Category Archives: Collaboration Software

GNU/Linux applications alternatives and workarounds

Posted on by • Posted in Collaboration Software, Devices, Microsoft 365 Software, Misc Productivity Software, OneDrive, Other Devices, Outlook, SharePoint, Software, Teams, Utility Software, Zoom •

Introduction

As you may understand, Microsoft 365 tools are not natively available on Linux.

Many people as of time of writing are leaving Windows for GNU/Linux (for a variety of reasons, often being privacy, dissatisfaction increasing bloat, recall/AI spyware, etc…), but some believe they cannot (despite that they would like to) because they need to use tools like Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Word.

However, there are free and open source alternatives that can integrate just fine. This is mainly a list of applications, methods, and alternatives to Windows software that can be used on Linux. This often takes the form of free and open source (FOSS) alternatives.

Using OneDrive and SharePoint

Although Linux does not have an official OneDrive client, a free open source fully functional command line interface with an optional GUI can be found here. It can be used to interface with OneDrive systems, with full functionality.

The repository and installation instructions can be found here:

https://github.com/abraunegg/onedrive

Using Microsoft 365 Tools/Email

Microsoft 365 tools like Word are not available natively on Linux, because Microsoft would rather you stay in their ecosystem, because they make money that way.

However there are multiple ways to use these products regardless.

Webapps

All Microsoft 365 tools are available as platform agnostic web apps, that fully integrate with other Microsoft 365 services. All you need is a web browser of choice, and to login with your MS account.

You can even use things like Microsoft Outlook this way, allowing you to access your inbox and emails without needing an application.

Compatible Native via WINE

You can try to run software like Microsoft Word through a Windows-Linux compatibility layer such as WINE, though this is not recommended and often has issues.

Alternatives

Some popular alternatives to the Microsoft application suite include LibreOffice, for example. Unlike Microsoft’s paid subscriptions, many of these are free and open source. They can fully read and write all types of Microsoft documents, and when integrated with the previously mentioned OneDrive client can be used very similarly to how you would on Windows, enabling you to edit documents and even push them to the cloud.

For Email Clients, Mozilla Thunderbird is a popular alternative to Microsoft Outlook, and for good reason. You can even forward your UW Outlook Email to it if you so desire.

Graphic Design & Digital Drawing/Art

A lot of people like Adobe Photoshop for some reason. Of course, because Adobe is motivated by profit, they do not have a Linux native version. Again, you could try to run it via compatibility layers, but ideally you want something native.

GIMP, or GNU Image Manipulation Program is a good alternative for more image editing related tasks and is FOSS software.

If you are more into digital drawing/animation or like a more intuitive interface (GIMP has a bit of a learning curve), Krita is a solid choice, and also FOSS software.

If you need to work with scalable vector graphics (SVG) things, Inkscape is ideal for this kind of work.s

3D Rendering/Modeling/Animation/Art

A lot of proprietary 3D Modeling and Rendering software is not available on Linux. There are some outliers that have Linux native versions, but those are less common. You may want to run a majority of these with WINE if possible.

However there is one outlier, that being Blender, which you have most likely at least heard of. Blender is a FOSS 3D modeling and rendering tool, and is sometimes regarded as better than it’s proprietary alternatives. It is the main choice for Linux users and is very versatile. You may know it for creating movies such as Flow.

In fact, Blender was originally developed for Linux operating systems, and only ported to other operating systems later. It runs significantly better on Linux operating systems as a result.

CAD

As with 3D Modeling and Rendering, a lot of proprietary CAD software is only available for Windows natively (because companies are profit driven, there is no intensive for them to provide Linux options or improve the software). You can again run these with WINE if possible, but this is not a perfect solution and can have issues. Some people may opt for a virtual machine.

As for Linux native options (native options are always ideal for performance reasons, and why would you use a software that refuses to support your operating system of choice), a popular choice is FreeCAD, which is FOSS software for aforementioned CAD. From the writer of this article’s experience, it works very well.

 

Video Calling/Chat

Most video call or chat applications are webapps, and for those that are not there is usually a Linux version (Discord, matrix.org, etc).

A popular option for video calling in professional spaces, Zoom, has packages for major distributions available on their website.

 

This article is incomplete and could use more detail. Unfortunately the original writer does not have much time. If you are knowledgeable in these topics and have the ability to, please improve this (albeit do not remove my existing suggestions even if you think you know better alternatives, just list both please. we don’t need softwarewars as a bootleg of stupid distrowars here).

Microsoft SharePoint and how to use it (iSchool)

Microsoft SharePoint and how to use it (iSchool)

Posted on by • Posted in Collaboration Software, Devices, SharePoint •

What is SharePoint?

Microsoft SharePoint (SP) is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) web application, primarily used for intranet purposes.

This is different than internet.

  • Internet: The web as you know it.
  • Intranet: The internal network of an organization or similar.

Each SP instance/site is configured differently depending on what it is being used for. This document primarily focuses on the restricted iSchool SP site.

The root of iSchool’s SP intranet is: https://uwnetid.sharepoint.com/sites/ischoolnew

Check with your supervisor as to how to navigate to your team’s SP site. It should be in the primary top menu, under the “restricted” tab in the root site, under the “information technology” section. This is part of how the access control makes sure people only have authentication for what they need.

 

Navigating your team’s subsite

When you navigate to your restricted site from the above mentioned menu, you will be taken to the subsite’s landing page. This site is created by your team to categorize commonly or frequently used items.

Then, from your subsite, if you navigate to “site content” in the secondary top menu, you can then see your team’s document libraries.

Document libraries are folders that define access control, with each library having a different group of people who can use it. Your supervisor should be the main source of information as to what groups of people are allowed to access each library.

Your SP site, or any document library within, is intended to only be shared as designed. It is not designed to be shared with people outside your team. 

 

How to access SharePoint

There are multiple ways to access documents stored on SP.

You can access them through navigating as explained above (in the webapp). This is ideal for any computer or operating system, as things like Microsoft Word can function as platform-agnostic webapps in any browser.

However, this is not ideal for any document that needs to be edited in a desktop application installed on your computer, because you would have to download it and upload it manually. Of course, you might be able to write a script to automate that, but not everyone has those skills.

Microsoft Windows and MacOS

In this case, iSchool recommends that you install Microsoft OneDrive (Microsoft Windows and Mac computers), and then navigate to the SharePoint folder your documents are in. Then you can click “add shortcut to OneDrive”.

Protip: Every time you add a shortcut to your OneDrive, it is simply added to the top folder/level of your OneDrive. This can clutter it up very quickly, and be confusing. The way to avoid this is to organize your OneDrive so that the structure replicates the SharePoint layout.

Linux

Linux does not have an official GUI OneDrive client. However, there is a Free Open-Source solution for using OneDrive and SP. It’s repository, and other details (like how to use) can be found here, if you would like to utilize it: https://github.com/abraunegg/onedrive

The installation guide can be found here, with relevant instructions. a little command line knowledge might be needed depending on the install method you choose and distribution: https://github.com/abraunegg/onedrive/blob/master/docs/install.md

Collaboration

Because of the way the SP site is structured, it is not intended for ad-hoc collaboration. Ad-hoc collaboration is collaborating with random people instead of your team.

As previously mentioned, each document library is already shared with a particular group of people. Therefore to collaborate with the respective people, you simply need to place the document in wherever your team decides inside the previously mentioned document library.

To share with people outside of the already predetermined users, you have three options.

  1. If read-only access is sufficient, it is simplest to email the document itself (not a link, the actual file) as an attachment in whatever method is suitable.
  2. To edit collaboratively with a single individual, you could move the document to your Personal OneDrive (or other version control solution, such as GitHub) and share it from there.
  3. To edit collaboratively with a group of people, work with your supervisor and IT to create a new document library that is shared with the desired users. Another version control system, again such as Gitub, could also be used here if your supervisor or IT personnel are unavailable, or if you would like more granular control.

Intended use of SharePoint

Any organization documents that should be retained, even past your employment, should be placed on SP. Do not go uploading random notes, memes, or other such nonsense. Although your meme taste is excellent according to you and you only, we don’t need that taking up space in SP. Please share them via other methods.

Any documents such as your personal notes or files are better suited for your own OneDrive, SSD, or other cloud/physical storage solution. This is because all files related to your account like these will be removed when you leave UW.

Identifying SharePoint collaborators

To clearly identify who a document library is shared with, it is generally a two part process. This is because the iSchool leverages your role and not your identity, whereby even if a person leaves and a new person takes over then the document will still be shared with the same roles.

Example: If you are familiar with the communications platform platform Discord, it would be like if when a member left a server, their roles would stay and be transferred to a new member filling the same position.

To identify collaborators:

If you navigate to “site settings”, and then “library settings”, and then “more library settings”, and then “permissions for this document library”, you will see groups of users that start with “uw_ischool”.

These are collections of role-based access controls to the document libraries and other SharePoint features.

To see the individuals in these roles, you have to go to a different website, “groups.uw.edu”, and search for this particular group name.

Go to “find group”, and then enter the ID from your library permissions into the “find by id” box.

After you search, click over to the “membership” tab, and you should be able to see the group members.

 

Zoom Slide Control

Zoom Slide Control

Posted on by • Posted in Zoom •

Step 1: Go to washington.zoom.us and navigate to Settings -> Meeting -> In Meeting (Basic) and turn on “Slide Control”.

Step 2: When screen sharing in a meeting, the presenter will see a “Slide Control” icon in their navigation bar. Select this and select the person you want to grant slide control to. This person must be in the meeting (image 1).

Step 3: Present your presentation (Google Slides or powerpoint – it shouldn’t matter) and an icon will appear for the person granted slide control.

Step 4: The person with slide control will see a dialog box in the bottom left of their screen and they will be able to move forward and backward in the slideshow (image 2)

 

Image 1 above.

Image 2 above.

 

Accessing SharePoint Documents Through OneDrive

Accessing SharePoint Documents Through OneDrive

Posted on by • Posted in Cloud & Hosting Services, OneDrive, SharePoint •

This document is intended for iSchool endpoints, such as Windows or macOS laptops that are owned and managed by the iSchool. We do not recommend storing work-related files on personal devices. Should you need to work on a work-related file on a personal device, we always suggest you do so on the cloud, via a browser.

Should be have an iSchool managed device, this document serves as a guide for using SharePoint through OneDrive by creating shortcuts in OneDrive to your SharePoint folders. It outlines the processes for setting up Shortcuts, discusses best practices, and addresses common issues when using OneDrive to access SharePoint.

SharePoint on the Web v.s. SharePoint via OneDrive

Using a web browser to create, edit, and manage SharePoint files in the cloud works most of the time (and is recommended whenever it works) but sometimes you need to use the more advanced features of apps like Excel (Pivot Tables, etc.) or Word (Tables, etc.) that are not supported in the online versions. Or you might have a workflow that requires your files to be local instead of in the cloud.

OneDrive – which is available for both Windows and macOS – lets you create shortcuts to your SharePoint Document Libraries, enabling you to access and work with your SharePoint files easily. Follow these instructions to get set up:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-shortcuts-to-shared-folders-in-onedrive-for-work-or-school-d66b1347-99b7-4470-9360-ffc048d35a33

Once a shortcut has been created, the  “Files On-Demand” feature in OneDrive also lets you keep all your files in the cloud where they are accessible securely from anywhere in the world, even from your mobile device. Click this to learn more:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/office/sync-files-with-files-on-demand-88d0ebed-bbd7-4d00-8c1c-0d18a5543b43

NOTE – you will need a recent version of OneDrive. If your iSchool issued computer has not been imaged in over a year and/or you have never used OneDrive, please update it first. This can be done by downloading the latest version via the link below and then logging in to the client with your UW email address.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/onedrive/download

 

Best Practices

— Please read below to understand the following issues you will no doubt encounter. —

  1. Organizing and managing your SharePoint Shortcuts: When you add shortcuts to OneDrive of SharePoint folders, these folders often end up with identical or similar names, such as “budget,” “budget 1,” and “budget 2.” This similarity arises because the original structural context of SharePoint—the site and library where each folder is located—is not retained in the shortcuts that are created in your OneDrive folder. Suppose you need to upload a file to the budget folder on the MSIM SharePoint site. Which ‘budget’ one do you choose? Even if you don’t have multiple folders named “budget,” it’s easy to lose track of the original SharePoint structure of the folder or the person who shared it with you. Where do these folders come from? Who shared them with you?
      1. Consolidate Shortcuts: Move all SharePoint shortcuts to a folder named “SharePoint Shortcuts” and all OneDrive shortcuts to “OneDrive Shares.” This will instantly help you know when you are working on documents from SharePoint vs your personal OneDrive
      2. .Mirror SharePoint Structure: Organize your shortcuts in the “SharePoint Shortcuts” folder to reflect their structure on the SharePoint site. For example, make subfolders and place the “budget” folder from the MSIM SharePoint into “SharePoint Shortcuts/MSIM/Finance.”
      3. Organize OneDrive Shares: Group OneDrive shares by the person who shared the shortcut with you, and the relevant project in subfolders, making them easier to navigate
      4. Unlink unused Shortcuts: To keep your space organized, unlink unnecessary shortcuts. To do so, right-click a shortcut and choose ‘Remove Shortcut‘ from the OneDrive menu. This also helps manage local disk space and prevents your system from being bogged down, as described in the next section.
  2. Manage Your Local OneDrive Storage:
When syncing multiple large SharePoint document libraries with OneDrive, you might notice your hard drive filling up or your system performance slowing down due to high CPU usage. 

It’s advisable to avoid setting shortcuts linked from SharePoint folders to “Always keep on this device.” This setting will result in continuous synchronization and can consume a lot of disk space and CPU resources.  This is especially true if you choose to “Always keep on this device” for entire SharePoint Document Libraires instead of selected folders.

Use “Always keep on this device” sparingly: Only enable this option for folders you need offline. If there are specific documents you will need even without internet connectivity, only then does it make sense to selectively pre-download folders you are working on and will need. 

Keep in mind that any document you open will automatically download to your device the first time you access it, potentially accumulating a large number of files over time.

Manage your storage effectively:  Periodically review your OneDrive folder. For files that don’t need to be stored locally use the “Free up space” option on the folder. This action removes local copies while keeping the files accessible in the cloud, freeing up disk space and improving system performance.

Potential Issues

  1. Nested Sharing from SharePoint is not allowed. Nested sharing from SharePoint is not permitted. If a top-level folder has been linked, SharePoint does not allow the creation of individual OneDrive shortcuts for its subfolders. This restriction also applies in reverse. For instance, if a subfolder has already been linked, SharePoint will not permit the creation of a OneDrive shortcut for the parent folder. However, it does allow you to replace the shortcut of the child folder with a shortcut to the parent folder.
  2. Monitor OneDrive for Errors
As you come to rely on OneDrive to access your SharePoint files, you should get in the habit of monitoring OneDrive on your system tray in Windows or the similar OneDrive icons on the menu bar on MacOS. Errors in OneDrive are more common than one might think. Failure to address them could mean that your files are not being synchronized. 

The cloud icon used by OneDrive is usually grayed out if OneDrive is unable to log in or needs you to re-login. Similarly, you might see a red X if OneDrive is having issues synchronizing certain files.  Synchronization issues can happen if there are filenames with unsupported characters, or if a file was altered in multiple locations simultaneously and OneDrive is unable to determine the authoritative version of this file.

Storage and Colloboration: SharePoint, OneDrive, Google Drive, and Attachments

Posted on by • Posted in OneDrive, SharePoint •

This document provides a quick overview of the commonly used solutions for storing and sharing documents at the iSchool. It is not an exhaustive guide to all storage technologies available at UW but serves as a staff reference for the various sharing and document storage options. Faculty and students may also find it somewhat useful.

Matrix of Storage & Sharing solution and features

Restricted SharePoint Users SharePoint Project SharePoint OneDrive Google Drive Email attachment
Suitable for Sensitive Data[1] Yes No No No No No
Allows External Sharing No Yes Yes No Yes Yes
Anonymous access link No No Yes No Yes No
Access Controls Managed by iSchool IT Owner Owner Owner Owner N/A
Intended for use by Staff Faculty, Staff Faculty, Staff Faculty, Staff, Students Faculty, Staff, Students Faculty, Staff, Students
Provisioned by iSchool IT iSchool IT iSchool IT self-service self-service N/A
Storage permanence when you depart UW Yes Yes Yes No No No
[1] – This does not indicate whether the storage is approved for FERPA data, etc., but rather reflects internal iSchool business practices on where sensitive and private data should be stored.

Restricted SharePoint Site

Our restricted SharePoint site is designed primarily for iSchool staff and serves as the ideal platform for most staff functions. It provides secure storage suitable for sensitive or private data as required by your job function. To ensure security, access controls are managed by the iSchool IT team. Access permissions are generally set at the document library level, to maintain consistency. Each document library functions as a team workspace, allowing documents to be moved within the library without concerns about who has access when documents are relocated between folders.

During staff onboarding, your supervisor or IT will be walk you through how to navigate and use the document libraries within our restricted SharePoint site.

One common issue our staff encounter is the need to share a document from our restricted SharePoint site with someone outside their team. Depending on the nature of the data in these documents, the simplest solution might be to send the document as an email attachment. If the person should be a member of the team associated with the document library, IT can adjust their access accordingly. In other cases, please consult with IT to explore whether one of the storage options described below might better suit your workflow and use case.

More Information: email ihelp@uw.edu

Users SharePoint Site

Our Users SharePoint sites are provisioned by iSchool IT but are managed by the individual to whom the site is assigned. Unlike our restricted SharePoint site, Users SharePoint sites allow for broader collaboration, including sharing with external partners who do not have a UW NetID. Please note that these sites are not intended for storing sensitive information.1

More Information: email ihelp@uw.edu

Project SharePoint Site

Our project SharePoint sites are similar to our Users sites. They are provisioned by iSchool IT but are managed by the individual to whom the site is assigned. These sites allow for broader collaboration, including sharing with external partners who do not have a UW NetID. Further the Project sites allow for sharing using Anonymous Links where content owners can share links which grant access to anyone with the link. Again like the Users sites, these sites are not intended for storing sensitive information.1

More Information: email ihelp@uw.edu

OneDrive for Business

OneDrive for Business is ideal for personal data storage and ad hoc collaborations within the UW community. It is easy to use and best suited for working on daily documents or sharing files with other UW members. OneDrive is available as part of your provisioned Microsoft 365 account. Please note that OneDrive is restricted to users with a UW NetID and is not intended for storing sensitive information1. Additionally, when you are no longer associated with UW, your OneDrive account and all its contents will be deleted.

More Information: https://itconnect.uw.edu/tools-services-support/software-computers/productivity-platforms/microsoft-productivity-platform/onedrive-for-business/

Google Drive

Google Drive offers flexible collaboration options, allowing you to share documents with both UW members and external collaborators. Like Project SharePoint, Google Drive is not intended for storing sensitive data1. While it is a convenient tool for broad access and real-time collaboration, keep in mind that your Google Drive account and all its contents will be deleted when you leave UW.

More information: https://itconnect.uw.edu/tools-services-support/software-computers/productivity-platforms/google-productivity-platform/google-drive/

Sharing as an Email Attachment

While not a storage technology, sending a copy of a file as an email attachment remains a useful sharing solution. This method does not require recipients to have an account or special access permissions. However, it does not support real-time collaboration as the above technologies do.

Sharing files with people external to the UW

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There are times when we want to share Files/Folders with people who are not associated with the UW and who do not have a UW NetID. Here are your options and some limitations.

OneDrive

  • You can only share files in your personal UW OneDrive for Business with people that have a UW NetID.
  • Workarounds include:
    • Sponsoring a UW NetID for the external collaborator(s) and then provisioning the UW Office 365 service for them.
    • Creating a Shared UW NetID, provisioning the UW Office 365 service for it, and then sharing the credentials for this NetID with all the external collaborators. Of course, this negates any security and auditing and you risk the credentials for the Shared NetID getting passed around.

SharePoint

  • You are able to share Files and Folders and Sites in SharePoint Online with anyone that has a Microsoft Account.
    • Note this can be ANY Microsoft Account (Hotmail, Outlook.com, etc.) and does not need to be a Microsoft 365 Account.
    • Any email address can be a Microsoft Account so collaborators don’t have to sign up for anything new.
  • You can also share anything in SharePoint Online anonymously meaning no login required.
  • If HIPAA or FERPA compatibility is a concern, this is your only option.

Google Drive

  • You are able to share Files and Folders in both your personal UW Google Drive and in a UW Shared Google Drive (formerly known as a Team Drive) with ANY Google Account.
    • Note any email address can be a Google Account so collaborators don’t have to sign up for anything new.
  • You can also share anything in any Google Drive anonymously meaning no login required.
  • If HIPAA or FERPA compatibility is a concern, Google Drive is not an option.
Add or edit multiple SharePoint In/Out Board entries

Add or edit multiple SharePoint In/Out Board entries

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This page includes directions for adding or editing multiple SharePoint In/Out Board entries.

01) go to the SharePoint In/Out Board:

https://uwnetid.sharepoint.com/sites/ischoolnew/sites/HumanResources/Lists/InOutBoard/

02) click edit

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03) click the box next to a row to select the entire row (you can click-and-drag to select/highlight multiple rows), copy the row(s) using keyboard commands (Windows – Ctrl+C) (macOS – command+C)

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04) scroll down to the bottom of the page/list to find an empty row entry, click the far-left-box next to the empty row, paste the row(s) using keyboard commands (Windows – Ctrl+V) (macOS – command+V)

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05) click the calendar icon to edit the date as necessary, click the drop-down button next to other entries to edit as necessary

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06) when edits are complete, scroll to the top of the page/list, click Stop to save your edits

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Zoom

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Zoom is a video conferencing tool that provides both video conferencing and screen sharing capabilities. It is similar to Skype and Google Hangouts.

The Online Learning Team maintains a guide for this tool, which is available on Canvas via the iSchool Online Learning Support site. You can access the guide here.

The Online Learning Team provides streaming support for classes and events. If you would like to request this, please fill out the streaming support request form.

If you have any questions, you may reach out to the Online Learning Team by emailing olt@uw.edu.