Mydoom was the last straw. It was Tuesday, Jan. 27, just past 9 p.m. I was staring at dozens of Microsoft Out- look e-mail messages infected with cop- ies of the Mydoom virus, trying to figure out how, despite security precautions bordering on paranoia, one of those little buggers had managed to infect my Win- dows XP system. I was firewalled and patched. My virus software was up to date. I had never used the Outlook preview pane, read suspect messages or opened unknown attachments.
Yet, I had the virus. It was then and there that I decided I was done with Windows. I was going to make the switch to Linux as my main desktop once and for all. I have been working with Linux for years now - first as a newsroom intranet and data server, and then as a secondary operating system on my home computer. But even though I had adopted open source software for much of my CAR- related work, I never did make the per- manent switch to a Linux desktop.
A few years ago, I was close to the brink of sanity trying to deal with yet another utterly inexplicable Windows ME crash and burn. But then Microsoft released the truly excellent Windows XP, which was fast, easy and (most importantly) stable. Windows XP, however, isn't secure and I'm tired of having to hold my breath every time I hit the "send/receive" but- ton in Outlook. A properly maintained Linux box, on the other hand, is just as stable as XP and virtually immune to the kinds of attacks plaguing Windows users.
I have considered other options, such as Apple OS X (which is based on a core operating system similar to Linux). But even though I love the soft- ware, I am not willing to pay a premium for new hardware. Thus, my transition to Linux began. Which distribution? There are literally thousands of ver- sions of Linux, some are well known but most are fairly obscure. Some are produced by corporations, such as Mandrake, SUSE or Red Hat.
Others, such as Debian, Slackware or Gentoo, are designed by enthusiasts as a la- bor of love. Xandros lives up to its promise and then some. I had experimented over the years with most of the versions I've mentioned, so I was pretty familiar with their re- spective strengths and weaknesses. Because I was going to be using Linux for both home and work, I had some fairly specific criteria in mind. I needed a distribution that is: Easy to administer and maintain Able to run a wide range of software, both open source and proprietary Well-documented and well-maintained My first choice was Red Hat (See a re- view in the September/October 2003 Uplink), but the company recently de- cided to focus on corporate desktops, and handed over development of its desktop distribution (now called Fe- dora) to volunteers.
I tried Fedora, but the installation froze not a good sign. I then read about a distribution called Xandros, which was designed to appeal to former Windows users. The deluxe version even comes packaged with software that allows users to install and use Microsoft Of- fice and other Windows applications. Best yet, Xandros is based on the Debian version of Linux, one of the old- est, most respected and reliable ver- sions available.
It also features a slick software management tool called apt. I paid $89 for the deluxe version and downloaded the installation discs and documentation. A few hours later, I was on my way. Installation Xandros has one of the smoothest in- stallations available. Xandros recog- nized nearly all my computer hardware during the installation - something that was a first in all my previous operating system installations.
I wanted to add Xandros while preserv- ing both my existing Windows installa- tion and another version of Linux I had already put on the machine. I also had just added some fairly cutting edge hardware, which can cause installation problems for any operating system, but especially Linux. To my surprise and delight, Xandros handled my hardware without a hiccup. My New Home Booting Xandros for the first time re- vealed a Linux environment that has been tweaked as much as possible to look and feel like Windows.
Double clicking opens a directory or launches a program. Xandros automatically loads additional hard drives or parti- tions - including Windows partitions into a top-level directory named "disks." Xandros goes to great lengths to hide its Linux underpinnings. When boot- ing into or shutting down from Xandros, you see a graphic, and not the typical stream of gobbledy-gook messages Linux usually spews onto the screen.
The last, and biggest, difference in the Xandros deluxe version is the in- clusion of Crossover Office, which is a set of utilities that trick Windows ap- plications into running under Linux. They are optimized, as the name sug- gests, to work best with Microsoft Office, and my copies of Microsoft Access, Excel and Power Point 2000 installed flawlessly. One criticism of the desktop is that it does not look as smooth, crisp and clean as Red Hat or Windows XP.
In very limited testing, I can report that all three seem to work nearly as well under Linux as they do under Windows. The only obvious differ- ences are aesthetic. Menus seem a little darker under Linux, and the menu fonts seem smaller. One criticism of the desktop is that it does not look as smooth, crisp and clean as Red Hat or Windows XP. Fonts can appear blocky, but that is a minor gripe. Simplicity In terms of software management, Xandros is outstanding.
The distribu- tion has a very simple, but powerful, package manager. It can be used to install updates from the Xandros Web site, or add new software from any number of sources, including stan- dard Debian repositories on the Internet. Think of it as the Windows Update and Add/Remove Software utilities all in one. The manager operates in simple and expert modes. In simple mode, users can install only the software that has been packaged for the Xandros in- stallation as well as any security or software updates the company makes available on its Web site.
This is probably more than enough for most users, but there are a few soft- ware packages (PostgreSQL, Webmin) that were excluded from the standard installation. Switching into expert mode provides access to software stored in reposito- ries across the Internet, and the ability to add more of your own. Installing an application is usually a simple matter of a single mouse click. Not only does Xandros download the application, but also it automatically handles the problem of figuring out what other programs or libraries are required and downloading those as well.
Most of the popular Linux distributions use a package management system based on one developed by Red Hat a few years ago (the Red Hat Pack- age Management system, or RPM). RPM, to be blunt, stinks. Installing ap- plications other than those packaged with the distribution under RPM can be a long, frustrating, and often-fruitless experience. Xandros's apt-based package man- ager is amazing. I cherry-picked more than a dozen non-standard applica- tions - a recipe for disaster for RPM- based distributions.
Xandros dutifully and flawlessly installed each one with- out a hitch. That is impressive. Final Thoughts Xandros lives up to its promise and then some. It is Linux for those who want to wade rather than dive into a new operating system. Some Linux purists will not like the modifications Xandros has made. But for folks who don't come from a Unix background, and don't have a com- puter science degree, Xandros is just possibly the best of both worlds.
Contact Aron Pilhofer by e-mail at apilhofer@publicintegrity.org.