Tux moves in

Two months on from his cold turkey experiment, Geoff is still doing Linux. Readers ask: can I do it too?

Geoff Palmer | Monday, December 03 2001

In October I reported on my thoughts and observations after using nothing but Linux for a month. The column leaked. At least one large US site picked up the link on pcworld.co.nz and for a while my inbox was flooded. Among the many positive comments I received there were many questions …

GENERAL

Are you still using Linux?
Absolutely! It’s remained the default operating system on Bob, my elderly laptop, and the preferred choice for my desktop. In fact only yesterday I shrunk Bob’s Windows partition in order to make more room for you-know-what. Unfortunately some of my editorial and professional work still demands Windows, but Linux is now where I prefer to be.

Where can I get Linux? How much does it cost?
You’ll find Linux at your local computer shop in wide variety of packaging. Everything from just a couple of shrink-wrapped CDs to weighty boxes containing multiple manuals and up to nine CDs. Prices range from around $30 up to several hundred.

I thought you said it was free!
Technically it is and, if you’ve a lot of patience or a high-speed internet connection, you can download it for nothing, write it onto a set of CDs and install from there. But we’re talking at least 1GB of download. It’s the same with the manuals. You can download them for nothing, print them off, collate and bind them — but what a hassle! When you buy a package you’re buying four things; convenience, support, applications and printed documentation. Essentially, the more you pay, the more you get — in each category.

Why all the different names for Linux? You know, Red Hat, Debian, Mandrake, SuSe, Free BSD, Caldera, etc?
Linux comes in what are known as “distributions”; pre-packaged collections of software that make up a complete system. You could, if you were keen, create your own by assembling all the different components but again, why bother when others have done it for you?

So are you saying it doesn’t matter which distribution I choose?
According to the authors of the excellent Running Linux (published by O’Reilly books), “... most of the popular Linux distributions contain roughly the same set of software, so the distribution you select is more or less arbitrary.” But don’t take my word for it. For a detailed look at the differences check out the Distributions how-to at linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Distributions-HOWTO/index.html. It’s summarised as being “Intended to show prospective users or administrators … the range of choices open to them when deciding on a distribution for the first time”.

If I settle on, say, a two-CD set, can I add to it?
You can do what you like! Once you’ve got the core system, you can add and subtract whatever components you want. There are no hooks in Linux that prevent a cheap “starter” system being built up into a complete “expert” one.

INSTALLATION

Is Linux difficult to install?
No, but you should read the installation guide that comes with your particular distribution. There are many options; you can even install Linux under Windows (though I understand it runs a little slower in this mode). You’ll need to know one or two things about your system before you start, such as the sort of graphics card it has and your screen resolution, but apart from that it’s a doddle.

So I can have Windows and Linux on the same machine?
Absolutely. When Linux installs it’ll create a boot menu from which you pick the operating system you want to start. As a safeguard, since Linux will rewrite your hard disk’s boot sector, I suggest you create a Windows boot disk beforehand. That way, if anything goes wrong with the installation, you’ll still be able to access Windows.

I installed Linux but when I rebooted, my PC locked up saying “LI” and/or filled the screen with the same number over and over again.
Linux Loader (LILO), the most popular of the dual-boot packages, is extremely good but not infallible. Because it’s so small there’s not much room for error messages so the four stages of its processing are equated to each of the letters in its name. “LI” means it’s had a problem in the second stage of its startup and the repeated number indicates the nature of the error. Check out the Linux crash rescue how-to at http://www.linuxdoc.org

My modem doesn’t work under Linux.
Far and away the most common Linux problem for Windows converts. You almost certainly have a “Winmodem”; a modem that relies on Windows’ drivers to do some of its processing. And as you’re not currently running Windows .…
There is some hope. Many manufacturers either supply Linux modem drivers or have opened up their chipsets so that Linux gurus can code their own. Check out the details at linmodems.org. Also check the extensive lists of what works and what doesn’t at idir.net/~gromitkc/winmodem.html.
But by far the simplest solution if you’re upgrading your old modem or buying a new PC is to ask for a Linux-compatible device. (And if the worst comes to the worst, a new modem plus Linux is still less than half the upgrade price of WinXP.)

RUNNING LINUX

What’s with all the different desktop environments?
One of the many options in Linux is the variety of graphical user environments you can choose from. The principal ones are KDE and Gnome — most distributions install these by default — but there are close to a dozen others. Some, like BlackBox and Xfce use very little memory making them ideal for older or more limited systems. The choice is yours. (And you don’t have to settle on just one. Install them all and take your pick from the drop-down menu whenever you log in.)

Which do you use?
A totally irrational, personal preference: KDE. I’ve tried ‘em all but I keep coming back to it, even on Bob. Yes, his P-II and 80MB is a little faster under some of the light-weight ones, but I just like the look and feel of KDE — especially after upgrading to version 2.2 and adding the Mosfet’s “Liquid” style engine (from http://mosfet.org/liquid.html ). Wow!

Can I read my Windows files under Linux?
Yes. Linux can access all files on your Windows partitions but it doesn’t work the other way around.

I really need Windows compatibility for my Microsoft Office files.
The free office suite StarOffice 5.2 comes with many Linux installations. It’s good but I reckon version 6.0 is way better. The latter’s currently still in beta (test) release but I’ve found it fast, solid and reliable. (I’m using Star Writer, StarOffice’s Word equivalent, for this column, and saving it in Word’s .doc format.) You can download version 6 — for either Linux or Windows. Sun StarOffice 6.0 beta is also available for free from this month’s free PC World Plus CD.
Another good choice is Open Office and, on the commercial side, there’s Hancom’s $100 office suite or WordPerfect Office for Linux. And don’t overlook the software that comes with your installation.

What about actually running Windows applications under Linux?
That’s possible too. Check out the Wine project ( http://winehq.org ) for free Windows emulation software and Vmware for commercial packages that allow you to emulate a Windows operating system under Linux — and vice versa. The downloadable demos are free.

MISCELLANY
Where can I find help on …?
The real problem is not finding help for Linux but filtering down the vast amounts of information available to your specific problem. Start with the documentation that came with your distribution — printed or on disk — then check out your distributor’s website. Most have forums, FAQs, downloadable docs and detailed support sections. Another excellent source are the how-tos at the Linux documentation project ( http://linuxdoc.com ). And keep an eye on your distribution’s newsgroup on Usenet. I’ve picked up heaps of information just lurking on alt.os.linux.mandrake.

You got the GPL wrong in your October column.
I did. Sorry. The GNU general public licence (GPL) is actually more liberal than I stated. If you develop software from scratch using free GPL tools, the program remains yours and yours alone. But if your program’s derived from another GPL work, you must distribute it using the same conditions under which you obtained the original code. Let’s say I build a word processor from scratch using GCC, Linux’s free C++ compiler. The code belongs to me and I can distribute it however I like. Then I decide to add a spelling checker to it. Rather than write my own, I download the free GPL source code for one and incorporate it into my program. Now I have a derivative work. When I distribute it, it must be under the same conditions as those under which I obtained the free code.
And charging doesn’t enter into it. You can charge whatever you like to distribute your software but — if it’s a GPL derivative — each purchaser is free to resell it so market forces will prevent exorbitant pricing.

geoff_palmer@idg.co.nz