Hello every one
dear friends, i am translator and I want to move to linux to feel comfort while i am using my computer. would you please tell me if it is a good idea, or forget it. because every one tells me that it is an operating system just for professinals.
Firstly, any problems you will get will depend on the languages from which you are translating. While Linux uses utf-8, not all the documents you receive will use utf-8 and, though OpenOffice does a very good job of recognising other encodings, you may occasionally have difficulties importing documents accurately. But if you know the language well enough, you can easily correct any errors.
The main difficulty I have encountered has been with East European accents which are accurately represented in OpenOffice but which may not be read in Word if the user does not have the relevant language pack installed.
If you need to type in another language and are familiar with the keyboard layout, KDE has a keyboard layout switcher which is very good. Otherwise, you will probably need to set up your own keyboard shortcuts.
Of course, OpenOffice comes with dictionaries for a wide range of languages and, once you have indicated in a document that you will be using more than one language, it allows you to click on a tab below the text window to swap between the languages you are using. If you use a language (e.g. Latin) for which you do not have a dictionary installed, you can still select it and the words are excluded from spellchecking.
The one disadvantage of OpenOffice is that it does not display the full Unicode sequence. However KWord does and, if I need to use characters not available in OpenOffice, I type them in KWord and then paste them into OpenOffice. OpenOffice displays them because it has access to the same fonts as KWord.
KWord was also better at handling Hebrew and Arabic but I haven’t tried those in OpenOffice recently; so it may have caught up.
But would you please tell me what is the difference between (Suse Linux and open Suse) and in case, each one of them is a separate operating system, which one of them I have to chose.
so i have to read something like (for dummies) to start using Linux.
SUSE Linux is the Enterprise System for people who need regular technical support which is paid for on a contractual basis.
openSUSE is for those who only need community support. Most freelancers or sole traders will come into this category.
Both are free but you have to pay for SUSE updates whereas openSUSE updates, many provided by community volunteers, are all free.
For a translator openSUSE has everything, and more, that you are ever likely to need. The main issue is: into which language(s) will you be translating and are you a touch typist?
The answers to these questions will help in offering the most appropriate advice for you. For example, if you are a touch typist translating into European language(s), install openSUSE using the KDE4.3 Live CD KDE/KDE4 - openSUSE followed by OpenOffice and the dictionaries you need.
If you are not, tell us exactly what you expect to use openSUSE for.
peru141978 wrote:
> Thank you for your answers.
>
> But would you please tell me what is the difference between (Suse Linux
> and open Suse) and in case, each one of them is a separate operating
> system, which one of them I have to chose.
>
> so i have to read something like (for dummies) to start using Linux.
>
> thank you very much :)lol!rotfl!
openSUSE <http://software.opensuse.org/> is the “proving ground” for
what eventually becomes SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) or Server
(SLES)…
a new numbered openSUSE is released about every eight months (11.2 is
due out in November 09)…right now each edition is community
supported about 18 months <http://en.opensuse.org/SUSE_Linux_Lifetime>
openSUSE it is free to download and update…and, support is what you
get here… there is also an option to buy a boxed set of manuals and
disks <http://en.opensuse.org/Buy_openSUSE> which includes (i think)
90 days of setup support (read that for yourself…i’m not at all sure)…
by contrast, SLED/SLES is free to download, but after a short period
there is no easy way to keep it updated with security patches and
etc…Novell <http://support.novell.com/linux/sle_support.html>
charges a fee for support and patches…the fee varies by locale…