Linux for dummies?

Caldera's new package is easy to install -- but it may point the way to an open-source Babel.

By Andrew Leonard

May 11, 1999 | What a difference a year makes. With every new release of a Linux distribution, the operating system takes another giant hopscotch forward in addressing one of its most frequently criticized aspects: ease of use. The spanking new Caldera OpenLinux 2.2 -- featuring the KDE graphical user interface (or GUI) and scads of other goodies -- offers by the far the easiest, most idiot-proof installation of any Linux distribution so far. Even more intriguingly, it extends to Linux newbies the warm comforting embrace of a graphical desktop environment so much improved over last year's model that one can only wonder what will be next.

Expert Linux users are by no means united in praise of Caldera's new offering. To some, the installation procedure doesn't offer enough choices; to others, it makes the job of upgrading from previous versions very difficult. But underneath the glossy new exterior, the messy, anarchic complexity of Linux still swarms. Hackers who want to ditch the slick KDE interface and start tinkering with the engine can drop down to a command line without hassle. In theory, then, one might call OpenLinux a major stab at achieving the holy grail of Linux computing -- seamless user friendliness without any sacrifice of flexibility and configurability. (Never mind, for now, the always controversial issue of whether Caldera and KDE qualify as truly "free" software by the stringent standards of Richard Stallman and his cohorts.)

The theory doesn't quite hold up, however. Despite its evident power, the KDE desktop interface is still really just a veneer disguising a host of challenges lurking for the unwary user. It is all too easy to plunge into the innards of any Linux system and severely mangle the "user friendly" shell; believe me, I know. And there's also the question of where the continuing evolution of no-brainer Linux installations is leading. The various Linux distributions continue to morph into distinctly different identities. Does this mean that the Linux market is fulfilling the predictions of open-source skeptics by beginning to fragment into incompatibility, just as Unix did before it?

First, the good news: OpenLinux 2.2 is easy to install. I installed it on two different machines -- a four-year-old Pentium 100 clunker and a brand new box from VA Linux Systems (formerly VA Research). In both instances, the work proceeded smoothly -- without one single command-line entry required. While the installation software did not automatically recognize the make of either monitor, it was easy enough to choose the correct model from a drop-down list. Perhaps most remarkably, for those who are familiar with the intricacies of Unix and Linux, OpenLinux even allows users to skate right through the process of partitioning their hard drive. Basically, you pop in a floppy disk and a CD-ROM, click on a few buttons, wait an hour or so and you're done.

After installation, I stared at a graphical desktop that looked remarkably familiar to someone coming from a Windows background. I could click on icons for my CD-ROM and floppy disk drive -- no more cumbersome "mount" commands necessary to access files stored there. I could get Netscape or WordPerfect running with a minimum of labor. On my machine at work, I connected via ethernet to the office network on my first attempt. At home, to my enduring astonishment, I was even able to configure PPP and connect to the Net -- on my first try.

There are, naturally, still bugs in the system. The PPP connection, although easy to set up, proved to be extremely unreliable. I also managed to brutally crash my systems through actions that would no doubt have been unimaginably stupid to a Linux guru, but seemed to me quite normal things to try. Is OpenLinux 2.2 as easy to use as Windows 98 or an iMac? No.

Next Page: OpenLinux screams progress -- but to where?

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