Issue #5
January 2002
 |
 |
 |
Linux on the Desktop by Gerry Krownstein Dissatisfaction with Microsoft and its products is reaching a crescendo, not only at the workplace, but in the home as well. Fed by the poor quality of its software and the Draconian nature of its licensing policies, discontent with Microsoft is urging corporate IT managers and home PC users alike to look for a way out.
Linux, the free, open source UNIX offspring, has received a lot of good press recently as the coming contender for Window's crown in the computer marketplace. IBM has signified its Linux intentions with a billion-dollar investment; other major hardware vendors have followed suit. Lured by its low cost, rock-like stability and wide range of platform choice, corporate IT managers have awarded Linux a significant share of the server market. Is it time for the ordinary user to consider Linux as a replacement for Windows 98, ME, NT and 2000?
For the home user to even consider Linux, it must come pre-installed on new equipment, or be easy to install on equipment the user already has. It must accept Plug and Play hardware, or make it easy to install drivers for hardware add-ons. It must have Wizards that make internet connection a no-brainer. It must have application software that do all the things a home user needs: an office suite (word processor, spread sheet, calendar, mail handler, and for the business user, a presentation builder and PDA synchronizer); a web browser and other internet programs (telnet, FTP); software to handle special interests (digital camera interface and picture editor, CD ripper/burner software, games, PDF file reader and the like); and some way of running Windows programs under Linux so that the home user does not have to scrap his or her investment in software and buy all new stuff. Almost as important as the above is clear documentation readable by a Windows user of how Linux operates that can be referred to in the hour of need, the kind of documentation that Windows does not have today.
The good news is that Linux has most of the above. The bad news is: this does not include the documentation; Plug and Play implementation is iffy; software installation varies depending on the Linux distribution you use; and Microsoft-compatibility program installation, configuration and use (dosemu, Wine, Win4Lin) are not for the faint-hearted; Palm synchronization is primitive. Still, if you want it badly enough, you can migrate from Windows to Linux.
You can now buy desktop and laptop computers with Linux pre-installed, several different Linux distributions (Red Hat, Mandrake, SUSE) are available at stores like CompUSA for installing on your home computer, and the install process for a workstation configuration suitable for a home user is aided by install tools provided with the Linux distribution. Installing a Mandrake workstation on a desktop computer with a pre-existing Windows takes about 20 minutes and is very straightforward. The install process will retain your Windows partition if you want, resize it to your specifications, and set up Mandrake Linux in the remaining disk space, allowing a dual-boot system; that is, when you turn on the machine you have a choice of booting Linux or Windows. Still, odd things might happen that the ordinary user will have no way of resolving, such as a conflict between the floppy drive and something else that renders the floppy unusable under Linux, although it continues to work fine when Windows is selected at boot time.
The Plug and Play feature may or may not recognise your new device, and not every hardware manufacturer provides Linux drivers. Fortunately, if the device is at all popular, the Open Source community will find a way to create a driver, even when the hardware manufacturer is reluctant to give out specifications. Most "Windows only" devices (printers and modems, for the most part) now have Linux drivers written despite their manufacturers and Microsoft. The Linux install CDs have a large library of drivers, and more are available on the internet.
Application software is still a problem, but less and less so every day. Browsers, PDF readers, CD rippers and burners, DVD player software and much else comes free with the Linux install CDs. Internet connectivity is a natural for Linux. Most Linux distributions come with two office suites, Star Office and Applixware, that provide most or all of the functionality of Microsoft Office (or Word Perfect Office, which runs on most Linux distributions, but has to be bought separately). The ability to import and export files in Microsoft Office formats is there for those that need it in order to coordinate with other business colleagues. You can, with some rough spots, survive as a Linux user in a sea of Microsoft users.
The fall-back, running windows programs under Linux, is iffy. Dosemu emulates DOS for Microsoft non-windows programs, but nobody uses these much anymore. Wine emulates windows so that Windows95 and Windows98 programs will run, some of them, some of the time. Getting it running right is tricky, but many Windows programs will function, though a bit slowly. (It is interesting that Word Perfect Office for Linux is not really a Linux implementation; installing it also installs a specially-tailored copy of Wine, which then runs the Windows version of WP Office.) Win4Lin actually runs Windows 95 or 98 itself under Linux.Windows ME, 2000, NT and XP are currently not supported. Once Win4Lin is up and running, requiring an actual Windows install, you can install most Windows application programs (including MS Office) and they will run, since they are actually running under Windows, which itself is running under Linux. There are limitations on the hardware that Win4Lin will let Windows recognize. Of course, with dual booting, you can always just boot up Windows for that must-have program you can't get to run under Linux. Since Linux can read the Windows partition, any files you create during the Windows session will be available under a Linux session.
All in all, a sophisticated Windows user willing to spend some time understanding how Linux works has a fighting chance of successfully converting to Linux and abandoning Windows for all but a few tasks. A naive user unwilling to spend the time and effort to learn about the far more powerful operating system he or she is converting to will drown in frustration.
Click on underlined by-lines for the author’s home page.
New York Stringer is published by NYStringer.com. For all communications, contact David Katz, Editor and Publisher, at david@nystringer.c om
All content copyright 2002 by nystringer.com