HOW TO LIVE WITHOUT WINDOWS

Linux is bringing about a quiet revolution to the IT world .
LINUX (Pronounced LIH-Nucks) is a UNIX-type operating system created by two students in Helsinki who were looking for an alternative to Windows. Named after one of its creators -- Linus Torvalds -- it is part of the steadily-growing community of Freeware. That is, it is available free to everyone to do with it as they choose and can be downloaded from the Net.
It is perhaps the most novel development of its kind, especially in a world fighting over intellectual property rights.
When Linux was put on the Internet and its source code made freely available, the creators let it be known that anyone is free to make changes and improvements on it. The idea quickly caught on and Linux today is the creation of literally thousands of programmers all over the world. It is difficult to imagine of many such products that are the outcome of such wide and such an open collaboration.
There are no strings attached with using the product, but one. It is available for free but companies and developers can charge money for its distribution. Only: their version of the distribution must contain the source code (that is, the internal programme should remain open and available to everyone).
Also, unlike Windows whose uptime (the time for which it runs without crashing) is counted in days, Linux is known for its bullet-proof reliability; and its performance in almost all respects is better than Windows NT or other UNIX-like systems when running on Intel processors.
Which is, perhaps, why over 48 per cent of all the Web servers on the Internet are running Linux today. That's close to all the other operating systems put together, including Solaris, NT and Netware. If it is connecting to the Net, Linux is, by far, miles ahead.
Hundreds of software developers are now writing free software for Linux most often with better quality than commercial software. Applications range from scientific and financial software to standard Office Automation software. Lay computer-users believe there is no viable option to Microsoft programmes like Word and Excel. That is a myth. StarOffice 4.0, for example, has a word processor, spread-sheet, electronic mail and presentation-cum-drawing tool: all for free.
Nor does using programmes like StarOffice 4.0 cut you off from communicating with the Windows-using world. An excellent feature of StarOffice is its ability to save files in different formats, including Microsoft Word 95. That means you can open the files at other places, even if StarOffice is not installed.
Equally important, Linux hardware requirements are surprisingly low. Linux will run on any old 486-system,rivalling
the performance of other operating systems running on Pentium processors. Most hardware vendors also offer drivers for Linux.
It's a whole new culture. This pride in sharing intellectual "property". Software companies which would charge the moon for their products on other operating systems, either give them away free or for paltry sums for running on Linux. PC QUEST, among India's most popular magazines, for example, has been giving out Linux CDs free for the last three years.
The question then, is: why doesn't everyone use Linux?
They are starting to. E-mail server and client software for connecting to the Net is free on Linux. Software developers often swear by it, because of its speed and reliability. Even super-computers have been developed running versions of Linux.
One of the main reasons why end-users have not taken to it is that Linux was slightly more difficult to instal on their own. That has changed, however, with different "distributions", most of which do a complete self-install with very little information required from the user. The May 1998 issue of PC QUEST contains a CD-ROM with the 'Redhat" Linux Distribution, which is one such easy self-install Linux.
One of Microsoft's major claims is that Windows 98 reduces the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). But there are hidden costs they don't talk so loudly about. You buy Windows 98, then you buy Microsoft Office to run on it. Thereafter, you pay for a "client licence" for accessing the server if you are connected on a network. Plus, you pay for a Microsoft Exchange (e-mail) client licence.
If you are a corporate user, that's just the beginning. Because if you are accessing a database on the server, you need "client licence" once agian. And so on and so forth -- till you realise the TCO has just been steadily increasing.
However, the best software being written today is either free or shareware. The idea is simple: you use shareware, and pay for it if you like it.
A nonsensical idea at first glance. But it works because of volumes. Imagine 900,000 users who download a programme for free, and one out of ten pays up US$50. That makes it US$4.5 million -- without any advertisement, distribution or support costs. The only thing that matters are the quality, features and performance of the software.
Despite Microsoft India's hoopla, India has always been UNIX country. And over the past three years, 180,000 CD-ROMs with Linux have been distributed with magazines at under Rs 100 each. Estimates are that 7 per cent of these were actually installed. Which makes a formidable Linux population. Join the revolution.
-- B. Rajendra Prasad /New Delhi. [SUNDAY, July 5-11, 1998]

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