Useful software available for download
- OpenOffice.org (external link)
- Make sure you download either the Windows™ or Linux version as appropriate!!!
- At present we are using the 2.x series versions; download those to avoid compatibility issues.
- The GIMP (external link)
- Firefox Web Browser (external link)
- Microsoft Internet Explorer is only good. This is great! Use CTRL-T for a new document window without starting another copy of the browser; tabbed browsing - cool.
- PDF Reader
- Linux comes with one or more pre-installed pre-configured PDF reader programs. However, the standard reader comes from Adobe who developed the PDF standard.
- The adoption of PDF was slow at first but it is now a de-facto standard for Cross-Platform distribution of documents. Click here and choose the reader icon to get the version for your operating system.
- Note that with Microsoft Office™ you have to buy the ability to create PDF documents. With openoffice.org, on any platform, you just click a FREE button on the toolbar to make a PDF file!
- FTP (external link)
- The File Transfer Protocol is the primary means of uploading content to websites. It's normally likened to a graphical remote login to the remote computer. A good free client is CoreFTP for Windows.
- Linux already has clients available. Just find and use them. Apart from being able to type ftp at the CLI, another easily available client that comes as part of Gnome is gFTP.
- Yet another client is from the respected Mozilla stable, called FileZilla which has its own look and feel. Apart from availability for the Linux platform it is also available as a Windows executable binary.
- Telnet (external link)
- The Telnet protocol is used to remotely log in to other computers at the command line. This gives powerful text-based control over (what are normally) UNIX systems. Many free Telnet clients are available but Daves telnet is one of the absolute best for Windows.
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- Linux already has at least one client built in. Drop to a command line and type telnet hostname <-p port> for a start. There are also GUI clients. Just find and use them.
- Once downloaded unzip the file into the C:\WINDOWS directory - or your desktop. If you put it in the WINDOWS directory you can run the program by navigating to it via Windows Explorer (not the Internet Explorer) or by using My Computer. You can also run it directly by pressing the Windows™ Key + R and type dtelnet into the command line and then click OK.
- Secure Shell Access (SSH)
- The Telnet protocol transmits all data - including passwords - in plain text; anyone 'sniffing' the network can pick up your private account details.
- SSH uses encryption to get around this. Everything transmitted is in an almost ubreakable code. This is reccomended for use. We most commonly use the program called Putty when operating from Windows™.
- Linux already has at least one client built in. Drop to a command line and type ssh <-p port> hostname for a start. There are also GUI clients like Putty. Just find and use them.
- Click here for the Putty program which you should save on your Desktop and use instead of Telnet.
- For more information go here (external link) which also has a good FAQ.
- Click here for the WikiPedia page on SSH.
- For Windows™ you can download a whole CD with most of the above at TheOpenCd.Org (external link).
- Same caveats as above about versions.
- You'll also need the ability to burn CDs.
- VNC Servers & Clients
- In computing, Virtual Network Computing (VNC) is a graphical desktop sharing system which uses the RFB protocol to remotely control another computer. It transmits the keyboard and mouse events from one computer to another, relaying the graphical screen updates back in the other direction, over a network.
- VNC is platform-independent — a VNC viewer on any operating system can usually connect to a VNC server on any other operating system. There are clients and servers for almost all GUI operating systems and for Java. Multiple clients may connect to a VNC server at the same time. Popular uses for this technology include remote technical support and accessing files on one's work computer from one's home computer.
- VNC was originally developed at the Olivetti Research Laboratory in Cambridge, England. The original VNC source code and many modern derivatives are open source under the GNU General Public License.
- Full Wikipedia VNC entry (partially quoted above)
- RealVNC
- TightVNC
- MetaVNC
- UltraVNC (Windows Server)
- NX NoMachine
- Next Generation Remote Display
- NX is an exciting new technology for remote display. It provides near local speed application responsiveness over high latency, low bandwidth links.
- NX technology is a computer program that makes fast, secure, remote X Window System connections to enable users to access remote Linux and Unix desktop sessions, and is fast enough even over a low bandwidth and high latency data link such as provided by a modem.
- If set up as a proxy, NX also tunnels Remote Desktop Protocol (for Windows Terminal Server sessions) and remote Virtual Network Computing sessions (most modern general-purpose operating system platforms), giving them some of the same speed improvements. To do this, NX compresses the X11 data (using highly optimized techniques) to minimize the amount of data that is transmitted. NX also makes extensive use of caching, to make the session as responsive as possible; for example, if a menu is opened, the first time it will take a few seconds, but every subsequent time the menu is opened it will appear to be instant.
- Full Wikipedia NX Technology entry (partially quoted above)
- NX NoMachine download
- FreeNX
- BerliOS FreeNX FAQ
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