Feb 14, 2003
Lindows has
aimed to become the GNU/Linux distribution for anyone coming from
Windows to Linux (hence the name). They have, without a doubt,
pushed the envelope for marketing and pushed the operating system
into the mainstream media and retailers. Still, does LindowsOS have
what it takes to be the victor of the Penguin Shootout?
Lindows is a rather
polarizing distribution in many ways. For the most part, people
either love it or hate it, both for the company's attitude and the
distribution itself. We'll consider that in a bit, but first comes
the question of how it stacks up to other distributions technically.
If Only It was the Best of Times
The first potential issue in any distribution, although one
I've only encountered a handful of times, is whether the setup
program will boot. Unfortunately, it would seem that LindowsOS now
joins its close relative Xandros Desktop in having a problem at the
boot up stage. Like Xandros Desktop, LindowsOS chokes on our new
test box after getting to the "detecting hardware" portion of the
boot process (before actually launching into the setup tool). During
our testing we did try the various alternate options (including
using the VESA display mode) and the only option that worked was the
recovery mode that dumps one at a prompt without anyway to get into
setup.
This is a rather curious issue as we have
tested many other distributions on this system, including SuSE
Linux, Mandrake Linux, Red Hat Linux, Lycoris Desktop/LX, and Ark
Linux without any major hardware issues (i.e. all of them provided a
working setup and working system). It should also be said that this
is far from an exotic configuration: a Dell Dimension 4550 with an
Intel Pentium 4 2.6 GHz processor, Intel 845PE chipset, ATI Radeon
9700 video card, and 256 megs of RAM. While the Radeon and 845PE
both have minor issues with some distributions, all of the other
flavors that we tested were able to successfully fall back to slower
settings that worked well with that hardware (the next batch of
distributions promises to eliminate all issues with this system).
Whatever the case, we remained undeterred, and
continued testing on our veteran Pentium II test box. The setup
program is friendly, perhaps one of the friendliest out there. While
the program lacks most of the control veteran GNU/Linux users take
for granted, it probably is a step in the right direction for new
users. Much like Windows 2000/XP, and the in-development Ark Linux
distribution, software selection is not part of the installation
process. Rather, the installer just assumes which basics you need,
and lets you use their software management tool later if you wish to
add more packages. I think the jury might be out on whether this is
better, but I don't think I would say it is worse, at least.
After answering a few simple questions, the
installation process took only about 10 minutes to install even
though we were using a system with only modest hardware. We were
quite pleased with LindowsOS's speed at installation and were soon
rebooting and on our way to a working LindowsOS system -- or were
we?
Unfortunately not, or not all the way to a GUI
at least. It would appear that the nVidia Riva 128 ZX chipset in our
system was thought to be another type of nVidia, as XFree86
terminated complaining about being unable to find the video card.
Fortunately, we had a working XFree86 configuration file handy and
replacing the Lindows created one with our configuration file solved
the problem. Oddly enough, the Lindows HCL (Hardware Compatibility
List) suggests that the card in question, a Dell/STB Velocity 128
ZX, is not supported by the operating system, even though it most
certainly is (abet not by the installer). LindowsOS now claims the
dubious distinction of being the only GNU/Linux distribution we have
ever tested on this machine (going all the way back to Red Hat Linux
5.1) that does not get along with this card, save early versions of
OEone HomeBase that were intended mostly for specific hardware.
Back on Track
After one complete
failure and one botched configuration, I was relieved when we
finally got the graphic environment going and saw that at least it
was in working order. If I can say one thing, Lindows.com has done a
nice job with their KDE modifications. For the most part, the
modifications do not change any functionality, but they do dress up
the desktop a bit. Good job Lindows! Our version of LindowsOS
included KDE 3.0.1 updated with a prerelease of the Keramik widgets
(buttons, scrollbars, etc.), a fancy version of the Keramik window
decorations customized by Lindows.com, an attractive LindowsOS
wallpaper, and an extended Crystal icon set. Like Desktop/LX, the
desktop featured a variety of icons familar to Windows users such as
"My Documents" and "My Computer," a good idea for those newly
migrating to GNU/Linux.
All of that was fine, but
what we really wanted to see in Lindows was the much-hyped
Click-n-Run system. While we were aware that it was basically just a
front end to apt-get set to a non-free software archive operated by
Lindows.com, it was still intriguing to finally see how it worked.
It isn't "knock your socks off" great, but it is pretty nice, and
has some nice graphical touches that makes it more pleasant to use
than Mandrake or SuSE's package managers.
We do
take issue at Lindows? policy concerning Click-n-Run, however.
Lindows.com is the only distribution we know of that actually makes
users subscribe to a service ("Click-n-Run Warehouse") to receive
full access to product updates (the "junior," free, version does
provide access to "select updates" and 10 free downloads).
Click-n-Run membership does provide some nice software, including
StarOffice and a Bitstream font pack, although most of the premium
applications are already included on the Click-n-Run Express CD that
you receive as part of your purchase. While you won't be able to
get full update access if you don't spring for the $99/year
membership (or get the LindowsOS/Click-n-Run bundle for $119), we
would probably recommend against a Click-n-Run subscription in most
cases, especially since most of the Click-n-Run items not included
on the CnR Express CD are Free/Open Source software available on the
internet already via the same basic system ("apt-get") that
LindowsOS uses.
Another item of note about
LindowsOS is its inclusion of Netscape 7.0, something that we are
unaware of any other distribution including. While you can download
that browser for free, it is nice that it is included, at least for
AOL members who will appreciate the ability to check their AOL
e-mail through Netscape Mail (of course, since AOL doesn't support
GNU/Linux, you will still need an alternate internet dialup or
broadband connection to get on the internet).
Feature wise, probably nothing in LindowsOS has attracted more
attention than the company's decision to make the default user root
(the super user/administrator). Most distributions avoid this
because it opens up a whole new can of "worms" (and viruses) to
GNU/Linux systems. Thankfully, LindowsOS does support non-root users
in this release, so at least those aware of the risks can move to a
more secure setup without a lot of hassle.
How
its Cost Stacks Up
Simply put, concerning initial
investment costs, LindowsOS is the most expensive GNU/Linux
distribution for enterprise deployment. For the full package,
including Click-n-Run, LindowsOS costs $119, whereas Xandros Desktop
Deluxe, which includes CrossOver Office and Plugin, weighs in at $99
and Mandrake Linux PowerPack, including StarOffice, is only $79.
Lindows has introduced a $49 version without
Click-n-Run membership, but Xandros recently took a similar action
offering a $39 edition and Mandrake Linux has its standard edition
priced at $30. More importantly, in our opinion, is the fact that
both Xandros and Lindows.com have per-seat/per-user licensing for
commercial usage, meaning that unlike most other distributions
we've been testing, you will need to buy more than one copy of the
distribution if you plan to deploy it on multiple systems. If all
other things were equal, that would mean Mandrake Linux or SuSE
Linux could end up being thousands of dollars cheaper to deploy than
the others. Are all other things equal? In many cases, we'd be
inclined to say "yes," although LindowsOS does offer some unique
features, so in-house analysis of the different distributions is
advisable before making a decision.
Lindows vs.
the World?
Then there are the "political issues"
concerning LindowsOS that constantly keep the company in the
computer news. As I noted at the beginning of this article,
Lindows.com is a rather polarizing company, and this should be of
concern to those considering adopting its products. On the one hand,
many people have been heralding LindowsOS as the first real
competitor to Microsoft Windows, but a larger group of observers
have accused Lindows.com of living up to its name -- that is, having
Microsoft-like business practices. Neither is completely true,
obviously. The other distributions we've reviewed are all fine
candidates for Microsoft Windows replacement and Lindows.com is
cooperative with the community to a certain extent. Regrettably, the
complaints against Lindows are not completely without merit.
Lindows.com, for whatever reason, just seems to
take the controversial route in many cases. Notable examples since
its launch in August 2001 include violation of the GNU General
Public License by requiring beta testers agree to a Non-Disclosure
Agreement (NDA), renaming of common KDE applications with glitzier
names and then claiming that they were worth hundreds of dollars
(for example, KWord was renamed "WritePro" and listed as a $299
value for Click-n-Run members), and claiming a special development
relationship with AOL when it really was just bundling Netscape 7
with LindowsOS.
There are also several current
LindowsOS actions that have drawn somewhat of a stir, most notably,
the "Desktop Linux Summit." As we reported in an
earlier article, many companies have pulled out of the summit
after Lindows.com decided it would no longer be run by a vender
neutral advisory board as previously promised. DesktopLinux.com,
Lycoris, Hewlett-Packard, and most recently, Sun Microsystems, have
all since canceled plans to exhibit or sponsor the show. Another
action that has generated some skepticism is the $299 price tag on
the "Lindows Insiders" program. While it does provide a newsletter
and a 2-year Click-n-Run membership, it appears that a good portion
of the purchase price goes to receiving access to beta versions of
LindowsOS. Like Microsoft's similar policy, Lindows.com's system
looks suspiciously like an attempt to get users to pay to be beta
testers. Also like Microsoft's policy, we'd imagine this does have
a negative impact on the number of bugs found, especially since if
we figure that $119 of that price is LindowsOS and another $99 is
the second year of Click-n-Run warehouse, there is still $72 of the
price tag going towards beta testing. The last we checked,
Microsoft's latest desktop beta could have been had for a mere $20.
It would be unfair to judge the viability of the
LindowsOS distribution on the basis of some of the company's
practices, especially considering that those practices aren't
unusual in the overall software industry. Furthermore, Lindows.com
has made some contributions to KDE (including the KDE League and
KDE-Look.org support), Debian GNU/Linux, and the WINE Project. In
all, I think that indicates that LindowsOS does understand the
community, it just needs to make a bit more of an effort at
reconciling some of these issues to insure better relations between
itself and the rest of the GNU/Linux sector in the future.
So where does that leave us? It's rather hard to
say. LindowsOS has a lot of good ideas behind it, and as other
reviews have shown, it is possible to have a good LindowsOS
installation. Unfortunately, we believe that the fact that LindowsOS
installation either partially or completely failed on two otherwise
GNU/Linux friendly system configurations, as well as the other
issues noted above, prevents us from recommending LindowsOS 3.0 in
most situations. Hopefully, considering the breakneck speed of
development at Lindows.com, we can reevaluate this recommendation in
the near future.
Summary of LindowsOS 3.0
| Overall: | |
| Installation: | |
| Functionality: | |
| User
Interface: | |
| Upgradability: | |
| Total Cost of
Ownership: | |
| Deploy: | |
UPSIDE: LindowsOS is a distribution that really
seems to have the potential to go somewhere. If not for a number of
unfortunate issues, Lindows OS, with its very attractive user
interface, could have been a top contender for the Penguin Shootout.
($119, www.lindows.com).
|
Timothy R. Butler is
Editor-in-Chief of Open for Business. You can reach him at tbutler@uninetsolutions.
com.