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Ignalum Linux - A Bridge to Windows?
linux slacker writes "Ignalum Linux 'is an intuitive graphical environment that works right out of the box and offers unrivaled compatibility with Microsoft Windows' or so says their website. The company is owned by four university students in Ontario, and one of their goals is to allow companies to incorporate Linux into their Windows environment, so users could still run Word, Excel and other popular Microsoft fare."
Companies could run this alongside their Unix workstations to help in their migration to Windows.
Just a thought!
...what happened to 1 through to 8? :)
Does the world really need another Linux distribution? I know I'll be modded to hell for this, but why?
"Better" windows compatability still isn't 100%. And J. R. Sixpack is gonna be as confused as hell when his system which he bought which is "compatible with Windows" won't run some random program he found on a shovelware CD.
If I wanted windows, i would be running windows.
:)
Slackware is more my thingy
Well, I guess this will provide them with more stable computers atleast.
Ps, stop making Linux-Windows dists. and start making apps that they could use insted of windows-apps.
And btw, my english sucks.
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Could this possibly be the answer to gaming on Linux? As an avid gamer, the main thing that has kept me from using Linux as my primary OS is the fact that its support for the games I grew up loving is very limited. While I love the newer open source games, I'm just too attached to my old games to fully migrate to Linux...
I am a bit wary of a Linux company that posts screenshots of their 'product' while being root every time. What kind of message does this send out ... "Yeah, it's ok to log in as root all the time" ?
Veni, Vidi, Velcro!
Well, being able to run word and powerpoint sounds great..but 2.4.20 and KDE 3.1 with an old mozilla doesn't sound quite great. Looks like this distro's gonna need lot of upgrade
after less than a dozen comments. Google cache: http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:UpTSilLJE-MJ:ww w.ignalum.com/+ignalum+linux&hl=en
Proudly karma whoring since 2003.
Wasn't Lindows going to provide near 100% compatiblity with windows?
Haven't there been endless attempts at windows-compatible linux distros?
# cat
Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
If its really compatible it should be able to run also all those nice programs that are installed over the net automagically. :-)
So wasn't this same thing tried with OS/2? Better multitasking and the ability to run Win32 apps just as if you were on Windows? Only the apps never worked as well as they did on Windows and while some things were better - it was basically just a waste of time. I think there are enough Office Like apps that copy Office enough for usability, the focus should be on interop with file formats - I see that as what is really holding adoption back.
... not that there's another Linux distribution, but there's yet another that tries to be Windows. Every day, I care less and less if Linux becomes a mainstream OS.
:)
You want 100% Windows compatability? Run Windows.
:wq
Will these guys be able to offer a valid alternative to the Linspire/ Lindows trainwreck? And will they not get crushed by the 800 pound gorilla that is the MS legal department? (I'm sure they're going after these guys, and 4 college students don't exactly sound like they have a lot of assets). Let's hope they survive, choice is good for us all.
Will wank off Linus Torvalds for fame.
You work there by any chance? :)
Veni, Vidi, Velcro!
Everything they claim is perfectly able to be done with existing sudo-emulators.
For instance with Suse when you buy a retail version you get a liscence for Codeweaver's crossover stuff.
You can then run Office 2000, IE 6.0, Quicktime, Quicken and other applications.
So if you do want to run Linux but will not because it doesn't have support from your favorite windows apps, then there are options.
Almost any distro can be made to work. But I suppose it would be convenient to have one that was designed specificly to work with Windows apps right out of the box.
Didn't Lindows (as they were known then) try to do this then fail miserably? It's not as if this is the first distro to try running Microsoft applications. And what happens when the next version of Office, designed specifically not to work on wine, comes out?
Mod parent up!
Seems like a good idea to me. In making Linux apps run on Windows, it takes the battle to Microsoft's camp and gains exposure.
To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it
Current google cash posted above doesn't seem to work -- try this one instead people
e =U TF-8&q=cache%3Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.ignalum.com%2F&btn G=Search
http://66.102.9.104/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&o
1) Is Ignalum a source distribution, built from LFs, or an enhanced version of an existing distribution?
2)Are exe files associated with WINE so Windows installers just work
3)Kernel version?
4)Obviously KDE 3.x from the s/shot linked above, but is it a full or stripped-down version?
5)Are they using a Windows driver wrapper to allow win32 device drivers to function as well?
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
In many companies, a much easier battle is to get the company to move, say, for Microsoft Outlook to Thunderbird, or IE to Mozilla. Also of course MS Office to OpenOffice. I think this is a much better battle to try to fight than trying to get the whole desktop moved to Linux. Once the company has moved the desktop applications over to open source ones, then it is time to move to Linux.
Trying to get companies to move to Linux by moving MS Office to Linux is nuts.
It's projects like this that really piss me off.
Sure, the goal of the project is very admirable. More compatibility, no matter where (as long as it isn't breaking things) is a good thing.
But why didn't these uni students spend their time helping the projects that are already there. Now, we have an extra project, using existing tools (presumably hacked to be better), and now the existing tools have to find out what hacks were used to make their improvement.
These guys have put themselves an unwanted middleman in the compatibility/innovation process, and it annoys the hell out of me.
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The last digit of pi is four.
Personally, I use Win4Lin. It's runs windows as either a separate window or in full screen mode (think X Windows but running Windws). I sometimes like to run win4lin in full screen mode and confuse people since it's almost impossible to tell you're running it under linux until you try to do low-level stuff like configuring device drivers & network stuff. It's a really great product; but only runs Windows 98 (heard they're working on Win2K version), and doesn't do directx games. Other than that, everything works -- Microsoft Office, IE, Kazaa, chessmaster etc. I'll be happy to provide more details on request. Oh yes, I have no links to said company other than being a very satisfied customer.
"...or so says their website."
Uh, no. Their website doesn't say anything anymore. Indeed, it's apparently powered by something called "PostNuke".
/. --- because the net needed a gratuitous Heisenberg effect.
The screenshots look incredibly ordinary. No emulated Windows programs, or even anything that looks remarkably different from Fedora Core. It doesn't look that much easier to use either.
We'll see how useful it really is when the reviews come out.
The company is 4 guys who cobbled together a distro out of existing parts.
They can't even keep their webserver up. What would make anyone think that this support for this new splinter distro will be sustained for any period of time?
I have been pwned because my
Emacs, my friend.
they are targeting people using Windows already :)
I like the microsoft ads at the top of the slashdot page.
What is the world coming to?
Next thing you know Virus Scanners will allow certain virii made buy paying customers... oh wait that already happens.
If you want a Linux for the average user, it's going to have to be that way. Now we all know that su-ing to root is easy for when you need it, but it is something that will piss off and confound most users. You wouldn't think so, but it never ceases to amaze me the how the simplest things (froma geek perspective) can confound normal users.
This goes double for an underdog OS trying to win converts. It has to offer a user experience at least as good, and probably better. Carrying on about OSS, configurability and monopolies means jack to most users. They want it to be as easy as what they have now.
So to do that a Linux distro needs to either be root all the time, or break away from the traditonal UNIX security model and offer something like Windows NT's Administrator accounts that, while not all powerful, are capable of doing just about anything.
This is just the reality of the average individual. I mean, why do you think the government mandidated passive safety restraints in cars? Because LOTS of people don't wear seatbelts. It's not like it's hard to do, takes you 2 seconds to put on. However, I know lots of people that don't unless reminded and even them often don't.
Extra steps that are different from what they have now (like having to su) are the things that will turn them away. IT'll only take a few things before they whine and say "I hate this, give me Windows back".
In the meanwhile, I wonder how "Free" this distro is. Is it merely a hack-together-proof-of-concept or hack-together-lets-do-some-cool-stuff or is it more of a serious-linux-distro-that-we-can-distribute-under- the-terms-of-the-GPL-or-LGPL?
;)
I've been wanting to use windows for awhile, but despite shitty software the main reasons are all legal -- I don't want to give microsoft any money, or agree to anything that I havn't read and agree with(namelessly any shrinkwrap EULA). the GPL I have read many times and agree not only with it as a 'oh...kay...fine whatever.' but as honestly agreeing with it in spirit.
If it's not Free that's fine with me, I still like to see progress in the direction of windows...but...I'll be particularily interested if it is, in fact I'll likely devote a computer or two to it in the future
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
...you think "pseudo" is spelled "sudo".
I'm not sure this makes an appropriate stepping stone. What comes under the umbrella of 'Popular Microsoft Fare' which isn't already provided by OO.org in an almost identical fashion to the Microsoft applications?
Why not make it compatible with all the linux distros around? Like same /etc structure (conf files and init), package compatibility (rpm, apt, tgz, deb, etc), etc, etc. Linux doesn't need windows compatibility, linux needs uniformization, stable libraries, stable and well documented API, a good programming IDE, and less application bloat. Linux needs to draw the attencion of the windows developers, for them to start developing good NATIVE apps for it. Please stop throwing at them the EMACS editor, i might like it .. but a MS Visual Studio user will just laugh at it.
... naaa! If you guys had based your distro in LFS i would be more sympathetic with your "noble" cause!
And to be on topic again, the minute i saw "fedora based" i though to myself
I fuse with Mercer every single day...
Who is this J. R. Sixpack you keep talking about so condescendingly? You really do need to be more specific when you talk about a class of users.
It sounds like you're talking about the 18-35 year old male that doesn't know anything about computers. Now, tell me, what software does such a person install from "shovelware CDs?" Let's be honest. Such a user checks email, browses the web, watches video clips, listens to music, and talks on instant messenger. That's it. No one installs extra little apps these days. Shareware is dead. Anybody that looks around for little programs to solve tasks knows enough about computers to not be called "J. R. Sixpack."
I'm not sure why you're so against an additional distribution, anyway. It's not like another distribution hurts "the cause" or whatever you people like to harp on about. These guys have absolutely no responsbility to further "the cause" by writing software instead of coming out with another distribution. They can do as they please.
I just don't see the point of your post. You tell us that the distribution is not necessary, improvements in Windows compatability is pointless because non-Linux users are stupid, and you assume that somehow these guys are diverting resources away from the IMPORTANT aspects of "the cause."
I'll probably get modded flamebait for this post, but I think the parent is just trolling.
You should read this exchange between Daniel Ho of Ignalum and Henrick Omma of the OpenCD. Funny stuff, and it gives some insight into how these Ignalum guys approach the OSS community.
There was an article in the National Post yesterday about these guys. Nothing appeared to be even mildly remarkable. They mentioned Transgaming and CodeWeavers as things they were "intending" to include with their Fedora Core based distribution. Basically, they looked like they were very much in beginning stages of their execution of the concept. Surprisingly, their marketing materials looked reasonably professional, so I would guess their skills lay more in promotion and presentation than technical execution. I saw their site prior to the /.'tting, and it had many content holes. If I had to guess, they are good promoters that have managed to convince their professors they are on to a good thing, but obviously, their professors haven't been plugged in to the Linux community at all. Nothing really of note here, and I wouldn't want anyone to think there is anything new here.
First of all, this "feature" already exists, it is running on my XP machine right now and it is called Cygwin. Honestly, a good command line is all I really need, since all the other OSS tools I use are available for Windows (Firefox, Thunderbird, Putty, OpenOffice, Latex etc). So I really do not need more linux/Windows integration, I could do with a Linux machine on my desk, but corporate rules will not allow me one... but I digres.
What I really want to point at is innovative power in Linux. There does not seem to be any. Sure, Linux has made great progress since the days of 1.0 (i've been running it that long) but still, Linux is a Unix replacement that is not good enough for the big iron (which I administer daily) and for the desktop there are cleaner Unix systems (the BSD's) and nicer working ones (Mac OS X).
A couple days ago I saw an announcement from HP, where they showed off their "PC of the Future", a device that integrated everything. Phone, email, web, video, music, you name it, it had it. And what was driving this thing? The horribly bloated, slow Windows XP, which, for all the development that has gone into Windows, still functions in the same way as Windows 2.0 did. Where's the innovative new operating system interaction? Why do I still have to live with start buttons and desktops?
This is in my opinion where Linux could shine. Create a new, fast GUI. Think of a whole new paradigm for using the computer. Why do we need a desktop, a start button, folders or directories, hard disks... I don't need to know about all that, I just want to use my computer.
Microsoft is busy recreating Windows in the form of Longhorn. Undoubtedly Longhorn will be a (large) step beyond Windows XP. But the age-old paradigm of the desktop will still be there. The much-maligned start button will still be there. And all the other things that make Windows Windows will still be there. An missed opertunity, in my opinion. Just as much as Linux misses the opertunity to be truly innovative. Gates is right in that respect, the open source community is quite good at immitation, but not so good at innovation. Innovation is what is needed, not creating a cross-over between Unix and Windows.
" ... Based on his belief in Linux, Daniel founded Ignalum Software, Inc. in 2002 and created the Ignalum Linux OS, when it became clear that without some of his input making its way into mainstream Linux, Linux will likely continue to suffer as a high maintainence Operating System."
:)
Hahaha! Cheers mate! There was me slaving over a hot server, and your mainstream Linux input has made things so much more low-maintainence!
Good luck with the slashdotting
"Proudly Posting Without Reading The Article"
Go to www.ignalum.com but not through the /. link.
Another interesting point about win4lin: it uses the underlying linux filesystem. In linux, you can copy a file into or out of the windows directory. This means you can simply tar gzip up your whole windows installation and save different versions of it. I have a basic installation saved on a CD rom, and a few more versions on the hard drive in .tgz files. If I get a virus in Windows, I can go to linux, copy out my documents and spreadsheets, rm -fR the whole infected windows file tree, and untar a clean version. Elapsed time: 5-10 minutes. Then I'd better get the clean version patched before I get re-infected, and save it as my new checkpointed version.
--- Often in error; never in doubt!
Outlook:
In Linux, you can use the program "readpst" provided by libpst, libpst.sourceforge.net
In Windows, Mozilla Mail will import it (through the OLE interface), and Mozilla Mail's mailboxes are in standard MBOX format. Everyone in UNIX, and many many Windows programs, can import MBOX.
|/usr/games/fortune
Does it have unrivalled compatability with all the worms and trojans too?
So, there I was, running Red Hat 7.3 on my desktop (yeah, I know, but it was quick and easy to install). I had a friend over who had never seen Linux before.
I opened KMail. "Oh, and the best part is, it's not running Windows, so you can't get any Windows e-mail viruses!" I boldly double-clicked on an attachment with a .scr extension.
WINE started up.
I had just infected my Linux workstation with a Windows e-mail virus.
Damn thing, actually associating all DOS/Windows binaries with WINE. Kind of undoes at least half of the security benefits of running Linux in the first place. [grumble]
Fire and Meat. Yummy.