Why Linux Alone is Not Enough

I would like to do everything in some Linux distribution because it is free and open source, and I wish to support that, and to try to contribute any enhancements I feel are missing (especially in my field). However, this is not yet possible for me, for the following reasons:

• Quicken and TurboTax are not available for Linux. (I don't have time to write replacements for those!)

• Beyond Compare is a great tool for comparing and merging source trees. If there is a Linux tool that's as good, I don't know what it is (diff does not fill the bill). I find this to be an indispensable tool, and I use it also on my Linux filesystems via Samba.

• Xenu is the best tool I am aware of for checking website links, and as far as I know it's a Windows-only application. (This would pertain only to people maintaining lots of hyperlinks at some website.) Surely there is a good tool for this on Linux by now, but I haven't found it (nor looked very hard).

• There is a lot of commercial music software that requires a Mac or Windows. From time to time I try to track developments on all major platforms, both commercial and free.

• I often need to try out some demo under Windows.

• Often someone sends me a Microsoft Word or Power Point document that I need to open. LibreWrite or OpenOffice will these on Linux or the Mac, and compatibility is pretty good in general. However, I consistently find that I have to reopen the document under Windows (e.g., when there is math in the Power Point doc, or sound examples--I have not been able to get media files to play from a click in the Office counterpart of Power Point). For Excel spreadsheets, I have had good luck converting between Excel and Google Docs spreadsheet format. In place of Power Point, I use the ``powerdot'' class file in L^ATEX to create hyperlinked PDF files (see FC5 section below). (Others use the beamer class file in L^ATEX, which comes standard with most L^ATEX distributions.

• Apps for which I prefer Windows include MS Word and Power Point.

• Historically, commercial software products support Windows first, the Mac second, and Linux/UNIX a distant third or not at all. However, there is a lot of free software aiming to fill these holes on the UNIX front.

In summary, I need Windows mainly for ``random compatibility'' and a few key applications not available under Linux, and I generally use Linux for all development work. When I need to work in Windows for extended periods, the Cygwin distribution helps immensely (UNIX tools compiled for a windows environment).