How Do I Do That?

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There are lots of tasks that may seem relatively simple in Windows, but may be a bit more difficult to do in Linux. This page presents a variety of these tasks, and the best ways to solve them using tools in Linux. Wherever possible, we'll try to notate when a solution is presented using Free software, and when a solution requires the use of proprietary software in Linux.

If you have other ideas, feel free to add them to this table, if you're not comfortable editing the HTML in this table, then add them to the list at the end of this page. If you can answer an issue, add it to this table and make a note that you can do it.

How do I do that?
Multimedia
Issue In Windows I'd Use... In Linux I'd Use...
Burn a CD
Burn a DVD
Rip a CD
Rip a DVD
Record live television SageTV
  • MythTV - Supports a wide variety of both standard definition and high definition tuner cards, including firewire cable boxes and the HD Homerun Ethernet attached HDTV tuner. Allows for pausing of live television, themable user interfaces, automatic commercial cutting, and more. User:Pwagstro
  • Freevo - while Freevo is much easier to setup than MythTV, it is not nearly as robust of a solution. It does not allow viewing of television until after the complete recording is done, and is lacking support for a wide variety of hardware.
Office Tasks
Issue In Windows I'd Use... In Linux I'd Use...
Write a letter Microsoft Word
Design a presentation Microsoft Powerpoint
Create a small database Microsoft Access
Design a spreadsheet Microsoft Excel
Collaborate using groupware Microsoft Outlook
Balance a checkbook Quicken
Manage business finances Quickbooks
Fill out tax forms TurboTax, TaxCut
Create a PDF File Adobe Acrobat
  • Most Linux programs can print to PostScript, check the "Print to File" option if it's not available. Then use the ps2pdf program to translate.
  • OpenOffice.org has a feature to save directly to a PDF file
Internet Communications
Issue In Windows I'd Use... In Linux I'd Use...
Browse the web Internet Explorer
  • Mozilla Firefox
  • Opera - this lightweight and fully standards compliant browser is available for a huge variety of operating systems. not open source
  • Epiphany - the fully GNOME integrated web browser
Send an email Microsoft Outlook
Send instant messages
  • Microsoft Live Messenger
  • AOL Instant Messenger
  • Yahoo Instant Messenger
  • Google Talk
  • GAIM - a multi-protocol, multi-platform instant messenger client that can connect to almost any instant messenger client. also available for Windows
  • Gossip - a jabber focused instant messenger client, that now supports a huge variety of networks thanks to integration with Telepathy - User:Pwagstro
Participate in Internet Relay Chat (IRC) mIRC
  • X-Chat
  • Irssi
Server Tasks
Issue In Windows I'd Use... In Linux I'd Use...
Run a large scale database Microsoft SQL Server
  • PostgreSQL - known as the workhorse of the OpenSource Database field. PostgreSQL supports a variety of languages for stored procedures, foreign keys, has interfaces to many programming languages, and runs on a variety of systems.User:Pwagstro
  • MySQL - is a very fast SQL server that is easy to setup and scales fairly well. Despite it's earlier faults, MySQL is now a fully functional relational database program.User:Pwagstro
Provide email services Microsoft Exchange
  • Postfix
  • Sendmail
  • Hula
Serve web pages Microsoft IIS
  • Apache
Customer Relationship Management Microsoft CRM
  • SugarCRM - markets itself as "Commercial Open Source". A very high quality package of CRM tools to manage all aspects of business relations.
System Maintenance
Issue In Windows I'd Use... In Linux I'd Use...
Scan for viruses Symantec AntiVirus
Scan for malware/spyware
Scan for rootkits
Backup my hard disk
  • Bacula is a very robust network based backup system.


I'd like to see how to do that!

Add your questions to this list!