I have moved from Windows XP to OpenSUSE and I love it

[Ricochet J]

Hi,

As the title says I have moved from Windows XP to OpenSUSE and I love it. There are a few things which I need to get used to.

I'm a Linux novice.
How do I install Latex?
How do I move the start bar from the top to the bottom (like Windows)?
Which compilers/editors do you recommend for FORTRAN and C?
The text is difficult to read. In Windows you would turn on ClearType. Is there a Linux equivalent?

Thank you!

 

[OhEsEcks]

Hi,

As the title says I have moved from Windows XP to OpenSUSE and I love it. There are a few things which I need to get used to.

I'm a Linux novice.
How do I install Latex?
How do I move the start bar from the top to the bottom (like Windows)?
Which compilers/editors do you recommend for FORTRAN and C?
The text is difficult to read. In Windows you would turn on ClearType. Is there a Linux equivalent?

Thank you!

I use Xubuntu as my daily driver these days and haven't used OpenSuSE in a while beyond testing when they release a new version, but....

To install programs and things like Latex, you just use the distributions native package installer. OpenSuSE uses the *.rpm package extensions (whereas Debian [and Ubuntu] use *.deb). Read more here: https://en.opensuse.org/Package_management

The start bar position depends on what Desktop Environment you are using. If you're using the latest Gnome, I don't think you can move it. If you're using KDE, Mate, Cinnamon, amongst others, it's just a matter of right clicking the taskbar and editing the properties or tweaking the settings in the YaST control panel.

Compilers / editors is entirely down to your own personal preference. There are dozens and they can all be found be searching the package repositories as mentioned in the first answer.

Linux font rendering isn't great. But it's definitely better than it used to be. I haven't used OpenSuSE in a while so I'm not sure how it's configured (someone else should be along soon to help). On Debian I usually have to manually create a .font config file to have decent rendering. On Ubuntu based distros, they have that configured by default elsewhere. Again, it's another feature than can probably be tweaked in YaST (you need to change DPI settings an RGB settings from full / slight / whatever) but since I don't have SuSE install I can't tell you exactly where.

 

[Hades]

I'm a fan of Eclipse as an IDE across windows, Linux and OSX. Although primarily made for Java it does also support plugins for C and Fortran development.

 

[uncle_rufus]

If it's the latest Gnome you probably move the position of the bar using Gnome's new "extensions" which you access over the web (Google for "Gnome 3 extensions" to find it)... Think of it a bit like an app-store for your OS which has various apps/plugins that affect the appearance in different ways (I hate it and much prefer the older way... but hey ho)

You asked about compilers - unless you have bought or been provided with a specific license for a commercial compiler then GCC + Gfortran are probably what you want... you should be able to install them via your package manager (though you'll find that you have the C compiler already I expect, I can't remember if they package Gfortran with GCC or if its separate)

Since we're kicking off an old fashioned editors vs. editors vs. IDE war I'm going to throw my hat into the ring and say my preference is to just use a heavily customised emacs (the best text editor) (flame-proof suit armed)

 

[melvis]

Since we're kicking off an old fashioned editors vs. editors vs. IDE war I'm going to throw my hat into the ring and say my preference is to just use a heavily customised emacs (the best text editor) (flame-proof suit armed)

obligatory vim is better post