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Linux, Still an Awkward Alternative (TechNews.com)
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In
some editions of the Post, the review of three distributions of the
Linux operating system that ran in the July 4 Fast Forward column
should have noted that while many Linux distributions cannot be set up
next to a Windows installation without using separate disk-partitioning
software, the Mandrake and SuSE releases reviewed in that column
include that capability. The story also should have said that Red Hat
Inc., is based in Raleigh, N.C.
Washington Post personal technology columnist Rob Pegoraro
answers reader e-mail and expands on themes he touches on in his weekly
newspaper column. The e-mail version of this weekly feature includes
links to the latest gadget and software reviews. • Click Here for Free Sign-up • Read E-letter Archive
By Rob Pegoraro The Washington Post
Sunday, July 4, 2004; Page F07
The choice of software to run our computers can get awfully
depressing. On one hand, there's Windows XP -- expensive and woefully
insecure, but it works on almost every machine out there. On the other,
there's Mac OS X -- far more secure, but also expensive and restricted
to Apple's own computers.
Where's our independence from this pair? For a growing minority
of users, it comes in the open-source operating system called Linux.
It's either cheap or free (depending if you buy a packaged distribution
or download a version online), it's secure and it can run on any
Windows-ready machine.
And because its code is open for anybody to modify, users, not
marketers, can get the final say in this operating system's evolution.
But Linux doesn't offer up these rewards easily. At worst,
installing it means hours of thumb-wrestling the software into
submission, first tweaking it to work with a PC's hardware and then
mastering the inscrutable routines needed to update and manage this
code.
The first problem arises because many hardware manufacturers
provide enabling software only for Windows, forcing Linux programmers
to do that work on their own. The second is a consequence of how Linux
was first crafted by hobbyists for other hobbyists.
With a lot of work by developers, those issues have improved
greatly in recent years, and Linux has gotten easier to find in stores
(Wal-Mart's Web site even sells desktop computers with it
pre-installed).
To check up on Linux's progress, I tried two commercial distributions, SuSE Linux 9.1 Personal ($30, www.suse.com) and Mandrakesoft's PowerPack 10 ($85, www.mandrakesoft.com), and one download-only release, Fedora Core 2 (fedora.redhat.com),
a community project sponsored by Chapel Hill, N.C.-based Linux
developer Red Hat Inc. (Windows XP Home goes for $199 new, or $99 at
the upgrade rate.)
All three incorporate the latest updates to the underlying Linux
software, differing mainly in the programs wrapped around that kernel
of code. All show the progress that has been made -- and the work that
remains to be done.
At one extreme, consider the "LiveCD" SuSE -- pop this in your
CD-ROM drive, reboot and you can run Linux right off that disc without
touching your existing Windows installation. It's a quick and painless
way to try out this system.
Mandrake's protracted setup routine, however, didn't configure a
graphical interface automatically and kept asking me to confirm
technical details like "mount points" that other distributions handled
on their own. (Mandrake's cheaper Discovery edition includes a LiveCD,
but PowerPack omits it.)
