Roy W. Erickson wrote:
I got it because I'm tired when I get home after a long day of
sysadmin-ing Suns, SGI, RH, W2K, switches, firewalls, etc etc etc also
teaching Math.
Hi Roy!
Ah -- another mathematics instructor. You've got company for both FC and Max OS X. Welcome to the list!
So I'm thinking that the Mac might be the way to go. At least the 25 Mac users at my job think so.
I agree with them (for laptop use). I have the 12" iBook and power use is awesome, the keyboard is comfortable and it's light and small.
What I want to do when I get home....
-------------------
I want to publish my math notes to the web and eventually through a publisher. So I need math formula capable s/w to help me do that. I'm
still not satisfied with the basic stuff I see in OOffice.
What you need for the job is LaTeX and for your PB you need TeXShop or Enhanced Carbon Emacs that will do the typesetting for you. I have all of the above and use it for my math work -- there is simply no comparison to LaTeX in the "word processing" world of Word or OpenOffice! I rarely use OpenOffice anymore. Two very enthusiastic thumbs-up! If you need help or links with any of that for your PB, feel free to email me off the Fedora list -- I'll be happy to help you with it. There is about a one- to two-week learning period with LaTeX, and after that, you'll never want to go back to using anything but LaTeX for your mathematics documents or slides.
I am also in need of moving my book project to a Framemaker (old name) like publisher's s/w.
I want to author a web site, publish music in Logic-like s/w, let my son's play games and watch dvds... ------------------ I know fedora can do all of this. The question is how much set-up work will it take?
Q: Should I choose to toss the powerbook back, what would be a good proven fedora capable laptop that is well supported in the drivers department?
Use the PB and set up X11 and then install Fink -- You'll have all the Open Source goodies at your fingertips with a very nice apt-get tool.
Q: Anyone have a similar dilema regarding these types of trade-offs? If so what are your thoughts?
Oh yeah -- ultimately I decided on FC (and a box with Libranet-installed Debian) for my desktops, and a 12" iBook with TeXShop, emacs, Fink and Fink Commander (the gui for Fink) for the portable work (and watching DVDs on trips ;-)
Hope this helps, Clint Harshaw
