too bloated and cumbersome to be a good choice for the tasks that AbiWord can handle.> > -- > Regards, > > Steve
Later,
Colin
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