PCLinuxOS Goes To Work

by Paul Arnote (parnote)

Most of us use PCLinuxOS in our daily, personal lives. We're comforted by the security and lack of viruses, malware, spyware, crapware and all of the other kinds of evil "wares" that infest that "other" commercially available operating system.

But there are some PCLinuxOS users who depend on it to help them earn their income. Yes, they have "taken PCLinuxOS to work." Here are the stories of some of those users who use PCLinuxOS in their work.

Georgetoon

Technically, I'm 50/50 in using PCLinuxOS for business. I use gLabels for business cards. As you know, I use GIMP to create all my comic features for my business.

For bookkeeping, I use Quickbooks. But I run Windows in Virtualbox within PCLinuxOS to accomplish this.

I am looking at possibly switching to Gnucash. Gnucash appears to do the same things as Quickbooks, but the GUI is quite different. It's unfamiliar. Because I've used Quickbooks since 1994, there's a steep learning curve to Gnucash.

From what I've seen and test-driven, it's a good business program. I'm hoping it's as complete as Quickbooks. I'm hoping for a situation to arise which would allow me to make the switch. Right now, there's too much accounts history with QB. I need a situation where I'd be making a fresh start from scratch.

When I first launched GeorgeToon, Inc., I used Kompozer to build the website. When my nephew graduated with a degree in computer science, I hired him to design the web site. He used WordPress, so I can now just do all my blog updates and page updates within Chrome in PCLinuxOS.

kc1di

I Use PCLinuxOS in my Ministry. I'm a minister at a small church in Maine. I use LibreOffice for most documents and letters, and Thunderbird for all emails and prayer letter updating. I use Kompozer and Seamonkey for web pages content and updating, and Filezilla for Webpage transfers. I use Okular to read PDF files.

I use PCLinuxOS for my home office networking, and use Simple Scan to scan documents and photos. I use Mirage and Gimp to edit photos, and Skype for video conferencing. To top it all off, I use Xiphos for Bible Study, along with E-Swords, which I run under Wine.

I've been using PCLinuxOS exclusively for the past two years, and before that, off and on. I have it installed on four of our computers here. And, it just works most of the time. Only one computer does not have PCLinuxOS installed on it, and that is my wife's laptop, which has Ubuntu LTS on it. I installed it because I couldn't get PCLinuxOS to play well with the UEFI/Secureboot on it. And, she likes Unity. Go figure.

YouCanToo

I run a small web hosting and design service using PCLinuxOS. I have about 400 customers currently. You might have heard of one of them before: Habitat for Humanity.

I started using PCLinuxOS for my web server in May 21, 2007, with PCLinuxOS 0.93a, a.k.a. Big Daddy. Up to that point in time, I had been using RedHat. Currently, I have eight servers, and I am using a mix of PCLinuxOS and Centos 6. Of the eight web servers I'm running, six of them are running PCLinuxOS. The other two, running Centos, are located out of house. One of them is a dedicated server, and the other a VPS (Virtual Private Server). Shortly, both of these will be changed over to PCLinuxOS servers.

All my invoicing is done using customized software running on a PCLinuxOS box. All business cards, mailing labels, letterheads and website layout was designed on PCLinuxOS with software found in the repository, such a gLabels, Bluefish and a good old text editor.

Unlike what a few might want or have you think, PCLinuxOS have been a very stable platform on which to run not only your desktop/laptop, but also a web server.

ghostbunny

I'm employee in a small IT business. The primary focus of the business is software development, in the area of electronic signature, identity management and smart cards. We have a "bring your own device" policy there, so I always take my PCLinuxOS laptop with me. I really do everything with it.

I develop applications with Netbeans and GlassFish. They are not in the repository, but they work well locally installed in my home directory. Netbeans uses the Java SDK from the repo also. I use Thunderbird for the business mails, and a lot of other repository stuff like PCSC for our smart card related work.

I use Texlive, in combination with Texmaker, to write documents, as well as LibreOffice and a very buggy MS Office, under Wine, for general writing. Other applications in the company are web based and can be accessed via a normal browser, so there is no really need of an MS operating system.

Ramchu

I use PCLinuxOS as my everyday OS, so I guess that I can honestly say that I do use it in my HVAC business.

I used LibreOffice to design and fill in my billing invoices. I also use it to create a clickable PDF work order for the mobile home dealers that I do business with, so that they can quickly fill it in and email to my office.

I have also used PCLinuxOS with LibreOffice to create and print out my business cards.

I also use the Kraft small business package software installed in PCLinuxOS to create detailed bid estimates and presentations. I tried to get my wife to use it for our bookkeeping, but unfortunately she is a diehard QuickBooks user in Windows.

dm+

I am an electrical engineer and I have been using GNU/Linux - exclusively - on the desktop since 1999. PCLinuxOS found its way to my desktop in 2007 and hasn't left since. The preference is mainly due to the package mix in the standard distribution, as well as aesthetics.

OpenOffice, and lately, LibreOffice is my main tool. I use it to create, edit, print, and share technical documents, drawings, plans, reports and presentations, including calculations and charts in more than one language, and in more than one format.

Batch text and image processing tools, ranging from individual applications (Gimp, the ImageMagick suite, awk, sed) to office macros and command line scripts, have seen heavy use at times. When some programming is needed, I use whatever editor is available (Kate, Kwrite, mc, vi) to write my code. I then use diff and kdiff3 to track changes and maintain versions and backups.

Sylpheed is my preferred email client, and various web browsers (Firefox, Konqueror, and the Lynx family) are used to keep in touch with the world and my colleagues. Encryption is also used, mainly to safeguard the laptop and the removable disk contents from unintended disclosure (CryptSetup, shred).

Part of my work involves communications with various embedded devices and/or networked systems. tftp, ftp, ssh, SMB/CIFS (samba), ntfs, vnc, but also snmp clients and/or servers are often used to that end. Wireshark/tshark have been a great help in troubleshooting such "open bench" connections.

To be productive, you need a pleasant environment. Enter the audio players. XMMS and DeaDBeef liven up the ambiance as tolerated by the circumstances.

loudog

Managing a budget Motel and RV Park can be very satisfying, especially when it's located at the base of some very pristine mountains in the least populated state in the US. You get to meet many interesting people from many walks of life and different cultures who come here for the tranquility of sparse development, and traditional values. I enjoy pitching PCLinuxOS when I can, usually with a patron who is having trouble logging into the motel's wireless LAN. At other times, it can be very, very stressful, dealing with things ranging from stopped up commodes, frozen pipes, extinguished pilot lights, leaking faucets, to – ugh – shoveling and plowing snow. From the unruly and flat out intoxicated and menacing guests (a personal favorite), to the nice people who just can't pay today but promise, promise, promise to pay at some later date, it is always an enjoyment at the end of the day to log into PCLinuxOS and it just works, for business and pleasure.

We use PCLinuxOS for everything here, business wise and personal. From doing the billing (the secretary Charise, my wife, engaged in billing, above), the production of business cards, recording in the daily log, creating warnings, weather required by the local government or newly discovered by staff, notices, guest records, no trespassing orders and the big nastygram: eviction notices.

Notice the sweet little devilish smile on the secretary's face as she writes an eviction notice to some exceptionally problem tenants. Producing some of these documents is unfortunate, but a necessary part of Motel / RV park management. I mean really folks, how many times do you need to see these? They usually receive two to three notices, per guest, before eviction. We've been through this 47 times total in 2 years 10 months according to the log, so it's no wonder all the emergency response staff in town know my wife and me by sight.

The firefighters are also frequent visitors, and their visit is always associated with cooking foolishness or jury rigged electrical and or heating of a Recreational Vehicle, often resulting in serious injury (9 times).

Ambulance personnel are also on a first name basis, almost exclusively the result of drug overdose (whether prescribed or illicit drugs), and/or alcohol and fights (29 times, not including the coroner).

This is me, Lou, the manager, reading the nastygrams just before delivery to the lucky recipients. It's not just a job, it's an adventure. Thankfully, Tux is always there, never causing quite enough trouble to require a written notice himself, but certainly glad to help with producing them when necessary. Yes my friends, PCLinuxOS is definitely a secure and deeply appreciated part of the business.