Windows to Fedora Questions

asked 2016-02-02 09:46:12 -0600

Yoni
43 ●1 ●6

Hi everyone,

I'm considering to finally switch form Win10 of Linux. I've tried Ubuntu but was not a big fan of Unity, nor Kubuntu with KDE Plasma, so I'm thinking of giving Fedora with Gnome/Cinnamon DE a shot. I currently have 3 things that get in the way with this transition:

a) I (sort of) need MS Office. Libre/Open didn't do the trick for my (occasional) usage, as most of it is with other people who use Windows, e.g. working on presentations. And the back and forth translation just wasn't good enough. The alternative is using Wine, but I haven't had any experience with it yet. Their website seems a bit outdated, so I was wondering how stable are different Office packages these days? And how cumbersome (if at all) is it to use Wine?

b) Google drive: I've heard Gnome 3.18 has some kind of an integrated version of the desktop app, but that it does not work offline. I also heard about ownDrive, but I don't have a server and don't want to pay for something I currently get for free (my University provides me with a whopping 10TB Google Drive account). I need this app very much, as I'm working on different workstations on daily basis (my PC, laptop, Uni. computers and lab workstations...) so I always have to be in sync, and manual syncing is a recipe for trouble. And I also don't want tob get stuck without my stuff when offline, which happens occasionally. I was wondering whether there is a way to perhaps combine ownDrive with Google Drive as a server. Is that complete nonsense? Or is there any free Linux alternative with a capacity of at least 30GB (my likely usage for the next year or so) that has a desktop app with offline syncing?

c) General Linux-Windows compatibility: since I'm working with other people, I want to make sure things like Matlab/Python scripts, lyx documents etc. will work on both OS's without modifications. Is that indeed the case?

Dual booting is also an option, which will probably be the case at least in the near future, but then again I can just stick to Windows, which already has everything I need (though in an OS I dislike very much).

Thanks a lot! Johnathan

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Good luck with your migration, Johnathan! Welcome to Fedora.

Aeyoun ( 2016-02-04 13:13:07 -0600 )edit

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answered 2016-02-02 14:00:28 -0600

florian
11133 ●77 ●349 ●331

updated 2016-02-04 21:39:29 -0600

Hi, welcome to ask.fedoraproject.org .

Usually, it is good practice to ask each question separately but since this all related to your transition it should be fine. Take a quick look at the guidelines posted on the home page.

a) It looks like both the MS Office installer and MS Word work under WineHQ: https://appdb.winehq.org/appview.php?... https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManage...

In my job I need MS Office too, and I never liked Wine (just because I don't trust the reliability), so what I did is that I run a Win7 virtual machine in Virtualbox. Maybe other users have made better experiences with MS Office and Wine.

b) So far, there is no working Google Drive integration in Gnome that includes Offline-mode and reliable syncing. I know from my previous time with Ubuntu Gnome that there was something called Grive. Not sure if it is still maintained and working well. (Also, it is a .deb package, Fedora needs .rpm.)

The open-source alternative to Google Drive you are referring to is called OwnCloud. I don't see how you could run a small OwnCloud server that provides the Google Drive space to your owncloud client. Nice idea but there is no such plugin for owncloud.

Dropbox has a native Linux client - but I understand that you seem to be bound to Google's drive.

c) For most programs that exist for MS Win there is a corresponding GNU Linux program, including Python, Latex, Lyx. Apparently, Matlab is also available for Linux - need to check if that is covered by your license. But since you will run MS Office in a MS WIN virtual machine, you can install Matlab there...

In general, dual boot just gives you much more work and causes confusion: You will have your data spread over two systems with two different file systems, both need their separate back-up and maintenance and so on. I wouldn't recommend it. Instead, consider installing a MS Win in a virtual machine (all data and files will/can be saved on your Fedora system).

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answered 2016-02-02 16:29:47 -0600

davidva
3965 ●10 ●56 ●72 http://www.kuboosoft.b...

mmm a question very argumentative....

a) If Libre Office doesn't work for you?. Well you can use WPS Office (has a compatibility beautiful)

image description

b) Google Drive? only exist commercial clients (buy my friend)...mm exist a program called "google-drive-ocamlfuse" but exaggerated dependencies (I tried make a rpm) . Why not MEGAsync provides a official client for Fedora, and 50GB free storage :)

image description

c) I recomend you test Matlab in a virtual machine.. virtualbox... because its a propietary program.

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a) That sounds promising. Do you have any experience with WPS Office? Ever used the Track Change Mode and exchanged such a document with someone using MS Office? Did it work? And does layout and tables remain nice after exchanging and editing with MS Office?

b.) Any clue how much we can trust Mega? I am afraid Authorities may take down the service at some point (copyright violation, though encrypted).

c.) Matlab officially releases their software suite for Linux (both current lease and previous versions).

florian ( 2016-02-03 08:51:16 -0600 )edit

a) Yes; the compatibility is surprising, also I add if you found a rpm with the language pack; was builded by me, haha ;) The unique problem is the macros of MS Excel, WP Spreadsheets doesn't have a full compatibility here.

b) In all services you have no guarantee of anything; even Google could close Google Drive, repeating his story with Google Code (bad). Generally I use Dropbox...

c) Yoni has win10; why no try Fedora with a virtual machine, and test if Matlab works fine...

davidva ( 2016-02-03 10:45:03 -0600 )edit

a) I'll give it a try. There is no repo for it, right? Just the .rpm file - can I update it from within WPS since WPS seems to be WIP.

b) very true!

c) Sorry, now I got it: You mean test if Matlab works under Linux using a Fedora virtual machine that he sets up in his WIN10?!

florian ( 2016-02-03 11:16:42 -0600 )edit

a) Repository for WPS? no (thanks license). but unofficial my project provides only the language pack (yes a repository).

b) :/

c) Yes; if the user need Matlab in your job and doesn't works fine... "Trial and error"

davidva ( 2016-02-03 21:25:36 -0600 )edit

c) yes, true but I would be very surprised if Matlab released for OpenSuse and RHEL wouldn't work on Fedora. Bigger question is if this is covered by his license. Whatever, there is always a WIN7/10 box available...

florian ( 2016-02-04 15:42:28 -0600 )edit

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