General Meeting

Linux Desktops: KDE and GNOME


Bill Latura
Nalco Chemical

Tuesday, October 26, 7:00-9:00 pm
College of DuPage Room K-161

Abstract

Linux has made tremendous strides in the past year or two, moving from a cult operating system to one that is compared favorably to Microsoft's Windows NT and commercial Unix systems. Even today, however, a common complaint about Linux is that because it's a derivative of UNIX, it is primarily a command line-based OS, and lacks a "good" GUI interface and tools.

This talk will concentrate on the Linux community's principal responses to this complaint, KDE (K Desktop Environment)and GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment).

Topics to be covered include:

  • Window manager vs. desktop environment vs. windowing system
  • What they are
  • Where they came from
  • Installation and setup
  • Operation
  • Customization
  • Differences and similarities
  • Available tools and utilities
  • Applications
  • Future development direction

    It will also briefly discuss other GUI desktop environments and window managers.

    Speaker Bio

    Bill Latura is a Systems Development Manager with the Applied Services group at Nalco Chemical Company in Naperville, IL. He spends his time designing and implementing process automation systems, providing technical support for company Internet-based initiatives such as Web-browser access to process data, and developing cost-effective methods of process data collection and storage. He is also the system administrator for a Linux box being used as a file and internal Web server running Apache and SAMBA. Bill has been working with PC's in one form or another since the early 80's. Currently his home network include four boxes running a combination of Linux and Window NT connected via fast Ethernet.

    Bill's first exposure to Linux was in the pre-1.0 kernel days of 1993. He's been a Red Hat fan since summer '95, though he has also worked with the SuSE, Slackware, Yggradrasil and Caldera distributions.

    Bill has been the Treasurer of UniForum Chicago for the past four years.

    Getting to the meeting

    The next meeting of UniForum Chicago will be from 7:00 pm to 9:00 PM on Tuesday, October 26, 1999 at the College of DuPage. The address of the meeting facility is: 

            College of DuPage
        Building K, Rm 161
        22nd and Lambert
        Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-6599
    Take 355 to Butterfield Rd (Rt 56). Take Butterfield West to Lambert Rd,
    then Lambert Rd North to 22nd St. Turn left and look for lot 10 on the left side of 22nd St.
    Walk to building K, room 161 is on the first floor, on the east side of the building.

    All UniForum Chicago general meetings are open to the public free of charge.

    Contact Scott Nemec at (630) 990-6265 for additional information.

    For more information about UniForum Chicago contact nemec@xnet.com.

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