| Ark Linux: Building a distro for the masses |
(Mar. 24, 2003)
Ark Linux burst onto the Linux scene in January 2003 with a plan to reach the "average computer user." What sets Ark Linux apart from other distros? Aside from embracing the open source model completely, the team has adopted a practical approach to address misconceptions that are limiting Linux from reaching the end user today -- and offers a distro to minimize those perceptions with an operating system that 'just works.'
DesktopLinux.com talks with Bernhard Rosenkraenzer, aka 'Bero', co-founder of Ark Linux about the company's plan to deliver a full-featured operating system based primarily upon a Red Hat Linux 7.3 / 8.0 foundation and KDE that is both easy to use and offers applications for performing everyday tasks.
'Bero' relates the goals and inner workings of the new distribution, explains Ark Linux's unique vision and philosophy, and offers his views about the Desktop Linux Market. This in-depth talk reveals Bero's studied observations about what is preventing Linux from widespread use today and will help Linux reach the 'masses' tomorrow . . .
DesktopLinux.com: Briefly, what is the story behind Ark Linux? Who are the volunteers
on the team?
'Bero': It is hard to tell when precisely Ark Linux started - it has been more of a gradual process than a "Let's do Ark Linux now." In a way, the story behind Ark Linux basically started in 1993 - when I walked into a computer store, and saw it selling an operating system coming on 50 or so floppy disks, "Linux". I had never heard of it before, and was curious why an OS would need that many disks when my OS/2 fit on 7. As an additional plus, I saw it came with the full source code included. So I took it home, installed it, and tried to figure out how it worked. Since Internet connectivity wasn't affordable back then, I was on my own - and since there was very little documentation, the way to really find out what something does was reading the source [I was really glad to find the man command that way!].
In a way, I must be grateful to the [at that time monopolist] telco for its outrageous pricing - if I had had net access, I don't think I would be quite as familiar with the inner workings of many applications. Well, I finally managed to install it, but never forgot what parts of the system nearly made me give up. I started working on some tools to make it easier, and later -- when they started appearing in stores -- trying out different distributions. In 1999, I finally released a first attempt at my own distribution (BeroLinux), which was basically Red Hat Linux 5.2 with some additions to make it easier to use. It was basically meant for people like myself before my Linux trial - people who aren't too familiar with Linux/Unix, but who know about computers in general.
Those additions were later merged into the Mandrake distribution, where I worked for half a year before joining Red Hat. While there, I kept developing and extending tools to make Linux easier - some of them were incorporated, others weren't.
Early last year, Linux made a breakthrough - With the releases of projects like KDE 3.x, OpenOffice, KOffice, mplayer and xine, Linux had the core set of tools and software the average non-technical computer user needs. That's when I decided to start writing an installer that everyone could handle. I showed an early draft to David Sainty - a coworker I knew to care about getting Linux to "normal" people as well. He joined the team, assisting in his spare time and introducing a number of other people.
Together, we got Ark Linux where it is now. The core team currently consists of David Sainty, Sergio Visinoni, Natasha Sainty and myself, and there are several other contributors.
DesktopLinux.com: In comparison to the other leading Linux commercial distro's, in what ways do you are you unique?
'Bero': Ark Linux has a clear focus on the desktop/home user. Most Linux distributions profess to be an 'everything for everyone' solution. We think this approach is wrong:
For a server operating system, you must place a strong focus on security, supporting high-end hardware, network diagnosis tools and of course server applications. Since servers are run by (hopefully) qualified system administrators, having to edit configuration files manually or having to answer difficult questions during installation to get the configuration right is acceptable.
For a corporate workstation, you need strong local security and office applications. For a home user, you need office applications, multimedia applications, ease of use and games. It's extremely hard (if not impossible) to combine all of those into one product. Some of the features required for the various usage scenarios are mutually exclusive.
Take local security and usability - should a user be able to install applications at all? If so, should he be prompted for a root password before doing so? Or for his own password along the lines of sudo? The answers are very different depending on what type of system you're setting up.
Ark Linux picks one thing, and does that one thing well. In the future, there may be different editions of Ark Linux for other uses - but we will not try to do all in one.
DesktopLinux.com: What is Ark Linux's business model? How do you incorporate open source into your business?
'Bero': Ark Linux is a Free/Open Source Software project. It doesn't have (or need) a business model.mThere is some relation between Ark Linux and my paid work though - in my job, I'm building a digital VCR/DVD player/DVD recorder/... set top box that is built around the Ark Linux core system.
No company will ever directly control Ark Linux, although contribution and support from companies, whether they may be software vendors, hardware vendors, hardware makers, systems integrators, consultancy organizations or something else, is always welcome - and we certainly don't object to
companies that need control over their product producing their own version of Linux based on Ark Linux.
DesktopLinux.com: Ark Linux used KDE as the basis of UI and sits on a Red Hat foundation. What advantages does this afford Ark Linux?
'Bero': Starting with Red Hat Linux was a practical choice because - after 3 years of working there - it's the system I was most familiar with -- and leaving their user interface decisions aside, the remaining core system is quite reasonable. Many of the toolchain decisions (such as using glibc 2.3.x, gcc 3.x, rpm) are the same decisions we would have made when starting from scratch - and where we disagreed, we just changed it, for example we're extending the package management system with apt for rpm.
Using KDE for the user interface was a fairly obvious choice - it's the most newbie-friendly desktop environment out there. For the typical "A graphical interface is just a way to keep several command lines in sight at the same time" user, it really doesn't matter what desktop (if any) is being used - but for someone who actually wants to avoid command lines like the plague (like most Windows converts initially do), KDE is, from our own research, the most suitable and best polished choice now and in the forseeable future.
That does not mean we're Anti-GNOME though - while KDE is our only desktop, Ark Linux includes the GNOME libraries as well as some good GNOME applications, such as MrProject, GnomeMeeting and GNUcash, as well as applications belonging to neither common desktop, such as OpenOffice.
Over the months, Ark Linux has moved quite far from its original Red Hat Linux base - though it was a good starting point, there's not too much left of it. We've moved to using our own optimized kernel and glibc before the release of alpha 7, and after alpha 7, we've even moved on in compiler choice - we've decided to go with the upcoming gcc 3.3.
DesktopLinux.com: How will you determine what programs are 'essential' for end users? What process will you use?
'Bero': The primary idea here is listening to what our actual end users have to say - for technical people, it is often hard to understand what newbies need - things that are fairly obvious to us ("Why are there 500 different text editors and email programs?!") are often what they fall over.
Some general rules we have derived from seeing end users' comments:- Pick one tool for the job, or if there are really compelling reasons, pick two (such as in the OpenOffice vs. KOffice choice - OpenOffice is more complete and compatible with the office suite many users are converting from, but KOffice is much better on lower end systems, integrates better with the rest of the system, and is clearer code to work in), but not more. While many techies enjoy having 3 desktops, 30 window managers, 50 editors and 20 email clients, end users tend to think this is unneeded and unwanted complexity, and just makes the system hard to use.
- "If it can't be done with a graphical user interface, it can't be done." The best tool isn't useful to an end user if it doesn't have a reasonably simple user interface.
- Don't expose the user to "hard to use" functionality unnecessarily, but don't remove it. "Hard" applications like "Vi" or "Mutt" will scare off newbies initially, but may be very useful in some situations (such as a Linux expert trying to fix a problem on his end user friend's system, or, in the case of the "Mutt" mailer and "Epic" IRC chat program, having the possibility to ask for help if the graphics card or driver acts up).
DesktopLinux.com: Can you explain your software installation process that only requires just "4 clicks." What architecture does Ark Linux support?
'Bero': In the default mode, the installation process automates everything it can - so if you want to, you're done with four clicks:- Click on the language selection dropdown box to open it
- Click on the language you wish to use
- Click "continue"
- Click on "System install" or "Express install" in the menu the follows
That's all the information the system needs for an initial installation, everything else can be handled automatically.
There's also the option of a "Parallel install", which allows you to shrink an existing Windows partition to make room for Ark Linux (FAT or FAT32 only at the moment, but NTFS support is planned).That one requires more than 4 clicks (you get a slider to decide how much space to allocate for each operating system).
At the moment, Ark Linux will run only on x86 machines (i586 and up, but Pentium III or Athlon or higher is strongly recommended), but we're hoping to add more architectures as we gain contributors, demand, and test hardware. Our primary interest is, of course, in architectures that are or will soon be common on desktop/workstation installations (such as Macintosh hardware, or the upcoming x86-64 architecture from AMD) - unfortunately hardware is expensive, and prerelease hardware like x86-64 is fairly impossible to get unless you're a company with fairly big brand recognition.
DesktopLinux.com: What is your vision/expectation for the opportunity of Linux on the desktop? In your opinion, what are the main barriers to the success of Linux on the desktop, and what are the key things that can be done to maximize the success of Linux in the Desktop Market?
'Bero': I believe that technically, Linux has the potential to be the #1 desktop operating system - Linux is technically superior to other desktop operating systems, and is no longer hard to use.
However, there are quite a few barriers, such as:- Perception of the OS itself. Many people have not heard of Linux at all, others (which is probably even worse for Linux on the desktop) have heard of it in a time when it was a pure server/techie OS. Those people will always think of Linux as a solid OS, but not one they'd use on their home machine. This is also a plea to existing Linux users - when you're showing your beloved OS to your family, show them a graphically rich and intuitive environment, and not necessarily the stuff you care about most. The typical newbie will be potentially horrified and scared off at the thought of opening a command prompt, looking at the latest and greatest features of vi or emacs, or seeing an operating system running in text mode. I think this will eventually be resolved, but it will take time.
- Perceived lack of applications. I've heard this from many people who haven't installed Linux yet -- they walk into a computer store, look at the shelves, and see them carrying Windows software and occasionally Macintosh software only, so logically "there is no Linux software." People don't know that Linux distributions come with everything they'll commonly need - and others who have heard of it think the included software can't possibly good enough (without bothering to look): "The included tools can't possibly be good enough for all I want to do - you see, I'm not using Wordpad or Microsoft Paint on my Windows box either..." This, too, will probably be resolved as Linux on the desktop takes off.
- Uncertainty. Linux on the desktop is still relatively new, so there aren't many people or organizations to look at for the "If they could do it, so can I!" effect. Another one that can be resolved easily, given some more time - it's already resolved for Linux servers, which used to be in the same situation a couple of years ago.
- Lobbyism. If the TCPA succeeds in pushing Palladium, shipping an open source operating system will have very bad legal implications. This is hard to fix before the public wakes up. Most people don't understand what TCPA is trying to do, and therefore don't oppose it as heavily as they should.
- Unfair competition. Microsoft got most of its market share by having OEMs shipping computers with Windows preloaded - and now they're using that fact to keep every potential competitor out. Even though it has been forbidden in court, Microsoft still forces many OEMs to pay a Windows license with every computer they ship, even if they ship it without Windows -- other OEMs are prohibited from shipping computers preloaded with non-Windows operating systems altogether.
I know this is still the case for at least one huge worldwide computer seller; unfortunately they won't allow me to reveal which because they fear legal action from Microsoft. When every computer is preloaded with Windows and mostly everyone with a computer owns some copies of Windows anyway, one of the very compelling reasons to use Linux (the $0 price tag) goes away. Many even more compelling reasons to use Linux remain, but they're not quite as obvious as this one. This, too, will be hard to overcome - one can only hope that the EU antitrust suit will have sane results.
DesktopLinux.com: What market, and what sorts of users, represent Ark Linux's market focus?
'Bero': Ark Linux is intended primarily for beginners - our focus is making the operating system easy to use and install.
However, we're also trying to keep the system technically sound (and we include the tools we need to develop the system ourselves on extra CDs), so experienced users will not automatically dislike it.
DesktopLinux.com: Does Ark Linux complete the vision you had for Red Hat Linux, had they not adopted Bluecurve?
'Bero': Ark Linux and Red Hat Linux are two very different things - Ark Linux is a desktop distribution, Red Hat Linux is a "we try to do everything" distribution. So Ark Linux does complete the vision I had for Red Hat Linux on the desktop side, but certainly not on the server side.
DesktopLinux.com: The move toward Linux has been strongest outside the United States. Care to comment on that trend and discuss it as it has manifested in your region?
'Bero': This is true, Linux adoption, especially on the desktop, is progressing much faster in Europe than in the US. On the corporate side, I think it's mostly because the predominant attitude in Europe is "if it works, use it", while the US seems to be in favor of "if it works, I still need a big name to sue just in case it stops".
On the home user side, I think it's related largely to KDE's presence at every tradeshow and SuSE's advertising efforts in German speaking countries.
DesktopLinux.com: How can we get Ark Linux? In what area's are you seeking volunteers currently for the project?
'Bero': Ark Linux and its various add-on CDs can be downloaded here.
We're seeking volunteers in many areas - including artwork, development, web design, and testing.
Key things we need before we're ready to release 1.0 final (help with those is especially welcome!) include:- Easy to use internet access config tool supporting all possible connection types (DSL, Modem, ISDN, Cable, ...) Note:[This needs a lot of testing as well - since there are virtually no international standards involved here - ISDN in Europe (ESS1) uses different protocols than ISDN in the US (NI1), Cable modems are very common in the US, but don't exist at all in most parts of Germany]
- Possibility to shrink an existing NTFS filesystem during installation
- Installer bugfixes (repartitioning existing installations does not always work)
- Documentation (Installation guide, introduction to the Linux desktop, etc.)
- Graphical bootup
- Diskspace monitoring to prevent the situation of X not starting because it's out of diskspace
- Easier tool for switching between single user and multi user mode,integration of the kapabilities tool (our user privilege manager) in the user manager
- Graphical recovery tool if X fails to start up for some reason (e.g. user tried to switch to a resolution his equipment can't handle)
- Extend the partitioner to allow parallel installation with other Linuxes
DesktopLinux.com: You include Dockyard for developers. Does this support general development under Linux?
'Bero': Dockyard is our development version. It's comparable to Debian's "unstable" tree, Mandrake's cooker or Red Hat's rawhide - Dockyard is automatically updated every time we build a new package, so interested users can have the exact same state our developers are using.
Our SDK is the Ark Development Suite (one of the Ark Linux addon CDs). It is a collection of Linux development tools -- both the very common tools (such as gcc, the headers for the various libraries we're including, kdevelop etc) and the lesser known tools, like PyQt and the Eric3 IDE for it.
Unlike almost all other distributions, we don't keep the development environment on the install CD - because we don't think the average home user will ever touch a compiler -- and for someone who does need one, it's easy to install - just insert the CD, and the installer will launch automatically.
DesktopLinux.com: Does or will Ark Linux include any software that isn't Open Source?
'Bero': Ark Linux does not and will not include any software that isn't under an Open Source license. We will, however, provide Ark Linux packages of important closed source software (such as the Flash player, RealPlayer, or NVidia's drivers [the Open Source "nv" driver for NVidia cards is included in Ark Linux, of course]) on our ftp server and an extra CD, assuming we get the permission to package/distribute the software.
DesktopLinux.com: Any screenshots available?
'Bero': Sure. This site has 4 screenshots.
DesktopLinux.com: Thanks! :)
Talk back! Do you have comments or questions about this story? talkback here
(Click here for further information)
|
|
|
Approaching the Linux Desktop
The purpose of this paper is to help organizations evaluate the Linux desktop against their own enterprise needs and discover what benefits the Linux desktop might bring to their organizations.
Migrating To Linux: Application Challenges and Solutions
Several solutions exist to help organizations migrate in an orderly fashion from Windows to Linux desktops. This paper establishes the characteristics of an ideal cross-platform solution and reviews these alternatives in light of this ideal standard. The paper takes a closer look at the pros and cons of various solutions and outlines the business benefits that can be achieved.
Linux Advantages: Publicly Available Information on Linux Software
This paper offers a brief summary of readily-available Linux information to help businesses sort out this widely misunderstood operating system.
Top 5 Strategies for Managing Linux
Despite continuous evolution in the manageability of Linux, a 2006 survey cited manageability concerns as a top reason why organizations are hesitating to adopt Linux. Levanta believes Linux can be as manageable, if not more so, than other operating systems by following key strategies. These strategic recommendations were developed from experiences in numerous customer environments, both large and small.
Why Choose Novell for Linux?
This paper outlines the benefits of switching to the Linux platform and choosing Novell as a high-performance, enterprise solution.
Enterprise Linux Selection Guide
Considering moving your enterprise to the Linux operating system? Since there are so many similar versions, choosing the right one can be tough. This paper offers a clear process to help you make an informed decision and get the features, support, and cost that are right for your business and technical needs.
Overcoming Challenges in Managing Linux
Levanta has created a new administration model with innovative technology that breaks down the barriers to making the most of Linux systems. This paper will provide an in-depth look at the workings of Levanta’s product, the first Linux appliance of its kind.
SUSE Linux Enterprise 10 for Retail Businesses
Discover why major retailers have switched to SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop in the back office. SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 10 is a low-cost desktop that offers a complete set of productivity applications and interoperates seamlessly with the other Windows, Macintosh and UNIX desktops in your store.
Moving to a Linux Desktop
Migrating from Windows to Linux on the desktop can be a substantial undertaking because it has the potential for touching -- and perhaps disrupting -- every user in your organization. Unlike a data center (server and infrastructure) migration that is largely transparent to users, the cultural and administrative transitions and environment readiness required to support a Linux desktop migration are extensive.
Seven Good Reasons to Exchange Exchange
This paper describes seven compelling reasons why you should switch from Exchange to Scalix.
|
|
|
|
|
news feed