Linux

I'm about ready to switch. I've been fighting this too long. After years of loyalty to Microsoft products, the expense of yet another upgrade to a similar operating system weighs heavily on my wallet. The availability and power of various Linux distributions shines a welcoming light from the end of the tunnel.

At risk of geezerfying the first post to my blog, I have some experience with new operating systems. Over the years I have enjoyed the increased capabilities each new iteration DOS brought. I own in my collection of outdated software every version of DOS and Windows since before Microsoft Corp. put its byline at the bottom of IBM DOS boxes. If you want to look, stop by the display case outside my office.

I remember the thrill when DOS first catered to 16 bit color, and when we first began to make the computer beep in customized tones thanks to Peter Norton. Each iteration of DOS gave us new capabilities, new utilities, new power over the organization of the electrons hurtling through our systems. There was Zenith DOS, Burroughs DOS, IBM DOS, and the coveted Microsoft DOS. No stranger to swapping floppies back and forth, we all stood up when the first dual 3 1/2", 720k floppy machine came into the office, and again when the first Winchester equiped box arrived.

Then the change began. I mark it with the demise of X-copy. Initially, a powerful tool, it quickly degraded and then faded. Somehow, the ability to own the flux of magnetic media has been taken from us piece by tiny piece. In the beginning, given a little skill, every file could be moved or copied from one folder to another, from one disk to another. Quickly, certain files were not permitted to be copied directly. Changes occurred. The files weren't the same. Files DOS would read couldn't be duplicated on 12 bit floppies. Attributes changed significantly. Legalities concerning intellectual property of electronic data mushroomed and exploded.

I'll admit that I have not looked back fondly on the need to swap floppies, particularly when everything I need is happily stored on the terabyte of disk space in my plain putty box. I have managed to figure out how to deal with the plethora of online media Windows hides as it downloads data into my computer and generally how to keep my own data safe. I hardly make a grimmace as I reboot my computer five times a day with every upgrade, update and self-installing program.

After years of maintaining my own computers and computer labs for others, I can install and upgrade service packs as well as anyone. But when I threw in Knoppix live for the first time a few days ago, I was significantly impressed. Our corporate network runs on Debian Linux and I've loaded various distributions of Mandrake, Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Red Hat, Fedora and others over the past several years. Certain special purpose boot discs such as Helix and Knoppix have their uses in a computer lab. Still, I never bothered to make the change personally because, while fun and interesting, Linux has always required more hands-on time than I was willing to give it in a production environment.

I almost stumbled onto the new Knoppix distribution on Distrowatch.com. Just to stay knowledgable, I had downloaded Knoppix 5.1.1, released this weekend. Freshly burned, the disc was in the drive while Windows required a yet another reboot to update one of those increasingly mandatory spy protection utilities. Set to boot to CD, the computer auto-started Knoppix, and I let it have its way.

Knoppix 5.1.1 booted far faster than I expected. Helix Linux actually found my exact monitor--an old Dell--but I watched Knoppix find all the remaining pieces of my two year old home-brew 64-bit AMD system and come up fully within 60 seconds. I was on the internet immediately using DHCP. Knoppix includes a new browser--Ice Monkey--which performed as smoothly as the more familiar Mozilla browser, even taking the ctrl-enter stroke to complete web addresses. Open Office ran nicely and only wasted a few pieces of bond paper as I found the correct printer settings for my old HP 4p. Frozen Bubbles is as much fun as ever. File browser was able to mount and read my NTFS drives, although I didn't try to write back.

Overall, Knoppix performed far above my expectations--particularly since it was running live from CD and not installed on my HDD. I would anticipate it to perform even better after installation and updates from certain repositories.

With the arrival of Windows Vista and its significant price tag, Linux is looking more and more appealing. I grudged myself $89 each to upgrade to Win ME and 2000, then $129 to move to XP Pro , but Vista Ultimate is a big chunk of change considering the corporate protections built in to serve them rather than support users. I won't go back to swapping CDs like floppies from the golden days, but Knoppix is very appealing right now. I just may switch.