[scribus] New Linux User -- Scribus in place of PageMaker 6?

[Frank Swygert]

My answers/remarks mixed below:

From: "Jeffrey Silverman" 
Alright, three hundred words and I haven't even addressed your
questions. Sorry. Some suggestions for getting MEPIS to load:

1) Are you sure you burned (burnt?) the CD as an ISO image? NOT as a
"data cd"!! It must use the "burn ISO image" mode of whatever burning
software you are using.

Frank: 
YES -- I have been using Nero 7 and choosing "burn a disk image", and ISO is one of the images it looks for. I can't get a clean burn no matter which of two computers I use or which brand CD. I think the CD-ROM on my backup machine might be going bad, but then my main machine had the same problems reading the same CD. I also discovered that if you interrupt MEPIS while it's installing video drivers it can turn the video off! It doesn't come back upon reboot on my Acer LCD either, which is scary until you figure out what happened. A CRT screen seems to reinitialize with a simple power off/on, the LCD has to be disconnected from the computer and reconnected (computer on). Found that by accident. I used the default boot on MEPIS -- it has a boot for digital screens, maybe I should use that with the LCD (on my main computer -- I thought the live CD had somehow written to the BIOS or hard drive boot sector at first!). 

From: "Jeffrey Silverman" 
2) Try LinuxMint. It is, frankly, better even than MEPIS.

Frank: 
I might do that. I can't get a good CD for any version of MEPIS -- tried a different version just in case the latest ISO image was bad. 

From: "Jeffrey Silverman" 
3) Make sure you have chosen to "boot from CD' on your computer. This
is a BIOS setting or a quick-press key at boot time. For example, Dell
computers usually let you choose the boot device if you press F12 in
the first second or so as you turn the computer on. Other BIOSes
differ in the hot key.

Frank:
Yes, it does start to boot, then I get a lot of I/O and block read errors. It's obviously something about the download or CD burn, but the checksum comes out right. 

From: "Jeffrey Silverman" 
Okay, now, Scribus. Personally, I think it is an amazing tool.
However, it is as equally amazingly *frustrating* as it is in
amazingly featureful and powerful. I do not thing Scribus is very
stable AT ALL. Others may disagree. But I am used to having Scribus
crash on me ALL THE TIME. Scribus 1.2.X, 1.3.X and 1.4/1.5.  Maybe
this is less true on Windows or on other Linux distros. I have only
ever used Scribus on Ubuntu or one of its deriviatives (Mint).

That said, it is incredibly useful. It is hard to use, but *primarily*
because DTPINWP[1]. If you are familiar with DTP workflow and
concepts, then Scribus is not so hard to learn.

It produces very high quality PDFs, from what I can tell. I produce a
lot of 1 page ads using Scribus and have never had a problem with the
submitted PDFs and any print center. Admittedly my technical ability
to judge the "quality" of said PDFs is nil.

Frank:
Sounds like you're not used to a DTP program. I have that in my favor, have been using some version of PageMaker since 1993 or so. Started on a Mac at a local copy shop, one of the "classic" Macs (Mac II and SE... I think... was a long time ago!). After renting time (the shop owner gave me a big discount since we were both USAF!) on that, I happened across a used copy of PM5 for a song from a person who bought it and found it just too hard to use for simple stuff. I don;t use a lot of the features, but others that aren't in word processors are indispensable for a magazine. I may just go out and buy PageStream, but will give Scribus a try first. Won't hurt, and if I like it I'll continue using. I save everything as PDF files now, so having to save as a PDF before printing is a bit inconvenient, but not a big deal. I'll have to save further comment until I get a distro of Linux working and try it (Linux and Scribus)! Will d/l Mint tonight and try it. 

-- 
Frank Swygert
Publisher, "American Motors Cars" 
Magazine (AMC)
For all AMC enthusiasts
http://farna.home.att.net/AMC.html
(free download available!)