ISSUE 537: The high tech office- Feb 8
2000
ALAN ZISMAN
Would-be Linux users now have useful choices
The Linux operating system emerged from
obscurity in 1999, if news coverage and wildly successful IPOs based on
the technology are any indication.
If you look around most workplaces, though, you'd have
a hard time locating a desktop running Linux. In 1998, research firm Int'l
Data Corp. estimated Linux was on 2.1 per cent of computer desktops
and predicts that share will rise to a still-humble 4.7 per cent by
2003.
However, Linux is having an impact behind the scenes,
running the servers at many Internet service providers. It's widely
seen as more secure and stable than more popular operating systems from
Microsoft
or Apple, but it has a reputation
for being arcane. Add to it a scarcity of standard productivity
applications, and the lack of wide acceptance becomes understandable.
As a country, Canada is used to existing in the shadow
of a rich and powerful neighbour. So it is, perhaps, not surprising
that a pair of Canadian companies are promoting Linux as an alternative
to the hegemony from south of the border. Ottawa-based Corel Corp.
(with CorelLinux -- www.corel.com) and local startup Stormix
Tech-
nologies (with Storm Linux 2000 -- www.stormix.com) have
both re-
cently released Linux-based systems aimed at showing that the system
can be made friendly enough for just-plain-folks to set up and run on
their computers. And each comes bundled with a set of applications so
that once your computer is up and running, you can get some work done,
too!
The competing products have
a lot in common. Both are built around the same Linux version, the
robust and well-regarded Debian distribution. Both are distributed in
similar ways. Users can download free versions of each from the
respective company's Web sites if they have the patience for a
400-plus-meg download and the ability to burn it onto a CD-ROM for
installation.
Perhaps a better option, from each company, is to buy
a shrink-wrapped version. Each offers the product in a box, along with
the third-party applications, for about $75 (Corel also offers a $120
Deluxe version with additional applications and a stuffed penguin).
Each boxed version also comes with 30 days of free support to get over
the initial installation hump.
There are some differences. Corel, of course, is a
large, well-known company, offering other products such as WordPerfect
and the CorelDraw graphics suite. Stormix is new on the ground, started
up by the founders of Vancouver-based NetNation Web-hosting
service, and housed upstairs in the Hastings Street Harbour Centre
tower.
While both offer simplified installation, Corel's
requires virtually no user input. Storm Linux's installation asks more
questions and offers more options throughout the process. This is
welcome if you want more control, but can be dangerous if you don't
know the answers. One wrong click and the copy of Windows that's also
on your computer may no longer start up when you want it.
Once they're up and running, both systems look pretty
much alike. Again, Corel's is simpler to use for the large numbers of
us used to running Windows. Its File Manager resembles Windows'
Explorer, and showed the files on my system's Windows drive without any
special set-up.
Once again, Storm offers more options, and while both
include many of the same applications such as Netscape
Communicator for Web browsing, e-mail and the like, or the powerful
Gimp graphics editor, it's not surprising that Corel chooses to bundle
a Linux version of its own WordPerfect word processor. Storm leaves out
WordPerfect (though users could download and install it on their own),
however it bundles not one but two other office productivity suites: Sun's
Star Office and a demo version of ApplixWare Office. Any of these
alternatives will do a reasonable job working with Micro-
soft Word documents, but Storm's offerings also let you work with
Microsoft Office spreadsheets and presentation files as well.
Either product provides a powerful Linux system
without too much bother. Overall, Stormix does a better job of
producing a balance be-
tween ease of installation and use and access to a range of
alternatives. But if you're used to working with Windows and just want
to see what
all the fuss is about, or if you want
to work with Linux but also need
to boot to Windows or access a collection of Windows-based documents,
Corel Linux may prove a
better choice. *
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