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Lycoris Linux at ExtremeTech
Eugenia writes "Most of you probably remember Redmond Linux, the user-friendly distro that tried to duplicate the familiar WindowsXP UI feel under Linux. Well, there is no more Redmond Linux. The company recently renamed the product "Lycoris Desktop/LX". ExtremeTech features today a very favorable review of the distro, includes screenshots and information on the installation, network setup, desktop environment etc."
It seems that more and more, Microsoft is trying to make their products more stable and Linux is trying to make their products more flashy like Windows. If this continues, Linux and Windows will essentially become the same operating system except for the much larger budget of Microsoft. Linux remains a viable option because of what it offers that windows doesn't (increased stability, better environment for development [its also free, but i'm sure that most normal people don't pay for windows either -.-]).
IMHO, Linux will dig its own grave by developing the shiny things that windows has instead of further strengthening its own unique aspects. [The grass is always greener on the other side]
From all appearances it would seem to be able to pass the 'wife test'. That is, can she intuitively find what she wants and enjoy her media and surfing? While the purists might balk at a distribution that makes Linux look more like Windows, I offer nothing but praise. If more people are willing to try a distribution of linux that has a more familiar feel to them and uses a structure they understand, then I consider that to be a victory. It's still one less Windows machine in the wild no matter how you count it. While I prefer my X with Gnome a la Blackbox, I applaud the efforts of groups to create a nice middle of the road solution for those that don't want or need to to know how the internals work. I think this is an area that seems to be a much contested battlefield and ideal here on /. where people tend to use their desktop and OS to form a sense of identity. However, we must remember the vast majority of corporate and home users (think of your seceretary, or execs) can not and will not be swayed into trying anything new as long it requires a steep learning curve from what they use every day.
my $.02
I got my brother started on Redmond Linux on a P2/266 just before they changed their name. (Yes, I sprang for the $30. fsking non-existent broadband options.) Installation was a breeze, even for him, and his transition from the Windows UI to the modified KDE took very little time. And once I added StarOffice, he didn't need to go back. I'm slowly pushing him towards increased use of the CLI, and eventually to Debian, but Redmond Linux has been a good first step so far.
Reading these comments here, I'm not surprised to see a few whiny comments ("We don't want it to look like MS!"), but I *am* surprised to see so much feedback for "starter" distros (like Mandrake, RH, or Redmond). Good. We mustn't alienate as we conquer.
P.S. Why'd they change to "Lycoris"? Someone needs to restore some dignity to the Redmond name. Besides, "Lycoris" sounds like a disease. ("I'm sorry, Johnny, but you have lycoris. You have six weeks to live." "Gosh, Doc, what do I tell my family?")
*****
There are many people in this country who, through no fault of their own, are sane.
You're right, but I think you might also be somewhat mistaken. Yes, Windows certainly is not an example of an easy, powerful or intuitive interface, and certainly (imo) emulating it is not going to give you an easy-to-use desktop system. However, many people are already very used to Windows, and giving them a aystem that acts similarly means less confusion and frustration for them, and a much smaller learning curve. This is what I think this distribution is trying to address.
I recently took the plunge from using Win 2k and switched to Red Hat. There are several things I have run across, both good and bad about Linux. .xls and.doc formats.
1- For the most part, experienced Linux users seem very happy to help me out after they figure out that I am actively trying to learn a new o/s after using Windows since age 10.
2- The Red Hat installer is incredibly easy to use and faster than anything I have ever used in Windows
3- Maybe there is a way to get by this (file converter) but I am getting tired of not being able to read job related documents in
4- Multimedia capabilities seem to be lacking.
File sharing is harder and video playback sucks
5- Stability is truly awe inspring on my desktop, buggy as hell, but really fast on my laptop.
I would imagine that most halfway experienced users would solve these minor gripes in short order, but this is what a new Linux user is going to run into. WinXP clone interface or not, the basic concepts will still confound the average user who really does not care what he or she uses, just that e-mail and Word work. The stability and possibly the large number of really good bundled programs, would be two attractive concepts for the Windows using world, that and just using something different. (Kind of offtopic) Is there a good book anyone would recommend to a new user trying to learn Linux?
I agree with your sentiment, but this thing doesn't look at all like windows. The default desktop background looks like windows, after that, it's just another distribution with one of the Linux desktops on it. Nothing new, nothing startlingly "like-MS."
Judging from the review, the best feature is that it works. The reviewer seems accustomed to Linux distros that fall apart when they're used. Printing sucking, no spell checkers available, difficult-to-install tarballs (I'm not clear on how he found that simpler, but, whatever.)
Making something simpler to use and less broken out of the box is a worthy goal Making things look like things that they are not is not a worthy goal. As I've found myself posting several times over the past couple of days, making something look like something whose functionality it poorly copies is a worse sin than making it look completely alien. If a user sees something, he brings a large set of expectations of behavior with that. When the look-alike doesn't function like he expects it to, he becomes frustrated and rejects it more completely than he would reject something that looked new. I've seen it happen plenty, and it's a foolhardy path down which we travel if this becomes the custom.
There should be a moratorium on the use of the apostrophe.
Max V.
NeXTMail/MIME Mail welcome
I am an Unbeliever, by nature. Tell me that a distro is easy to use, and I will ask you what your biases are that lead you to make such a statement.
SO I ordered a CD of Desktop/lx to run my own tests. I built a box from parts, just so I could have something to test it on. And then I ran my own little lab using Mandrake 8.1, Windows 2000 Professional, and Desktop/lx.
The machine is this: Abit SL6 motherboard, Intel Pentium 4 1GHz processor, NetGear FA310tx NIC, ATI Rage128 Pro AGP card, Maxtor DiamondMax 30GB HDD, a generic 1.44 floppy, HP cd12-series CD-RW. Total RAM: 384MB.
The first install was Mandrake.It installed, but didn't recognize the card on installation. I got it working, but only in 16 color, 640x480 resolution. It did not recognize the VIA onboard sound, nor the CD burner. As an out-of-the-box install, it wouldn't have won any prizes. I purposely did not spend any time on it, as I was testing the distro's ability on a clean, simple install.
Next, I tried Win2K, just to give myself a benchmark. After all, hardware manufacturers almost universally create their wares for the MS world. Surprisingly, the Win2K also did not handle the Rage128 correctly, leaving me with the job of downloading and installing the new driver. Same for the cd-burner. I have to say, I was pretty shocked. I expected the machine to install right away.
The Lycoris distro happened to arrive in the mail that same day, so I blew away the partition for a third time and popped the disk in.
Installation was a breeze. After answering a few questions, the file-copies started, leaving me with a Caldera-like configuration, answering network and user-creation questions. Having answered all those, I got to play solitaire for a bit. After the copying was finished, I started the X configuration. The card was recognized and configured on the first try with no input from me. After I rebooted the system, I was left with a KDE system which had been themed like Microsoft's XP. And here's where things got interesting.
On the desktop was a cute little Network Browser icon. I clicked on it, largely to see how much it failed in my work environment, where I have Win2K servers and workstations, Linux servers and workstations, and Win98 laptops. The Win2K servers are running an Active Directory tree. The browser not only found them all and displayed them, I received access under my normal user account to all resources on the network. On the first try.
All in all, I think this distro is one to watch...
Believe nothing, not even if I say it, if it violates your sense of reason -- Buddha