Thursday, December 04, 2003
Crossing the great divide: Moving from Windows to Linux
I have been eager to try out Linux for some time. The idea of the free or low-cost paradigm is - surprise, surprise - compelling. Besides, I find it hard to swallow that CPU manufacturers can sell a product that utilises the complexities of cutting edge quantum physics for a couple of hundred bucks whilst the software that makes it work can cost three times that. Then, of course, one needs to buy application software to do anything useful. Soon, the outlay on software dwarves the outlay on hardware. How can this be?
So when a full copy of Linux Mandrake 9.1 appeared on the front of an IT magazine, I snaffled one.
Too chicken to make the full leap, I placed Linux on one hard drive partition while keeping Windows XP on another. I was one of those guys who got into PCs relatively early, when the operating system was DOS 4.1 and the machine it was put on was a 286. So whilst I was more than prepared to type in the odd command at the prompt, I was not able to sever the umbilical cord that tied me to years of saved documents and Windows convention. Fortunately, Linux made this process fairly painless, provided that XP was installed first (trying to install XP after I had installed Linux - leaving a free partition - caused me no end of grief).
My first observation about Mandrake Linux is that there is too much of everything. There are too many installation options, which if forgone for the more expedient options, lead to too many programs installed. Four internet browsers (count them: Konqueror; Galeon; Mozilla and; Lynx), 2 Acrobat readers, two office suites, three email clients and five Linux GUIs. I am almost certain this has to do with the ethos of choice which permeates the open source community, but I would rather the set and forget approach (which I subsequently find is available on certain Linux distributions, such as Lindows).
My second issue relates to the bugginess of many programs, especially browsers. None of the three GUI browsers supplied is without significant fault. Konqueror is great for downloading large files as it allows you to pick up where the last download left off, which is important for those (read me) with dial up internet accounts. But Konqueror didn't allow me to enter my.yahoo.com, so it was sent to the scrap heap.
Unexpectedly, for me, Mozilla is the worst of the lot. It does not do a great job of rendering pages and glitches abound. My understanding was that Mozilla was one of the more mature Linux packages. Perhaps this is due to my ignorance.
So I am left with Galeon. It doesn't have the neat download feature of Konqueror, but it renders all the pages I have looked at satisfactorily and doesn't have too many vices. Besides not saving my bookmarks ...
My third and final grumble is the lack of a true WYSIWYG web editor for Linux. I am not talking about those programs that help you to write code, I am talking about the kind of program that allows you to draw an html page and make it dynamic. There is Mozilla Composer, of course, but this package is nowhere near as powerful or`easy to use as, say, MS Frontpage. I tried to install Macromedia Dreamweaver using the Windows emulator WINE, but WINE didn't want a bar of it.
But it is not all doom and gloom. OpenOffice is not a bad package. I am a power Excel user and find that it is missing a few important features (the primitive implementation of Pivot Tables spring to mind) but I was impressed with the rest of the OpenOffice package, especially its ability to print to PDF - not possible in Microsoft Office without expensive add-ons.
Ximian Evolution is a dead ringer for Outlook and it works pretty well. It is a shame that to utilise it's calendar sharing features it needs access to an MS Exchange server.
And then there is the abundance of free software. Databases are a Linux strength and I have never felt short changed in that area. In fact, all Linux sever software seems to be remarkably powerful. If I were an SME, I would fully exhaust all Linux sever options before looking at any other options.
Ultimately, I don't feel that Linux is not quite ready for my desktop, at least not Mandrake though I am keen to give Lindows a run. It is not that I have issue with typing commands at the prompt, as is regularly required when installing Linux applications, though many others would. My problem is that I am a seasoned PC user, yet I cannot get Linux to play DVDs, open Java applets, automatically dial-up the internet when it is required, and a host of other routine tasks that I expect to take for granted.
In this way, Linux is now where Windows was back in its 3.11 days. This could be seen as both a backhanded insult and compliment. The true Linux believers will take umbrage because they know that Linux is more stable and more secure than 3.11 ever was.
Viewing this assessment in a complimentary light, it implies that Linux is less than a decade away from being a viable desktop alternative.
I am sure that thought keeps one man in Redmond up late some nights.
(PS. I posted this blog using Linux. I have not given up yet!)
So when a full copy of Linux Mandrake 9.1 appeared on the front of an IT magazine, I snaffled one.
Too chicken to make the full leap, I placed Linux on one hard drive partition while keeping Windows XP on another. I was one of those guys who got into PCs relatively early, when the operating system was DOS 4.1 and the machine it was put on was a 286. So whilst I was more than prepared to type in the odd command at the prompt, I was not able to sever the umbilical cord that tied me to years of saved documents and Windows convention. Fortunately, Linux made this process fairly painless, provided that XP was installed first (trying to install XP after I had installed Linux - leaving a free partition - caused me no end of grief).
My first observation about Mandrake Linux is that there is too much of everything. There are too many installation options, which if forgone for the more expedient options, lead to too many programs installed. Four internet browsers (count them: Konqueror; Galeon; Mozilla and; Lynx), 2 Acrobat readers, two office suites, three email clients and five Linux GUIs. I am almost certain this has to do with the ethos of choice which permeates the open source community, but I would rather the set and forget approach (which I subsequently find is available on certain Linux distributions, such as Lindows).
My second issue relates to the bugginess of many programs, especially browsers. None of the three GUI browsers supplied is without significant fault. Konqueror is great for downloading large files as it allows you to pick up where the last download left off, which is important for those (read me) with dial up internet accounts. But Konqueror didn't allow me to enter my.yahoo.com, so it was sent to the scrap heap.
Unexpectedly, for me, Mozilla is the worst of the lot. It does not do a great job of rendering pages and glitches abound. My understanding was that Mozilla was one of the more mature Linux packages. Perhaps this is due to my ignorance.
So I am left with Galeon. It doesn't have the neat download feature of Konqueror, but it renders all the pages I have looked at satisfactorily and doesn't have too many vices. Besides not saving my bookmarks ...
My third and final grumble is the lack of a true WYSIWYG web editor for Linux. I am not talking about those programs that help you to write code, I am talking about the kind of program that allows you to draw an html page and make it dynamic. There is Mozilla Composer, of course, but this package is nowhere near as powerful or`easy to use as, say, MS Frontpage. I tried to install Macromedia Dreamweaver using the Windows emulator WINE, but WINE didn't want a bar of it.
But it is not all doom and gloom. OpenOffice is not a bad package. I am a power Excel user and find that it is missing a few important features (the primitive implementation of Pivot Tables spring to mind) but I was impressed with the rest of the OpenOffice package, especially its ability to print to PDF - not possible in Microsoft Office without expensive add-ons.
Ximian Evolution is a dead ringer for Outlook and it works pretty well. It is a shame that to utilise it's calendar sharing features it needs access to an MS Exchange server.
And then there is the abundance of free software. Databases are a Linux strength and I have never felt short changed in that area. In fact, all Linux sever software seems to be remarkably powerful. If I were an SME, I would fully exhaust all Linux sever options before looking at any other options.
Ultimately, I don't feel that Linux is not quite ready for my desktop, at least not Mandrake though I am keen to give Lindows a run. It is not that I have issue with typing commands at the prompt, as is regularly required when installing Linux applications, though many others would. My problem is that I am a seasoned PC user, yet I cannot get Linux to play DVDs, open Java applets, automatically dial-up the internet when it is required, and a host of other routine tasks that I expect to take for granted.
In this way, Linux is now where Windows was back in its 3.11 days. This could be seen as both a backhanded insult and compliment. The true Linux believers will take umbrage because they know that Linux is more stable and more secure than 3.11 ever was.
Viewing this assessment in a complimentary light, it implies that Linux is less than a decade away from being a viable desktop alternative.
I am sure that thought keeps one man in Redmond up late some nights.
(PS. I posted this blog using Linux. I have not given up yet!)
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