Fw: When Linux Met Laptop: Irreconcilable Differences

* Fw: When Linux Met Laptop: Irreconcilable Differences
@  David Poehlman
   ` Janina Sajka
   ` Buddy Brannan
  0 siblings, 2 replies; 4+ messages in thread
From: David Poehlman @  UTC (permalink / raw)
  To: blinux list


> washingtonpost.com
> When Linux Met Laptop: Irreconcilable Differences
>
>
> By Rob Pegoraro
>
> Sunday, May 19, 2002; Page H07
>
>
> As operating-system installs go, this one went by pretty quickly.
About 36
> minutes after I threw the CD-ROM in the laptop, I had rebooted and was
> gazing at its new interface, with just a few simple desktop icons and
a
> background picture of a sky full of puffy clouds floating above a lush
green
> hill.
>
> It could have been a Windows XP install, except XP would have taken a
lot
> longer to load -- if it had even consented to run on this antique IBM.
>
> On the other hand, a Microsoft operating system probably would have
left me
> with a working modem and sound card.
>
> That pretty much encapsulates the last three weeks of experimenting
with
> Linux. If you have compliant hardware, patience and a willingness to
learn,
> this open-source operating system can be a delight to tinker with and
a
> powerful, reliable tool to put to work. But if you'd just like to use
your
> computer, Linux can have you pounding your head into the wall in
> frustration.
>
> I tried three versions, or "distributions," of Linux: Desktop/LX, from
> Redmond, Wash.-based Lycoris; Mandrake 8.2, from Paris-based
MandrakeSoft
> S.A.; and SuSE 8.0, from Nuremberg, Germany, developers SuSE Linux AG
> (that's pronounced "soo-suh").
>
> All three contained similar underlying code, customized with each
company's
> choice of installer, desktop interface and add-on productivity,
Internet,
> multimedia, game and server software. These distributions sell for $30
to
> $90 in most computer stores but can also be downloaded free from their
> publishers and burned to a CD. Either way, the source code of Linux is
open
> for you (or, more realistically, your programmer friends) to view and
> improve.
>
> The process of installing these distributions varied between simple
and
> excruciating, depending mostly on whether I wanted to keep Windows on
any of
> the three test computers. The worst-case scenario was a PC running
Windows
> XP and its "NTFS" disk format. Linux installers can't divide an NTFS
disk
> into Windows and Linux segments (they support only the older formats
> standard in Win 95, 98 or Millennium Edition), which left me with the
choice
> of buying a disk-partitioning utility or erasing the whole drive.
>
> Otherwise, the installers generally did a good job of walking me
through the
> tricky steps of disk partitioning, choosing additional software to
load,
> setting up user accounts and configuring Internet settings.
>
> The Desktop/LX installer took the least time and included one pleasant
> extra: As it whirred away copying files, it invited me to pass the
time with
> an on-screen game of solitaire. SuSE's looked the most professional of
the
> bunch, with a crisply designed interface and clearly labeled options.
> Mandrake lacked that polish and came with obsolete instructions.
>
> Unfortunately for my sanity, two of the test computers were laptops --
a
> Sony Vaio 505FX and an IBM ThinkPad 600. That meant video systems that
> briefly perplexed SuSE and Mandrake, proprietary sound circuitry and
> processor-dependent "Winmodems" that required special Windows-only
drivers
> to operate.
>
> Predictably, neither modem worked. This Winmodem situation has long
vexed
> Linux users, many of whom wind up buying conventional, external
modems.
>
> But I had no idea how much trouble these laptops' sound cards would
cause
> when none of the distributions recognized them.
>
> The Web abounds with how-to help from other Linux users (for instance,
> www.linux-on-laptops.com), but the advice I followed to switch
parameters in
> control panels, tinker at the command line and edit configuration
files
> didn't work. I also tried SuSE's tech support, but the rep who
answered my
> request wrote that sound-card assistance would go "beyond the scope of
our
> Installation Support."
>
> I hate conceding defeat, but after a week of futile effort I was weary
in a
> way I had not been since I last implored a DOS game to accept a
graphics
> card.
>
> The most galling part of this saga was realizing that Lycoris sells
> refurbished, Linux-equipped ThinkPad 600Es, which use almost the same
audio
> hardware as the test ThinkPad. But the company's Web site offers no
clues on
> how it got sound working. (Since I downloaded my copy instead of
buying it,
> I wasn't eligible for tech support.)
>
> Meanwhile, SuSE had zero problems recognizing the hardware on a
generic IBM
> PC desktop.
>
> At no time during any of this testing did I ever need to reboot Linux.
It's
> built to keep working, no matter what -- one reason you'll see it on
> numerous file and Internet servers.
>
> When it came time to log in to each Linux installation, Desktop/LX did
the
> most to make a newcomer feel at home, with that XP-look-alike (albeit
> sluggish) desktop. Lycoris also wisely simplified the program listings
in
> its Application Starter menu, the equivalent of Windows' Start menu.
>
> Mandrake and SuSE, by contrast, seem designed for people who already
know
> Linux, which is to say they are bewilderingly complex for anybody used
to
> Windows or the Mac. Each offers a profusion of mostly redundant
control
> panels, taskbar items and applications; including one text editor or
music
> player will never do when a distributor can throw in five or six.
Underneath
> this mess of a desktop is an array of such cryptically named
directories as
> "opt," "etc," "bin" and "lib."
>
> Wrestling with this cantankerous software brought one thing to mind:
Good
> interface design is hard.
>
> For most of its existence, Linux has been written by and for
programmers who
> haven't needed to worry about making their software approachable to
new
> users. That approach is fine on servers. In environments where the
support
> staff can set up the computer and configure it with a bundle of
> applications -- say, government offices or schools -- it can also make

> sense. But for use at home by everyday users, Linux still has miles to
go.
>
> Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro at
rob@twp.com.


> © 2002 The Washington Post Company


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