| Extraordinary Claims and Annoyances |
by Malcolm Dean, Contributing Editor (Dec. 14, 2001)
What's this buzz about a Linux which runs Windows programs so effortlessly Mom and Pop don't have no more cares? DesktopLinux.com Contributing Editor Malcolm Dean is not so sure LindowsOS will be compatible with what Linux is really about . . .
Extraordinary Claims and Annoyances
Lindows.com was announced uncritically in the press last October after Michael Robertson, founder of MP3.com, was nudged out in Vivendi Universal's acquisition of the digital music service. From the start, I had an uncomfortable feeling about Lindows. There was the star treatment we automatically accord to success, as if Mr. Robertson's luck would somehow translate to Linux. And somehow, the press weren't asking any difficult questions.
The ancient Greeks knew where to turn with difficult questions, so I consulted the modern Delphic oracle, Google.com. Google knows all. You just have to ask. I typed in "Lindows" and 0.34 seconds later, I received "Results 1 - 100 of about 25,900," all basically re-reported, translated, re-written from the same story. Bright Michael Robertson, who brought us the digital music revolution in the form of MP3.com, has now decided to take on Microsoft.
As the hometown San Diego Union Tribune reported, "Robertson has taken an MP3.com exec, Kevin Carmony, with him to act as president of the new company. Carmony feels that the experience Robertson has with taking on the music industry equips him for dealing with Microsoft. We wish him all the best."
All of us wish anyone attempting to come to grips with the convicted monopolists of Redmond the best. Most of all, for those in our legal system. But I digress.
Buried in those 25,900 mentions of Lindows, I found a page about Lindows3.0. "Three point zero?" I exclaimed, betraying my typographical bent in refusing to pronounce "0" as "Oh" when it's really a numeral. One click later, I arrived at the home of Xteam Software (China) Co. Ltd. (http://www.xteamlinux.com.cn/), featuring box shots of XteamLinux 4.0, XteamServer 3.0, and several other products, including XteamLindows 3.0.
My first thought was that Messrs. Robertson and Carmony were basically buffing up a Chinese product for the global market, much as Hancom USA is doing with Hancom Office. E-mails to Xteam achieved no response.
Lindows.com rebuffed requests for specifics, saying details would be revealed when LindowsOS is launched at the end of December 2001. There is no affiliation with XteamLindows, said the Lindows.com representative, noting that Lindows and Lindows.com are trademarked in the United States.
Which leaves us with a great mystery. After all, the challenge of making a friendly, Windows-compatible Linux has taxed many a code wizard. The struggle for the magic formula helped bring enterprises such as Corel to its knees. To run its Windows desktop applications under Linux, Corel invested significant resources in WINE, a Windows compatibility layer for X and UNIX. A couple of years ago, there was a distinct sniff of magic in the air, and Corel rushed to occupy what it saw as a new continent, free of convicted monopolists. With its library of established Windows and Macintosh applications, WINE was the fastest way to achieve boxed products for Linux.
Corel now owns part of Xandros.com, which has taken over development of the unreleased Debian-based CorelOS 3.0. Xandros plans to release a Linux which is easy to use, fully compatible with existing network environments, consistent, well-documented, and capable of using DEB (apt) and RPM package formats.
There are a few projects such as PETROS, a DOS/Win95 replacement, which aim for binary compatibility, but none appear to have achieved commercial success. And there are successful products such as Netraverse's Win4Lin and NeTraverse Server Standard Edition for Windows 95/98, and VMWare, which play host to Windows. SuSE offers a version of VMWare Workstation with SuSE Linux virtual machines pre-installed.
As far as I know, that's it. You use a compatibility layer such as WINE, a complete replacement OS, some flavor of host-OS, OS emulation, or a Thin Client approach.
So what is LindowsOS? Right now, only Santa can say. We are told only that LindowsOS's ten million lines of code include a Windows Compatibility Module. Has Mr. Robertson's team accomplished in a few months what took WINE years?
"Why are you doing Lindows.com?" asks Mr. Robertson in his latest newsletter. "Choice. Putting another choice on the shelf for consumers is the ultimate tonic for high prices, restrictive licenses, and intrusive security measures."
Robertson admits, "We're not the first to attempt such an undertaking, but a few features make our approach unique and compelling." Unique and compelling . . . hmm.
The first unique and compelling feature is LindowsOS's Windows Compatibility Module (see above). "To understand the importance of this," he explains to his readers, "it's essential to understand that because of the way most software is written, it will function only on one operating system . . . Up until the advent of LindowsOS, making the decision to switch operating systems meant abandoning all of your software and repurchasing new software."
Well, no. As noted in my previous column, most UNIXes will run some applications from other Operating Systems to one degree or another. So while the ability to run Windows programs may be compelling, it certainly is not unique.
Ah, but "Another emphasis with LindowsOS is making it easy to install and maintain," says Mr. Robertson. "There's no need to install a new drive, reformat or partition a hard drive, back up data or other technical tasks which require valuable time and computer expertise." Just like fixing Social Security.
Speaking of pennies, one drops in the next paragraph. Mr. Robertson says users will be able to add software to LindowsOS with "just a couple of mouse clicks." In fact, "Hundreds of software titles can be purchased (if required), downloaded and installed with just a few clicks, making the entire process completely digital." Say, as easy as downloading Britney Spears.
So we're not really talking about Linux here. We may be talking about a product which will virtually disappear behind a software download service -- the MP3.com of OSes, if you will. With great respect to a popular line of how-to books, this will not be a Linux distribution as much as Linux for the Computer-challenged.
Part of the Lindows mystery is revealed in the technology behind MP3.com, a Linux-based automation system which burned CDs upon receiving an order from the Web site. So Mr. Robertson is neither a newcomer to Linux, nor doing something new. He relies on high automation, minimal labor costs, and a large, dumb market unprepared for his highly-branded offering.
Like Microsoft's Bill Gates, Mr. Robertson probably knows that his statements are neither accurate nor examined critically by most readers. As you've probably read recently, Mr. Gates takes credit for the Open Source movement and for leading the XML revolution, which by next year he will have invented. But, like Jupiter, we know that Microsoft's true aim is to absorb as much mass as possible, or at least ensure that it is firmly in their orbit.
So, no, Mr. Robertson, you're not doing Lindows to give the world choice. You're doing Lindows because you calculate (correctly, I believe) that the public will soon revolt against Microsoft's growing range of licensing fees, but not so much that they will give up Windows software. You're doing Lindows because you see big bucks coming to anyone who can defy Rome yet speak Latin fluently.
If the LindowsOS Windows Compatibility Module achieves its purpose, it may help perpetuate Windows software by decreasing demand for Linux ports, or worse, stifling innovative new software. So here's the bottom line: if you were Microsoft, would you view LindowsOS as an enemy, or an ally? And what's to stop Microsoft from providing exactly the same services?
Always let the Wookie win.
Copyright © 2001 by Malcolm Dean.
About the author: Contributing Editor Malcolm Dean huddles under the stairwell of the Los Angeles Convention Center between trade shows. Tough times for us all.
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