Slashdot Mirror
Lycoris - Linux for the Masses?
Dejected @Work writes "MSNBC.com, a definitely sketchy source of Linux information, just came out with an article "Linux for the Masses" about the ease of installing Lycoris(formerly Redmond Linux) on the desktop. The author even concluded you can 'fall in love with an ever-easier-to-use operating system.' It sounds like great news but am I missing something?" Several favorable reviews of this distro recently. It looks like all you have to do to get the reviewers on your side is to let them play solitaire during the install. :) Update: 04/13 14:53 GMT by T : Eric Krout also suggests the two-part review (part one and part two) over on monolinux.
Based on what I see in the review, it does indeed look like they've done a good job producing the "anti-geek" Linux distro. I never thought there was any reason not to use Linux as a desktop OS, but I have always throught that the best qualities of Linux (no central control and ownership) were also the reasons it would not succeed on the desktop: No marketing, no power to challenge the Microsoft OEM stranglehold.
The most interesting aspect to me was that they sell cheapish desktops and laptops preinstalled with their distro. There are other Linux preinstallers, but most of them seem to aim at the geek mainstream or the server business.
There is no reason Linux can't be a major desktop player technically or practically, but the marketing muscle has always been absent. Lycoris may be a great product, but I don't see where it changes anything on that marketing power front.
Still, I may just buy their cheap desktop for my technophobe mother-in-law who doesn't know Windows or Linux. I will bet she will have no problems using the machine and will never ever wish she had Windows, or even really know that she isn't using Windows.
Since Corel left there has been a void, that even Mandrake doesn't fill. Lycoris Desktop may just fill that void. Lycoris has a very easy install, easier than Mandrake. The best part is the well thought out desktop. And like Corel, instead of the 50 text editors you usually get,you a slimed down selection. There is only one mp3 player, one browser etc. IMHO they have eliminated the confusion most users suffer when they first use linux. They have set up an environment where you just sit down and get your work done. You want to type a letter, simple use Kword. There is none of this "do I use kword,abiword,openoffice,etc" confusion.
While many linux experts will see this as a negative, you have to recognize that KISS is what no other linux distro has mastered since Corel left. I for one welcome this change. Pick the "best" desktop apps, and package them on a easy to use desktop. In this case I think the concept of less choice has worked.
If you wanna get rich, you know that payback is a bitch
What are you talking about? Do you have any idea what Lycoris is? It is XFree86 + KDE + some well-chosen open source apps. What "kernel mods" and "hooks" and "patches" and "API"s are you talking about, specifically? If you're referring to the kernel pre-emption patches, those have already been merged into the 2.5.x tree, and are widely seen as a good thing for Linux.
main(c,r){for(r=32;r;) printf(++c>31?c=!r--,"\n":c<r?" ":~c&r?" `":" #");}
The really terrible thing is the kernel mods that are necessary to necessary to put the hooks in for their point-n-drool API. I know Linus has the guts to tell them no, but unfortunately all the major distros have started including those patches.
That's what the distrbutions are there for. Linus produces what he thinks should be produced, and as the baseline kernel distribution it's inherently going to be somewhat conservative. Distributions then modify this to suit what their customers want, regardless of whether it's something that Linus would want in the kernel or not (see supermount, for instance - users want the convenience of being able to use removable media without messing about mounting and unmounting it. It's an ugly patch and Linus is never going to include it in his kernel. Distributions add the patch. Everyone's happy)
I guess that's the downside of Open Source. You can't make everyone learn the CLI like they should.
There should be no requirement to use the CLI. Many users just want to be able to turn on the computer, send an email and turn it off again. In what way does forcing them to use a CLI improve their life?
Desktops like KDE and to (and to a lesser extent, GNOME) copy Windows so shamelessly that they bring expectations, especially from novice users. The wild cut and paste in UNIX is enough to frustrate most novice users. The ripped off UI minus the "normal" (read: Windowsesque) behavior is enough to make most novices believe that Linux is nothing better than a second-rate windows. I've seen this first hand: my neighbor installs RedHat/KDE and it looks like Windows, and what does he do when the first misbehaving X app takes over half his screen (without revealing the "close" widget)? He realizes that he's in over his head, and goes back to Windows.
It's a terrible idea to out-Windows windows. If they don't carve out their own UI, Linux will always be playing catch-up on the desktop.
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Solaris 8 gives you a web browser during the install (after network setup), which I think is fucking brilliant...
What Lycoris does that none of the other Linux distros really do is limit your options (maybe some do but why nitpick). Contrary to the belief of Linux users in basements around the globe, this is not a bad thing. Lycoris does right where others have done wrong. Instead of giving the option of a billion different file managers and command line ftp clients they simplified the software package down to something manageable. One serious hurdle in a Linux installation is knowing what programs you want and which you don't want.
RedHat, SuSE, and Debian cater to the everything comes in a single box paradigm. This is great for the people who've used Linux before and have a feel for certain apps and thus choose to install them. Others have a feel for different apps and thus install those, this continues until there's a dozen dozen various installations of the same distribution. For people new to Linux this is wholly confusing, I've been using Linux for years and I still get confused when I've got six CDs full of stuff. I think Lycoris fits into a very nice niche of Linux users, ones who want to just turn something on and get work done. Like the tag line it seems like it could be very nice for general consumers as they'd be hard pressed to tell you what operating system was on their computer anyhow.
Hopefully the companies building beige box PCs bundling Linux will take note of Lycoris and give it a bit of a bigger install base and popularize it. RedHat is a good company but it seems like they're definitely going in a more corporate user direction which is of course fine, more power to them.
I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.
hell add IM program like gaim or kopete in there and they may not even remember to exit the install
Now that isnt a bad idea. If you had some corporate backing, or some dedicated volunteers, you could have an install-im with a live person at the other end. That way, if you needed any help you could chat with a helpful install buddy. Tell me that wouldnt impress reviewers.
Of course, most of my early problems were getting a damn PPP connection up...
Linux for the masses is great, but lets not let the masses over-simplify it or take it to the lowest commom demononator.
Why not? You wouldn't have to use it! I would love to see a Linux distro that is brain-dead simple to install and oversimplifies everything. I want a distro that automagically detects my hardware and installs a few basic tools, X, GNOME (no flames please), Mozilla, and OpenOffice. I want a distro with as few config options as possible. I want a distro that's simple, dammit.
Would I ever use such a distribution? No, but I wouldn't be the target market. My Mom would be the target. My roommate would be the target. My grandparents would be the target. Most people don't want a lot of choices in their computing life. They just want something that they can use with as few headaches as possible. Why are we so reluctant to provide that?
Heck, it's not like Debian would go away if we made an OS that played to the "lowest common denominator". What are you so afraid of?
This