| My Linux Desktop Odyssey, continued |
(continued)
The two complaints I have about Xandros is that its base install is a little light on applications. Xandros is far more heavy weight in applications than Lycoris, but there are many applications that I would expect that are not installed. However, if your main purpose is to buy a Linux that supports existing Microsoft applications, there is no better Linux distribution.
The Linux distribution that I previously liked the best was ELX. ELX is an RPM based distribution that is fully compatible with Red Hat. ELX has two versions. They offer a heavy weight version called Power Desktop and a lightweight version called BizDesk. I prefer the Power Desktop, but most of ELX customers are businesses and prefer the lightweight BizDesk.
Where Xandros has created a Linux that looks professional from the moment the disk starts to install, ELX has a far less polished look. ELX is very easy to install. During the install, I encountered my first problem. During the install, only a root user is installed. This was not the case with previous versions of ELX. While it is easy to add other users, it is far better to make this part of the install so that users do not make the mistake of operating under root.
The second problem I found was that Java was not installed by default. I contacted ELX about this and they said that the Power Desktop version installs Java by default. I believe that all desktop Linux distributions should install Flash, Real Player, Java, and Samba as part of the default installation.
The strength of ELX, other than not installing Java, is that once the installation is complete, there is very little else the user has to do. If ELX changes the install to add a user and adds Java, then I believe ELX BizDesk is the best desktop Linux for doing business. Note: ELX Linux wrote to me a letter telling me that they will change ELX Biz Desktop to add a user during the install and include Java in the base distribution. I can not confirm these changes at this time.
The main reason why ELX BizDesk is so good is that it is more tightly integrated than any other Linux desktop distribution. Some distributions throw everything but the kitchen sink in and then it is a matter of the user to figure out where everything is. ELX organizes applications in what they call 'launchpads.' These launchpads group applications by function. As BizDesk is geared towards business, it has only two launchpads. One launchpad is a favorites launchpad where the users simply puts their favorite applications and the second is a control panel.
ELX has implemented the Microsoft Windows “Mind Map” on their Linux Desktop. If a user wants to change the screen resolution, they right click on the desktop just as they would with Microsoft Windows. If the user wants to zip and e-mail a file, the user right clicks on that folder and the menu provides an option to zip and e-mail. For someone who is used to using Microsoft Windows, using ELX will be very easy.
Another major strength for ELX is that it tightly integrates Webmin onto the desktop. This allows an administrator to access every desktop from anywhere on the network.
Because ELX is strongly based on Red Hat, it is easy to migrate just about any application or driver onto ELX. I was able to support my wireless PCMCIA card. BizDesk is a very good starting point for someone wanting to deploy a customized Linux distribution.
ELX does not include Codeweaver's Crossover Office or Crossover Plugin. It does come with an open source alternative called Wine Tools. Wine Tools is a front-end to Wine that makes it easy to install some existing Microsoft applications. I was able to easily install Adobe Photoshop 7.0 and Autocad 2000. For more information on how to install existing Microsoft applications on Linux, visit this link. You will find advice on how to install many Microsoft Windows Applications.
Since my first article, Xandros, Lycoris and ELX have all gotten better. I still believe that Microsoft XP has the advantage, but that advantage does not take cost into consideration. Xandros and ELX both are better than Windows 98 and both provide support for many existing Microsoft Applications. I believe that ELX has the edge for installed applications and the completeness of its integration. Xandros is more polished looking and offers the advantage of including Codeweavers Crossover Plugin and Crossover Office.
ELX Biz Desk is one of the best Linux distributions for the office
In addition to testing commercial distributions, I also tested free distributions. Many of the free distributions are surprisingly good. Among the very good distributions that are available for free, the best two I tested are MEPIS Linux and Ark Linux. Very close behind are PCLinuxOS and Alt Linux, both of these based on Mandrake.
MEPIS Linux is based on Debian. MEPIS compares very well against Xandros. MEPIS is a live CD that has the option of installing onto the hard drive. MEPIS allows you to fully test out the system and then decide if you want to install it on your unit or not. Some Linux distributions cause me to panic because I am not sure that I am wiping out my other partitions or not. MEPIS is very kind and gentle and does a very good job making sure it doesn't wipe out your hard drive during the install.
MEPIS Linux gives up nothing to its commercial counterparts. MEPIS is a free Linux that is equal to Xandros. MEPIS is superior to Lycoris. MEPIS installs more software than Xandros by default. I prefer the look of Xandros to MEPIS but a trip to KDE Look can easily fix that problem.
MEPIS has a facility that allows you to synch data with your pen drive. This allows you to easily move data back and forth between computers. As MEPIS is a live CD, I strongly encourage everyone to try it out.
One of the very best free Linux distributions, MEPIS Linux
MEPIS Linux installs with KDE as the standard desktop. However, users can choose ICEWM. I tested MEPIS Linux to see if I could get it to run in 64 MB with ICEWM. I got a message stating that 108 MB of RAM is required.
The other standout free Linux distribution that impresses me is Ark Linux. Ark Linux compares very well with ELX. I believe that Ark Linux is based on Mandrake. Ark Linux's major weakness is an install that gives me three scary options of how to install. I believe that with the current installer, I would only install Ark Linux on a fresh drive or on a system where there is not important data. For my evaluation, I installed on a fresh hard disk.
Ark Linux is one of the best looking Linux distributions. Ark Linux looks polished and is very complete. Ark Linux is aggressively developing and they warn that the distribution is still alpha quality. Ark Linux is clearly a winner and I am quite excited to seeing where this project goes.
One more free Linux that I would like to recognize is Arch Linux , A live CD version of Arch Linux is available. It is called AMULG and can be downloaded at Arch Linux should not be confused with Ark Linux. Arch Linux worked very well on my Linux hostile laptop. Arch Linux is a lean Linux distribution based on Crux that allows the user to easily build their own system using a package management system called pacman.
Ark Linux is a free Linux that is in the league of the best desktop Linux
Ark Linux's developers state clearly that Ark Linux is still Alpha and that development is proceeding at a rapid pace. Even so, Ark Linux is one of the best desktop distributions available. One of the list of “things to do” is improving the installer. I can personally recommend Ark Linux without reservation for anyone installing on a new hard disk.
AMULG is a live CD version of Arch Linux
Conclusion
In conclusion, Microsoft XP remains the best desktop operating system if price is not a factor. Every desktop I evaluated in this article is an upgrade from Windows 98. There are now Linux distributions that will run on older hardware supported by Windows 98, but not Microsoft Windows XP. Vector Linux is probably the best of these. Flonix is also an option.
Xandros and ELX remain the best of the commercial desktop Linux distributions. I prefer ELX. This is not a quality judgment but one based on personal preference. ELX still has room for improvement. They need to polish up their look, add Java and add users other than root during the install. With these changes, I believe ELX will be the best commercial Linux Desktop.
Finally, there are two very exciting free Linux distributions to consider. MEPIS Linux is the more polished of the two and it gives up nothing to any commercial Linux desktop. Ark Linux is amazingly good but is less mature than MEPIS Linux.
nd the verdict is: If cost is not a concern, Linux is not ready to go head-to-head with Microsoft Windows XP. The best Linux distributions are better than Windows 98. Hardware and peripherals must be considered, but users resistance should not be a problem. Organizations can save substantial amounts of money moving to Linux and the new distributions will allow a migration to Linux with minimum impact on the organization.
ELX Linux and Xandros remain my favorite commercial Linux distributions. I generally prefer the Power Desktop version of ELX Linux. I only reviewed the Biz Desktop version.
MEPIS Linux and Ark Linux are two free Linux distributions that are among the best distributions for the desktop available. All of these distributions will work with 128 MB RAM. Other distributions, to include Flonix and Vector Linux will work with even less RAM.
Also by Michael C. Barnes:
 About the author: Michael C. Barnes is currently president of NorhTec. Mr. Barnes has over 20 years experience with computers and another 10 years experience with more primitive networks, to include paper tape and morse code. Mr. Barnes has 18 years of experience with various Unix systems and spent 13 years with Sun Microsystems.
Mr. Barnes became fascinated with GNU/Linux turned the common PC into a Unix like workstation. By 1998, GNU/Linux surpassed the desktop environments offered on traditional Unix workstations.
When GNU/Linux is combined with low-cost x86 platforms, organizations now have the power to create enterprise computing for the small organization.
Mr. Barnes, born in Kentucky, now lives in Bangkok, Thailand with his wife, Linda Kubota-Barnes and his daughter Karen Barnes.
Copyright © 2004 by Michael C. Barnes. Reproduced by DesktopLinux.com with permission.
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