If I Can't Make The Printer Work, I'll Eat My (Red) Hat (Redhat 7)

Member Name: Nibelung

Product:	Redhat 7
Date:	15/07/02 (179 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap, Comprehensive, Not a sign of Bill Gates

Disadvantages: Non-mainstream, Less intuitive to set up

AAARGH!!! UNCLE BILL IS STRANGLING ME!

Hot on the heels of my Windows XP Pro opinion, you may well be wondering what I'm doing writing about a completely different operating system (OS).

Well, it's partly to do with how my PC hardware is configured. I have a pair of 40 gigabyte hard-drives, one acting as a full backup to the other - after all, wouldn't want to lose all those opinions I've written, now would I? I do also carry out a less frequent backup to CD-R, but that's another story.

Anyway, my drives are in removable drawers called caddies. This makes it very easy to slot in another drive at a moment's notice. This would also makes it very easy to change OS's at a moment's notice, and this then leads the thought process down the route of "Why not give it a try"?

The vast majority of IBM-compatible PC users will be tied in someway to a Microsoft product, either, the OS itself (MS-DOS, Windows etc), or some other package like Office (Word, Excel et al), and as they say - "If it ain't bust, don't fix it!"

However, I'm one of life's meddlers, who's just GOT to complicate matters by swimming against the tide, and so I got to thinking about learning another OS, preferably not another £250 one! Just call me "Betamax Man"!

WHO THE F*!+ IS LINUS TORVALDS?

Yes, not a name that rolls off the tongue in the same way that I wish Bill Gates didn't, is it?

Now in the "big boys & girls" world of networks and servers, an OS called UNIX has always been a front-runner, but, as you might guess, it would be a tad expensive for your average stand-alone PC user! Steam-hammers and nuts spring to mind.

Our pal, Linus T set about creating a system that could emulate the (in his opinion) superior UNIX without costing an arm and a leg. In fact, he decided to put the software in the public domain (that means it'
;s free to you and me!). More significantly, it also means that if you are the writer of a software application, you shouldn't have too much trouble finding out how to get it to work within this environment because the requisite "source code" is an open secret.

Thus LINUX was born. So, if it's free, why does it cost anywhere between £39 and £85 in PC World? Well, as you can imagine, the software industry hasn't fallen over itself to make versions of their Windows or MacOS software to run on Linux, so when paying for your Linux package, you also get a bundle of software to overcome this, at least partially.

In my own case, my Linux 7.3 version cost me £49 bundled by a company called RedHat, identifiable by the ..errr....red hat on the box.

In this bundle comes an "office productivity" package (note I don't say MS Office look-alike) called StarOffice from Sun Microsytems. This provides for word-processing, spreadsheet and a presentation/graphics package. In fact, most of what a (much more expensive) basic version of MS Office can do. Very sensibly, Sun have made sure that their documents and spreadsheets are compatible with Word and Excel, so swapping floppies with an Office user should be no problem. So, if typing is your main use for a PC, maybe you should cut loose, forget Windows and Office, go for Linux, and use the change from 500 smackers to go to Crete for 2 weeks to work on your first book - "Who Pays The Software Man?". Γεια σου!

INSTALLING IT
In the box you get:-

1x Installation Manual (not a User's Manual, note, that's significant)

8x CD-ROMs

1x DVD-ROM (not needed exactly, but contains everything on the CD-ROMs).

Personally, I found the manual easy enough to follow, but then I know what a "bootable CD-ROM" drive is, and how to "alter the boot sequence in the BIOS". I you
don't, then it looks like Linux could be a case for "GALMIN"*

*Get A Little Man In - I suppose that ought to be GALPIN in these politically-correct times!

Linux can be installed on a disk previously formatted for the Windows 9* family, i.e. on a FAT32 format disk.

The initial install sequence takes about 30 minutes and is very straightforward. A decidedly orderly screen tells you which files are currently being installed with a brief "one-liner" as to what they do. You also get a series of informative text screens, much like waiting for the main feature to start at your nearest multi-plex, although none of these advertised my nearest Indian restaurant or a driving school, being mainly concerned with the history of Linux!

During the install, it is assumed that the installer is likely to be the administrator to the system (seems reasonable otherwise, where did you nick the disks from?) and you will be asked to input a "root" level password. You can leave the creation of other users until you've got the system running.

One surprise for Windows users is that there is actually a choice of two different Graphical User Interfaces (Gooeys).

Now this is the point where I have to take issue with Red Hat and Linux in general.

Following the first reboot, there I sat, eagerly awaiting a nice new screen, when all I got was an initial screen asking me which system I'd like to load. Having confirmed that Linux was the only one for me (it is possible to use this loader for a dual-boot system where Windows also features), the system boots a bit further, until you come to a flashing command prompt. Hmmm, great. Now what? Guessing that I needed to type "Root" in at the ID level, and my administrator's password in at the Password prompt took me one stage further.

What was then needed was a command, but the installation manual made no mention of this - oh, no
! After all, I'd installed it now, ITS job was done.

No amount of trying to guess what the command was helped. I tried RUN, GO, LINUX, and START (so near yet so far away!), all to no avail.

It became obvious that I was going to have to read the Users Manual safely tucked away on a CD-ROM in Acrobat PDF format: but how to read it? Of course, insert my Windows drive caddy, boot up de ol' Windows XP and read the .pdf file from there. Easy-peasy.

I can't quite put my finger on what I find so unsatisfactory about this, but the nearest I can come up with, is the following allegory. You're driving in along in your brand-spanking-new BMW when it suddenly breaks down. You phone BMW who confirm that you'll need a tow truck, but since they don't make them they refer you to a Ford Dealer! I think that about sums up my feelings on this process.

So, eventually, thanks to Windows, I was able to ascertain that STARTX was the command I was looking for. Now why couldn't the installation manual have mentioned that? After all, it's only the very first thing that you'd need to know AFTER installation, and then you could have read the manuals from within Linux, not a rival system!

This doesn't bode very well for anyone who has taken my initial advice to throw their lot in with Linux and save a few bob, now does it?

My (revised) advice would be to print out the Users Manuals either from Windows or someone else's PC if you are starting from scratch, since from day one, the paper manual they give you will leave you high and dry.

ALL IS FORGIVEN - IT WORKS!

You do have to keep saying, "What did I expect for 50 quid?" to yourself occasionally, but first impressions are pretty favourable. The main screen is a very logical familiar affair that Win 9* users will recognise straightaway.

Sure, a lot of the terminology is different, after all, a "Wizard"
; is probably a Microsoft copyright! Linux has daemons.

It would appear that Linux is not as "plug-and-play" as Windows, although I did find that my Blueyonder Broadband was already working when I tried it, so it obviously set up the network card and LAN settings with no help from me .

For internet use, you get two browsers, Netscape (the "other" one) and the upstart Mozilla which is gaining favour fast.

You also get Netscape Messenger, an approximate equivalent of Outlook Express, although I haven't set up any e-mail accounts. Since this OS is for my educational benefit, I don't want to keep trying to remember which disk has got my latest e-mails on it! Now if I was having an affair.......

INSTALLING OTHER SOFTWARE

At first, I couldn't find out how to install the extra software like StarOffice, but this turns out not to be a problem.

Instead of an "Install New Software" process like Windows, the CD-ROM is designed to "autorun" on insertion, giving you a list of what is on the disk. Then, you tick the bits you want and off you go - different but equally simple.

The same goes for the "Productivity Disk" of software, mainly utilities, although I could have done with better descriptions of what they were, so as to decide whether to install or not!

Trial "dabbles" with the word processor and the spreadsheet reveal them to be almost the same in operation as Word and Excel.

PERIFERALS

Now this does seem to be my most problematical area yet. Despite the initial set up having spotted my two LPT ports, which means that it must have inserted its own driver for the PCI card that carries LPT2, I still can't set up a printer. The process has drivers for my Epson 600, but not my Canon LBP-660. Even on the Epson, there are so many sub-variations to the driver that I'm not sure if the "Unable to Complete Te
st Print" flag is a result of my choosing the wrong driver, or the fact that I'm doing something else more fundamentally wrong, but I'll press on until I lick it, including finding a Canon driver from the web. Who knows? - I might even read the manual!

That's the great thing about Linux - if Red Hat haven't supplied what you want, there's a world of "anoraks" and geeks out there beavering away to tweak it.

CONCLUSION

By its very nature, this opinion will be sketchy so far, since I'm still struggling to get to grips with some of the basics. Some of what I said earlier about this being a cheap alternative to Windows, if all you want to do is type, still holds true. However, if I, (and I regard myself as reasonably computer-literate - compared to some at least) can't yet get a printer working then Linux's days as a £50 type-writer haven't arrived yet.

It feels more like a system "by and for" hobbyists. I suppose Linux will be finding favour with some companies setting up LANs though; especially those with UNIX servers. With the luxury of an IT department to do the configuration for you, leaving you just to use the thing, then "mucho dinero" could be saved compared to the cost of umpteen Windows site-licences, since users will find it very similar to operate to any of the Windows 9* family.

As and when I lick the printer problem, I'll be back!

Summary: