April 2004
Title: Ciao Windows
Blurb: Can Linux base softwares such as Fedora break our addiction from Windows?
Byline: Salman Siddiqui
It’s only a matter of time before eventually either due to cost factors or simply out of curiosity you will be forced to join the open source bandwagon and then instead of the ubiquitous Windows seen on desktops everywhere you’ll find yourself looking for some other OS for your main work station. Infact this shift is already making a huge stride in the global PC market which is expected to sell 191.3 million units this year alone. Already HP, that has a 17 percent global share in the PC market, has announced that it will become the world’s first major PC manufacturer to sell desktop machines installed with the open source Linux software.
The Problem is Choice
Linux is an open source operating system that comes in many flavors or ‘distros’ as geeks like to call it having varying levels of difficulty. For a normal desktop user the recommended distros are Mandrake 9.2, SuSe 9.0, Lycoris Update 3, Fedora Core 1, and Lindows 4/4.5 which are easy to use whereas others such as Gentoo, Ark Linux and Debian-based releases are better suited for the advanced Linux users. Also besides these Red Hat also offers a stable, corporate desktop versions of Red Hat Linux that comes for a price tag if you want to have phone based or web based support options along with it.
For a review on a Linux distro that can be easily deployed by a normal home user for everyday use and that provides a solid alternative to a Windows based OS, we choose the freely downloadable Fedora Core 1. Although Fedora comes with many limited options, it has a strong community with IRC channels, forums and web-based support that is more appropriate for someone who wants to experiment a Linux based product for the first time.
A background check on Fedora
Fedora is an open source community based project initiated and sponsored by the Red Hat engineering team. Its goal according to the official website is “to work with the Linux community to build a complete, general purpose operating system exclusively from free software.” But why instigate to build another open source OS when Red Hat already has an established Linux based desktop product? Fedora according to Red Hat is different in terms of its development process because since it is more open to outside participation in the building of the its core, it provides more appeal to the open source community. From more outside participation it is meant that not only the Red Hat engineering team but the entire open source community in general will be able to participate in the development of this OS through Internet technologies such as mailing lists, the IRC channel# Fedora, CVS and bugzilla.
Also Fedora is not as yet marketed as a product of Red Hat even though eventually it is planned that the Linux vendor will eventually incorporate it into its Red Hast Linux Enterprise (RHLE) edition in the near future.
But I want to keep my Windows too!
With a dual boot configuration you can keep both Fedora and your choice of Windows on your system. However in order to make sure that you don’t blow out windows during installation it is recommended that you first create a separate partition specifically for Fedora using the easily available tool Partition Magic setting aside a space of about 5 GB. Although the default installation program of Fedora called Anaconda does provide the option of automatically creating partitions, it is safer to create the partition using third party software tools. Infact it is best that you install it on a separate hard drive altogether if you can afford to buy another one. Once installed on a separate partition, you will be provided with a prompt to choose between Fedora and Windows at start-up. For more details on how exactly to configure the dual-booting configuration check out the links section.
Installation
Installation of Fedora is uneventful and is infact very similar to the installation program of Red Hat 9. Even if you have never installed an operating system before on a desktop machine you should find this part the easiest. It prompts for the same settings for Language, Keyboard etc as the installation program of Windows does. The only problem that a novice user might find is that perhaps a particular type of hardware such as a monitor might not be detected by the program. In such a case select the monitor that most closely matches your monitor. Also when configuring the partitions manually a beginner might get confused selecting one as ‘root’; in this case either look up one of the step by step tutorials given in the links section or simply choose the automatically configure partitions options and leave it to the installation program to do the rest. Once you’re through with this, it should take only about an hour before Fedora greets you with a rather surprisingly crispy looking graphical interface.
The Pros
Fedora come bundled with a number of packages including the new and improved graphical booting sequence, desktop environments called Gnome 2.4.0, three Internet browsers: Mozilla Konquerer and Epiphany to choose from, a messaging client Gaim 0.71 through which you can use both Yahoo and MSN messenger, XMMS 1.2.8 for some multimedia support, and the Open Office which in many ways is equivalent to the Microsoft Office 2000 package if not the 2003 version. Also besides these Fedora also comes with lots of server software like the Apache version 2 to serve web pages, Samba to access windows shares, CUPS to organize your printers, mySQL, PostgreSQL, a news server, an FTP server, SSH support and other advanced technologies that power users or administrators dig in a power OS. A basic Firewall called lokkit is also included. Hence this distro includes most of what users would need for their home usage.
The Cons
Some of the most essential software packages that come along with the final version of Fedora Core 1 either have limited options or give unexplained errors. For example the default Mozilla browser needs to download plug-ins for Flash, JAVA and so on. However even after installing the Flash plug-in from authentic sites the browser was unable to load sites using flash content. Also on the entertainment side, the default music player XMMS can’t play mp3 files unless a plug-in is downloaded. DVD playback software is also nowhere to be found on the entertainment menu; in fact there wasn't one decent video player included in the menu which is quite ironic considering that Fedora is promoted as desktop OS. Also the Rhytmbox software fails to play streaming music content and generates an error. Simple tasks such as setting up a printer on a network or Internet connection are hard to configure.
But the main problem isn’t that the software packages included in the final version aren’t either complete or are error prone but it’s the difficulty through which one has to update or solve the problems that can easily put off a new user, especially the ones who are thinking of migrating from Windows. Even the Linux Guru Eric Raymond has identified this as a problem facing not only with Fedora but with the open source community in general. Commenting in his blog at the difficulties that even an expert like himself had to go through when trying to configure a network printer on his two Fedora machines using CUPS, he says that “The problem isn't that the right things are technically difficult to do; CUPS is already supposed to have a discovery of active shareable queues as a feature. The problem is that the CUPS designers' attitude was wrong. They never stepped outside their assumptions. They never exerted the mental effort to forget what they know and sit down at the system like a dumb user who's never seen it before — and they never watched a dumb user in action! CUPS is not alone. This kind of fecklessness is endemic in open-source land. And it's what's keeping Microsoft in business — because by Goddess, they may write crappy insecure overpriced shoddy software, but on this one issue their half-assed semi-competent best is an order of magnitude better than we usually manage.”
Let’s face the facts shall we?
According to an IDC report currently Microsoft’s Windows has an almost 94% share in the PC market whereas Linux and its distros account for only 3.2%. Clearly Linux hasn’t as yet created an appreciable effect in the desktop world as yet but a part of this reason also lies in the fact that Microsoft generates about the same amount of revenue in 3 days as the entire Linux industry generates in a year. More money at Microsoft’s end means more aggressive marketing strategy of their products which in turn drives their market share; something that the open source community lacks.
However at the moment the word ‘free’ or ‘open’ sourced software means nothing to a piracy supporting country like ours where even Windows for us is open sourced in a way. So at the end of the day the argument draws to this: What would a normal Pakistani user do when he’s got only 30 rupees to spare and he has to choose between Microsoft’s Windows and the open source Fedora? Quite frankly in this situation Windows is no doubt the better option, but ever since Musharaf has rubbed shoulders with Bill Gates at Washington I think it would be a good idea to be a bit paranoid and start playing around with Fedora for a change.
Sites:
Desktop versions of Red Hat Linux
www.redhat.com/software/rhel/ws/
XMMS version 1.2.8 MP3 plug-in
img.osnews.com/files/xmms-mp3-fc1.tar.gz
Fedora
Fedora.redhat.com
Eric’s Blog
www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cups-horror.html
Blurb: Can Linux base softwares such as Fedora break our addiction from Windows?
Byline: Salman Siddiqui
It’s only a matter of time before eventually either due to cost factors or simply out of curiosity you will be forced to join the open source bandwagon and then instead of the ubiquitous Windows seen on desktops everywhere you’ll find yourself looking for some other OS for your main work station. Infact this shift is already making a huge stride in the global PC market which is expected to sell 191.3 million units this year alone. Already HP, that has a 17 percent global share in the PC market, has announced that it will become the world’s first major PC manufacturer to sell desktop machines installed with the open source Linux software.
The Problem is Choice
Linux is an open source operating system that comes in many flavors or ‘distros’ as geeks like to call it having varying levels of difficulty. For a normal desktop user the recommended distros are Mandrake 9.2, SuSe 9.0, Lycoris Update 3, Fedora Core 1, and Lindows 4/4.5 which are easy to use whereas others such as Gentoo, Ark Linux and Debian-based releases are better suited for the advanced Linux users. Also besides these Red Hat also offers a stable, corporate desktop versions of Red Hat Linux that comes for a price tag if you want to have phone based or web based support options along with it.
For a review on a Linux distro that can be easily deployed by a normal home user for everyday use and that provides a solid alternative to a Windows based OS, we choose the freely downloadable Fedora Core 1. Although Fedora comes with many limited options, it has a strong community with IRC channels, forums and web-based support that is more appropriate for someone who wants to experiment a Linux based product for the first time.
A background check on Fedora
Fedora is an open source community based project initiated and sponsored by the Red Hat engineering team. Its goal according to the official website is “to work with the Linux community to build a complete, general purpose operating system exclusively from free software.” But why instigate to build another open source OS when Red Hat already has an established Linux based desktop product? Fedora according to Red Hat is different in terms of its development process because since it is more open to outside participation in the building of the its core, it provides more appeal to the open source community. From more outside participation it is meant that not only the Red Hat engineering team but the entire open source community in general will be able to participate in the development of this OS through Internet technologies such as mailing lists, the IRC channel# Fedora, CVS and bugzilla.
Also Fedora is not as yet marketed as a product of Red Hat even though eventually it is planned that the Linux vendor will eventually incorporate it into its Red Hast Linux Enterprise (RHLE) edition in the near future.
But I want to keep my Windows too!
With a dual boot configuration you can keep both Fedora and your choice of Windows on your system. However in order to make sure that you don’t blow out windows during installation it is recommended that you first create a separate partition specifically for Fedora using the easily available tool Partition Magic setting aside a space of about 5 GB. Although the default installation program of Fedora called Anaconda does provide the option of automatically creating partitions, it is safer to create the partition using third party software tools. Infact it is best that you install it on a separate hard drive altogether if you can afford to buy another one. Once installed on a separate partition, you will be provided with a prompt to choose between Fedora and Windows at start-up. For more details on how exactly to configure the dual-booting configuration check out the links section.
Installation
Installation of Fedora is uneventful and is infact very similar to the installation program of Red Hat 9. Even if you have never installed an operating system before on a desktop machine you should find this part the easiest. It prompts for the same settings for Language, Keyboard etc as the installation program of Windows does. The only problem that a novice user might find is that perhaps a particular type of hardware such as a monitor might not be detected by the program. In such a case select the monitor that most closely matches your monitor. Also when configuring the partitions manually a beginner might get confused selecting one as ‘root’; in this case either look up one of the step by step tutorials given in the links section or simply choose the automatically configure partitions options and leave it to the installation program to do the rest. Once you’re through with this, it should take only about an hour before Fedora greets you with a rather surprisingly crispy looking graphical interface.
The Pros
Fedora come bundled with a number of packages including the new and improved graphical booting sequence, desktop environments called Gnome 2.4.0, three Internet browsers: Mozilla Konquerer and Epiphany to choose from, a messaging client Gaim 0.71 through which you can use both Yahoo and MSN messenger, XMMS 1.2.8 for some multimedia support, and the Open Office which in many ways is equivalent to the Microsoft Office 2000 package if not the 2003 version. Also besides these Fedora also comes with lots of server software like the Apache version 2 to serve web pages, Samba to access windows shares, CUPS to organize your printers, mySQL, PostgreSQL, a news server, an FTP server, SSH support and other advanced technologies that power users or administrators dig in a power OS. A basic Firewall called lokkit is also included. Hence this distro includes most of what users would need for their home usage.
The Cons
Some of the most essential software packages that come along with the final version of Fedora Core 1 either have limited options or give unexplained errors. For example the default Mozilla browser needs to download plug-ins for Flash, JAVA and so on. However even after installing the Flash plug-in from authentic sites the browser was unable to load sites using flash content. Also on the entertainment side, the default music player XMMS can’t play mp3 files unless a plug-in is downloaded. DVD playback software is also nowhere to be found on the entertainment menu; in fact there wasn't one decent video player included in the menu which is quite ironic considering that Fedora is promoted as desktop OS. Also the Rhytmbox software fails to play streaming music content and generates an error. Simple tasks such as setting up a printer on a network or Internet connection are hard to configure.
But the main problem isn’t that the software packages included in the final version aren’t either complete or are error prone but it’s the difficulty through which one has to update or solve the problems that can easily put off a new user, especially the ones who are thinking of migrating from Windows. Even the Linux Guru Eric Raymond has identified this as a problem facing not only with Fedora but with the open source community in general. Commenting in his blog at the difficulties that even an expert like himself had to go through when trying to configure a network printer on his two Fedora machines using CUPS, he says that “The problem isn't that the right things are technically difficult to do; CUPS is already supposed to have a discovery of active shareable queues as a feature. The problem is that the CUPS designers' attitude was wrong. They never stepped outside their assumptions. They never exerted the mental effort to forget what they know and sit down at the system like a dumb user who's never seen it before — and they never watched a dumb user in action! CUPS is not alone. This kind of fecklessness is endemic in open-source land. And it's what's keeping Microsoft in business — because by Goddess, they may write crappy insecure overpriced shoddy software, but on this one issue their half-assed semi-competent best is an order of magnitude better than we usually manage.”
Let’s face the facts shall we?
According to an IDC report currently Microsoft’s Windows has an almost 94% share in the PC market whereas Linux and its distros account for only 3.2%. Clearly Linux hasn’t as yet created an appreciable effect in the desktop world as yet but a part of this reason also lies in the fact that Microsoft generates about the same amount of revenue in 3 days as the entire Linux industry generates in a year. More money at Microsoft’s end means more aggressive marketing strategy of their products which in turn drives their market share; something that the open source community lacks.
However at the moment the word ‘free’ or ‘open’ sourced software means nothing to a piracy supporting country like ours where even Windows for us is open sourced in a way. So at the end of the day the argument draws to this: What would a normal Pakistani user do when he’s got only 30 rupees to spare and he has to choose between Microsoft’s Windows and the open source Fedora? Quite frankly in this situation Windows is no doubt the better option, but ever since Musharaf has rubbed shoulders with Bill Gates at Washington I think it would be a good idea to be a bit paranoid and start playing around with Fedora for a change.
Sites:
Desktop versions of Red Hat Linux
www.redhat.com/software/rhel/ws/
XMMS version 1.2.8 MP3 plug-in
img.osnews.com/files/xmms-mp3-fc1.tar.gz
Fedora
Fedora.redhat.com
Eric’s Blog
www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cups-horror.html
posted by Salman Siddiqui | 8:37 AM
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