Linux

With Microsoft finding new and creative ways of becoming evil every day (just keep tabs at Slashdot), and my computer beginning to bog down with some file-sharing viruses, I felt it was time. Time to raise my little computer-using fist in the air, and time to extend that middle finger to Mr. Gates himself. I already knew that I would never ever agree to XP's iron-fisted rule over my own computer ("Hey, mind if we keep track of all the media files you use? Didn't think so. Oh, you do mind? Too bad you signed an agreement stating that we can change your user contract whenever we feel like it. Suck it, user!"). And with Macs being just too... Jetta, I decided to take the plunge. Go hardcore. Go Linux.

Now, Linux isn't as scary as you might think. In some ways, it's far easier than Windows. It certainly installs easier. For example, the PC I'm running right now is dual-boot. Windows installed itself into such a colossal mess that I haven't touched it in weeks. Most grievous is its inability to install my sound card. And its insistence that there are two monitors. And its constant insistence that there are two mice.

Linux did not hassle me about any of these things. I'm running Mandrake Linux, which prides itself on a clean install, and it calmly and clearly asked me about my hardware while it set up. Hey! Japanese language support! Just like that!

To be fair, my scanner doesn't function yet. And my printer, while functional, is rigged with the wrong driver. But other than that, everything hardware is good.

My real problems are problems of adjustment. Linux's file system is an alien landscape to DOS or Windows users. /Mnt. /Usr. /Bin. These are all special folders. But for what? Where do I install things? Does everything go into /home/dan? I hope so...

The thing that is truly murdering me is file permissions. I live a dual existence in Linux land. One is the lowly, mild-mannered user Dan. Dan has limited write access to things. Sometimes. Dan can't make folders. Sometimes. Dan can't see certain files. Sometimes. At those times, Dan has to morph into his Super-User mode: Root. Root can do anything. Root is invincible. Root can utterly destroy the entire operating system, by accident. I try to be Root only when I need to be.

Somewhere between the two lies the large majority of software I have installed. Software that doesn't work. Software that can't find the other pieces of software it uses, because I installed those in a different place, or with a different installation system, or as a different user. It drives me mad. A system, known as RPM, will quickly and efficiently install software into some secret hiding place that I have to chase after like a dog. Sometimes, my systems files are TOO updated, and new programs insist that they must use an older version to function. This is my main problem with my scanner. The special software I need to make it compatible is now too new.

I'll be damned if I know how to uninstall the old program either. I'll be damned if I do.

My main solace is the Enlightenment desktop. It is the visual program I use to view my system, and it is extra super-duper pretty. Things whoosh and hum and squeak, and I currently have 12 different desktops at my fingertips, 3 sets of 4. Each set has a different cool H4X0R background image. Coming soon is the next incarnation, E17, which is going to be shit-in-your pants slick. Which is a good thing.

I cetainly do miss a lot of things about Windows. I miss analogx's fine server programs. I miss CDex, for ripping cds (my current setup is having a hell of a time with encoding. It says it doesn't have permission to make directories. God.) I miss TheBat!, my awesome over-powered email program.

And I certainly do miss the Castle Wolfenstein multi-player. I did miss Photoshop, but The Gimp has taken care of that quite easily. If only there were a decent vector-based graphics program, ala Freehand...

I don't miss the sluggishness. I don't miss the crashes. I don't miss restarting my computer every time I install anything. I don't miss Plug N' Pray. I don't miss having to rip out Outlook and IE 15 times before they stay gone. I don't miss talking paperclips.

With Linux, I don't like the strangeness. I don't like the lack of commercial-quality games. I don't like the fact that my scanner doesn't work. I don't like the permissions system (next rebuild, all Root, all the time).

I do like the freedom to get involved in every aspect of my computer. I do like the feeling of building my own custom binaries for my computer (when they work). And I love the Tron bike game I got working after I installed the new Linux detonator drivers for my NVIDIA graphics card. I like the fact that it's all free. Free as in no money. Free as in freedom.

My desktop is now in the hands of the resistance. And they are winning.

— Dan Norton (dan@flakmag.com)