In some editions of the Post, the review of three distributions of the Linux operating system that ran in the July 4 Fast Forward column should have noted that while many Linux distributions cannot be set up next to a Windows installation without using separate disk-partitioning software, the Mandrake and SuSE releases reviewed in that column include that capability. The story also should have said that Red Hat Inc., is based in Raleigh, N.C.
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Unfortunately, to install any of these versions without wiping out most Windows installations, you'll need to buy a third-party program to partition your hard drive.
Hardware compatibility is the stickiest part of loading Linux, and all three distributions had their moments on my three test computers. Fedora didn't accept an ancient IBM desktop's network card, SuSE didn't recognize the sound cards on two of three PCs until after a reboot, and a different sound malfunction in Mandrake caused a Dell laptop to emit an ear-piercing screech. None supported the laptops' modems or system-suspend modes.
Most things, however, did function normally after each install. For example, all three Linux versions detected an IBM laptop's WiFi receiver and connected to my wireless network (the Dell's Centrino WiFi circuitry, however, didn't work). Mandrake and Fedora also printed to a Hewlett-Packard printer-scanner device on the first try. The CD-burning tool in Mandrake and SuSE looked and worked about as cleanly as anything sold for Windows.
Connecting an old Canon S100 digital camera was easier in Linux than in Windows XP; I didn't have to download extra software or click past ominous warnings about the perils of unsigned drivers. But a newer Pentax Option 550 camera didn't work, and I couldn't synchronize a Zire 31 handheld organizer using the software each version provided.
The greatest differences between these distributions came in their vaguely Windows-esque interfaces. Mandrake's was the most cluttered, with its thickly nested menus; SuSE pared down the complexity but suffered from initially puzzling settings (icons on its desktop respond to single clicks instead of double clicks). Fedora looked far cleaner.
Mandrake and SuSE, however, also bundled the largest number of Internet, productivity, multimedia and utility programs. Fedora's setup required extra downloads for such basics as MP3 playback.
That brings up Linux's biggest embarrassment: software installation. Outside of core system updates (ably handled by each distribution's auto-update software), my attempts to add new programs were routinely stymied by the chancy availability of prepackaged downloads and "dependency" issues, in which the installation failed because the computer lacked needed library files.
The traditional fix has been to download a program's source code and build it into the finished product on your computer, a lengthy and tricky process. The better solution is the smart package-installer Fedora employs; its "yum" utility fetches a program from an online archive, resolves dependency issues and sets it up with one command.
It's a clever system. Except -- duh -- there's no graphical front-end to it, forcing users to use a text-only, command-line interface.
To judge from comments I've read in online forums, I'm not the only person bugged by that. That, in turn, means that a friendlier interface can't be long in coming. And in this way, bit by bit, Linux will continue to grow stronger. It's a fascinating process to watch, even if the results aren't always what you'd want for your everyday system.
Living with technology, or trying to? E-mail Rob Pegoraro at rob@twp.com.
