[Novalug] Resuscitating laptop : what's a good small spreadsheet?

Beartooth karhunhammas@Lserv.com
Wed Feb 13 12:31:50 EST 2008


 	As I believe I've mentioned here, I have a friend at the 
vet school, on whose antediluvian HP laptop I undertook to 
install linux. I hit a snag, and, just before I began to tear my 
beard, discovered that VTLUUG was holding an installfest next 
day. (Its web forum has been down, and I was out of touch.)

 	So I took it there, and it now boots, runs, and connects 
Debian 4.0 (Etch) very nicely, if a bit slowly.

 	It has a 4- or 5-GB hard drive, and (after I snuck more 
memory into it -- all the shop could manage) 128 MB of memory. (A 
4 GB memory card in a USB adapter, which I tried on it and took 
back, speeds it up nicely; but the friend wants to avoid spending 
money on it.)

 	He plans to use it, as he had been doing till it 
transmogrified itself to cold molasses, as a loaner for any of 
his grad students temporarily in need of one.

 	So I asked him what he needed -- and the rest below is 
his reply, with my comments to youss guyss interspersed :

> Time to start thinking of what your borrowers definitely have 
> to or don't have to have.

Some sort of word processing capability;

[I gave it abiword and Oo-writer]

an Internet browser--Firefox is fine, we use it at Tech--

[It has Iceweasel; I added Dillo, Epiphany, and Opera]

and e-mail.

[I installed Alpine; but iiuc, those who get their email through 
Tech actually use a browser.]

That's the minimum, I think. I think it has an actual dial-up 
modem, no?

[It does. I haven't tested it.]

Might be useful to have a dialer.

[I gave it ppp, wvdial, and whatever-all came with them.]

A plain-vanilla spreadsheet that does basic stuff and can read 
the Excel format.

[Here's the nub -- or the Hamletian rub. I wouldn't know a 
spreadsheet if one bit me -- such is the glory of retirement -- 
much less what's desirable in one, let alone specifically for a 
grad student of veterinary medicine. As for Excel, I know only 
that something by that name exists. So I tried searching Debian 
4.0's Synaptic for "spreadsheet" -- and it lists *three* *dozen* 
of the blasted things! Haa-aaa-aalllpp!]

That plus a way to display, but not necessarily edit, images 
would be plenty.

[I gave it the Gimp, Eye of Gnome, and one or two scanner 
managers. (I also gave it all the HP printer hardware support I 
could find.)]

I forget: does it have a USB port?

[It does, and it sees it as soon as I plug it in.]

If so, I have a portable drive I'd keep with it for data storage. 
It would have to able to recognize that. Having that 3.5" floppy 
drive is a plus, actually: some of my older files are on that 
size disk and it would be useful to be able to transfer them to 
the portable drive and thence to my desk computer.

[It also sees both the floppy drive, and the CD drive.]

-- 
Beartooth Staffwright, Neo-Redneck Double Retiree,
Not Quite Clueless Linux Power User, with precious 
(very precious) little idea where up is.



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