text_zinaf » Studies http://blog.zinaf.net Sun, 22 Mar 2009 17:30:18 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Linux and research http://blog.zinaf.net/2009/03/04/linux-and-research/ http://blog.zinaf.net/2009/03/04/linux-and-research/#comments Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:33:45 +0000 admin http://blog.zinaf.net/?p=29 ubuntu logoBefore I started my final project in the MSc Development Management (TU874) I decided that I will do it completely in a open source environment. For that reason I borrowed a small laptop from work (although I am on the hunt of mini notebook) and installed Ubuntu Hardy (8.04).
There were a few glitches to make the wireless, video card and sound work (acer computers are not the easiest to get on linux but it’s not a big drama either). Actually the only thing that seems to come and go is the microphone. I made it work at some point but then something went wrong and now it’s dead. I don’t need it for the project so it still suits me well.
Here is the bundle of tools which I use for the project:
Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Hardy)
Firefox 3 browser
Zotero 1.0.7 add-on for Firefox for the bibliography and also project diary. It serves me as one-point resource management tool. There I keep all literature source, all my thought and notes and also links to the other programs files.
OpenOffice.org – office suite – almost as good as MS Office. It is a wonderful piece of free software
Planner Project Management – use it effectively manage time and human resources. I list my to do tasks, deadlines and I can see whether I can meet them based on the resources allocation.
FreeMind – a good mind mapping software, which I previously used under Windows. It’s excellent to organise your thoughts; notes taking when reading articles; all purpose mapping tool.

That’s about it.
I can highly recommend this setup as it is very powerful, yet free of charge!
A.

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