Linux in the StarTribune

[Bob Tanner <tanner@real-time.com>]

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  Published Monday, July 13, 1998

Window of opportunity for Linux
Hiawatha Bray / Boston Globe
After a few weeks in the company of Linux, I'm convinced that Microsoft
Corp. CEO Bill Gates deserves his billions.

You remember Linux. It's the free operating system software developed in
part by the Free Software Foundation in Cambridge, Mass. Linux has 5 million
to 7 million users worldwide, depending on whom you ask, and it's beginning
to offer a head-on challenge to Microsoft's Windows operating systems.

A few weeks back I vowed to try running Linux on my home machine, instead of
Windows 95. I'm no Microsoft-basher; I'm just sick of the company's
arrogance and eager for a high-quality alternative.

The Unix way of doing things holds a lot of appeal, because Unix and its
various clones such as Linux tend to be more crash-resistant, even when
you're running several programs at once. That's because Linux will assign
each program its own chunk of memory to play in, with other programs ordered
to keep out. Windows 95 tries to do the same, but it frequently fails,
leading to those amusing "general protection fault" crashes. Windows NT goes
a long way toward fixing this problem, for as much as $800 a pop. But Linux
is free.

So why go with Windows? Well, maybe you'd like to get some work done.

Back to the

heroic age I get paid to fiddle with computers, and so I had a ball writing
script files and sending desperate e-mails to Linux gurus. Linux harkens
back to the heroic age of computing, when you actually had to know something
about your machine.

Any of you weenies can insert a floppy disk on a PC or Mac. With Linux, I
have to shove in the disk, and then type a magical incantation in
computerese. You PC and Mac users don't have to understand what's really
happening when you're swapping disks or installing a new piece of software.
You point, you click, you get busy.

And that's what 95 percent of all computer users want to do. My Linux
adventure has heightened my respect for the hard-working coders at Apple
and, yes, even Microsoft. Gates has earned his money by giving us colorful,
convenient software that shields us from the brute realities of computing.
Until Linux also gets a simple and attractive user interface such as Windows
NT, it'll be popular only with tightwads and arrested-development types like
me. In addition, Linux needs high-quality software from reputable companies
if it's to catch on.

Fortunately, there's movement on both fronts. Netscape Communications Corp.
has a solid version of its Web browser running on Linux, and Corel Computer
Corp. also offers its excellent WordPerfect program. Indeed, Corel says it
is bringing out an entire office suite for Linux. Meanwhile, a band of
German software designers has created KDE, a user interface that comes
mighty close to civilizing Linux.

And Microsoft just announced that the next version of Windows NT will be
delayed again. It probably won't see daylight till next year. I'd call that
a window of opportunity for Linux.


© Copyright 1998 Boston Globe. All rights reserved.

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