dacs.doc electric

After being chided more than once by one of our SIG leaders (who shall remain nameless) about how I am still using the rather outdated Red Hat 8 on my laptop, I decided to try something new. If you haunt the magazine section at the bookstore like I do, looking for interesting reading, you’ve seen the British magazine Linux Format. On my last trip to Borders, I noticed a more technical version called Linux User & Developer. Both magazines are a fun read, as they put a distinctly ‘different’ slant on the news and issues surrounding Linux and open source software. What makes Linux Format stand out on the shelf is the two or three CD-ROMs attached to each issue. Issue 39 of Linux User & Developer (I guess they don’t use months over there) came with two full Linux desktop distributions. The one that caught my eye, and got me to cough up the $11.99 price, is the business-oriented Xandros Desktop OS 2.

Xandros Desktop is a Debian-based distribution that has two really key differences from all of the Linux variants I have tried: (1) it’s not free and (2) it actually works. Here is what I found when I did the install:

• It installed without a hitch on my many-years old 300MHz Winbook. X-windows worked from the get-go, although I had to move the mouse from the PS/2 port to USB. Since this is a pretty new laser mouse and it was plugged in thru a USB to PS/2 adapter, the switch was not a big deal. This was the only hardware issue!
• The CD is a 30-day trial which is not noted anywhere on the magazine. It is on the CD in very small type. Actually this was my first clue that things would be different.
• I could actually print to my network printer on the first try! This is something I’ve been able to accomplish only one before in many, many, many tries.
• Installing and configuring wireless networking took a couple of pokes to find the right place to do the configuration.
• Windows networking actually works right “out of the box”. After walking thru the network setup wizard, I was able to browse the other computers on the network and copy files back and forth. Cool!
• The Linux machine could even join Active Directory domain on my network so that file permissions became automatic when opening files over the network–just like Windows. And a directory share on Xandros opens up from Windows as well, although I don’t have the file permissions quite right yet.
• Their update facility, called Xandros Networks, is almost as easy to use as Windows Update and seems to work just as well. This alone is worth the price.

Using StarOffice 7 on Xandros, I was able to open this very document from the server, continue writing and then save it back to the server – just as if I were using Microsoft Word® on Windows. Now I’m back on my other laptop running XP Pro to finish up.

The Xandros CD includes Crossover Office which is supposed to let you run Microsoft Office on Linux. I haven’t tried that yet. The distribution does include a really cool version of classic solitaire, the only computer game I actually play, and this version plays way better than the Windows version.

So is this distribution good enough to pay for? So far, I think so. There are several versions available on the Xandros web site (www.xandros.com) ranging from a free “Open Circulation” version (free when using a BitTorent download only) to $96.75 for the Business Edition, which is what is on the trial CD I installed.

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