As
far as I know, I am one of the few, if only, Linux users in the
faculty on my campus. This comes up from time to time, often when
someone walks by my laptop and doesn't see the usual Apple/Windows
interface. I have discussed Linux with some of my colleagues; many
are interested in how I do the things I do with it for school.
This
is a list of Back To School apps for faculty who use Linux. I use
each of these on a day to day basis and I would not be as productive
as I am without them. Good news for Windows/Apple users: Many of
these are cross-platform applications you can use too.
Tomboy:
Tomboy is my note taking program of choice. I have a variety of uses
for Tomboy: I keep a "to do" list that also loads on Conky
(see below) plus numerous notes for each day of the week, ideas for
projects, and other assorted randomness. The biggest use as a faculty
member for me is having portable notes with lists. I have a pre, and
post, semester list. I have a running list of things that need to be
added to my annual report. In the summer, I draft and map my classes
for the year via Tomboy notes. Tomboy can be synced over a number of
computers via the cloud or, what I do, by syncing the folder my notes
are in over a number of computers using Spideroak
(look down).
Spideroak:
I moved to Spideroak about a year ago after issues with a few of
their competitors. Spideroak is an extremely secure backup program
(see the Security
Now! podcast
episode about it) that backs up your work and can be synced over
a number of devices. It is also cross-platform. I use Spideroak on my
home desktop (Linux Mint 15), the laptop I bring to work (Ubuntu 12.04), another laptop running Ubuntu 11.10, and my Android phone and tablet. I can
also access it via the web on my office desktop (which I run using
Portable Apps...see below) One caveat: You cannot upload files to
your Spideroak archive from the web ala Dropbox. I have been told by
someone at Spideroak this is for security reasons.
Calibre:
Calibre is an ebook manager that can also swap your books between
various formats. Depending on your ebook reader, you may want books
in .mobi, .ebook, or PDF (I had a student this summer who had a Nook,
I think, and wanted everything in PDF) or a multitude of other format
options. Calibre lets you transfer between these formats with
relative ease to keep up with wherever your books are going.
Conky:
Conky is a lightweight system monitor that allows a user to visually
display information from their computer. As I said above, I use Conky
to display my task list from Tomboy. I also display a monthly
calendar, my daily Google Calendar, and various information about
what is going on within my computer (CPU. Memory, What Song is
Currently Playing). Conky is fairly easy to set up, UbuntuForums
have a number of tutorials that users have created, although you
don’t have to be a user of Ubuntu (personally I run Linux
Mint for the most part) to use them.
LibreOffice:
LibreOffice is a great alternative to Microsoft Office that I use on
a day to day basis. Many of my students, not willing to put down the
amount of money Microsoft wants for their products, also use
LibreOffice. LibreOffice allows users to create documents,
presentations, spreadsheets, etc. I have used various forks from this
project for about 10 years and have never looked back at Office. It’s
not perfect, but good enough for me.
Portable
Apps: While not Linuxcentric, I use Portable Apps on my work
computer a lot to make sure I can use the programs I want. I do trust
my IT Department and like them a lot, but I am not that interested in
using Microsoft Office or Internet Explorer. I carry a flash drive in
my bag with Google Chrome, LibreOffice, and a handful of other
programs. I also run HTTPSEverywhere
in Chrome to make sure my connections are secure on our Wi-Fi
Network.
Linux
Boot Drive: Even if you are not a Linux user, I think every academic
should have a copy of some form of Linux on a flash drive or CDR.
Most forms of Linux allow you to run a "live" version of
the OS before you install it. Normally, users would use this to test
compatibility and make sure hardware and drivers (I had a laptop
years ago that had problem with the rather infamous Broadcom wireless
cards) work in Linux. However, this can also be used to, potentially,
recover files from a broken Windows system. Say your Windows XP
laptop crashes. Depending on how your OS failed, there is a decent
chance your files are fine. Booting into Linux could allow you to
recover your files before reinstalling. Of course, this is why you
should be backing up (see above).