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Corel Linux coming Online - NOT
Several people wrote in to point out that Corel appears to be uploading Corel Linux to
their FTP servers. I see no official announcement from Corel yet on their site as of yet, but we'll update the story when it comes out. Check out their current sneak preview online.Update: 11/04 04:14 by H :Thanks to MarkLCorel for sending us update - Corel will be kicking off their distro on Nov. 15 @ Comdex, complete with party and Webevent. Neat - however, the current material online is just testing stuff - so stop downloading already.*grin*
Sure, maybe it'll start this way for Corel, but they have much to learn. However, donating help to the Wine project is way cool.
Mostly, the licensing will tell. I'm sure they'll have to release some of their enhancements. KDE is GPL'ed, any kernel patches which aren't modules will have to be released, and technically any GPL'ed modified and distributed packages will have to as well. (either they're exactly the same as Debian's, which is fine, or they need to show us the source.)
A lot of people would be thrilled for a decent, native Office port to Linux. Or, for that matter, IE5. However, I'll stick to WordPerfect 8 or StarOffice for now, and I personally prefer Netscape, and like Mozilla. :) I hope no one would turn away from Linux just because Microsoft ports products to it. That's stupid. You don't have to buy them... (besides, what's the likelihood that they could do a decent Unix port? IE5 for Unix blows chunks!)
Sure, Linux is cool and all, but if a company really wanted to release an expensive Unix OS and not worry about all this crap, they'd base it on *BSD. (just like MacOS X, where Macintosh releases whatever bits of code they want to, and holds onto the good stuff) Since Corel is basing it on Linux, they are showing some commitment to releasing source code, and we'll just have to make sure they understand the distinction.
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pb Reply rather than vaguely moderate me.
pb Reply or e-mail; don't vaguely moderate.
I agree with you. I also wonder about almost every other company that wants to associate itself with Linux and the Open Source software in general. For the most part, a companies motivation lies in it making a profit. Some companies (i.e. VA Linux, O'Reilly, etc.) arguably do a better job of actually benefitting the community, while at the same time thriving business-wise. I hope that Corel has the same good intentions in mind. I do see their involvement as a very positive thing because they have some excellent applications they can bring to the Linux community. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
----------------
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
Co-founder and designer at Music Nearby: http://musicnearby.com
Corel Linux is not out yet, and probably won't be out for a while.
I suggest RedHat or Mandrake if you can get a CD or have a fast connection and a burner.
Otherwise, if you have a slower connection and can handle learning tons of stuff in a short period of time, I suggest getting Slack 7.
C'mon, guys -- Beta Two just went out to testers DAYS ago. Keep your pants on. It'll get finished eventually, but I can guarantee you it's not done yet.
A few new files sitting on an FTP server do not an early release make -- especially when one of the new files says in plain English "This is not Corel Linux."
Fact checking is a good thing in the journalism biz.
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Consult, v. t. To seek another's approval of a course already decided on.
The point of the exersize, from Corel's perspective, is the bundled "Corel Office Suite". So no, the whole distro won't be free software.
-- The act of censorship is always worse than whatever is being censored. Always.
(btw to guy below: Corel is doing just fine in the graphics market, and their 9 version is quite good. Not everybody uses Adobe *).
Visit
perhaps you should think about armed linux or phat linux? those are both designed with new people in mind...
From what I am seing in beta 2, and have seen in beta 1, this distro has a lot of _potential_ *BUT* is far from ready for prime time.
It really needs more time. It won't be ready for nov. 15th, unless a miracle happens.
As it stands right now, Corel Linux is a turkey (although a promising one, I have to state again) and will seriously disapoint users. The gang at Corel, who should know better coming from the "Real World" where they're duking it out with M$, are forgetting the "first impression" principle: it doesn't matter how good your product will be eventually when the first impression in the market place is a bad one (M$ nonwithstanding), because that first impression will stick to you like tar (remember the Mac, when people were still saying that you could not have colour on it, even after the Mac II came out?).
Instead of a V1.0, they should bring out a "RC1" version at Comdex to get the world at large to help them debug their distro (like Mandrake did with "Cooker", for example) and only do a "real" release in december (I think it should be ready then).
If they went that way, their V1.0 would be a feature/function complete one (well, no obvious glaring bogosity would be left) and would leave a better impression with the non-geeks.
Jeeze, why are they so in a hurry to bring it out, especially before its time???
That's exactly my point. The probability of Adobe entering the Linux market is nill, and you can be damn sure Microsoft isn't going to buddy up with Linux any time soon. So? That means Corel has an edge over these other companies, and pretty much says "nyah nyah, I did this and you didn't."
And if the other companies DO join the bandwagon, they'll be accused of following suit. POOF. Instant PR for Corel.
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
Bah, you left out "the debian developers don't know or care about marketing, or the boring work of having CD's pressed, placed into pretty boxes and gotten onto retail shelves but the Corel folks know this quite well".
I think it's a fine match of abilities and interests. The more stacks of Linux (and especially Debian) I see at book stores the happier I will be.
Corel can do the grunt work of pressing the CDs and schmoozing the folks from Ingram Micro and the other nonsense needed to get stuff on shelves.
I wouldnt want to download it just yet, since they still have some problems with their setup stuff, ie: x-windows and lilo stuff
If you need something now, it's a no-brainer. Go with Caldera. You can always change your mind once Corel's is released.
For what it's worth, though, I can report the Corel's Beta 2 installs and runs just peachy on an IBM ThinkPad 600, with only a couple minor snags, which I'm sure will be ironed out before release.
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Consult, v. t. To seek another's approval of a course already decided on.
That's Debian, not anything else.
Note that this is a longstanding well known fact. See the April 21 Strategic Alliance Between Corel, KDE and Debian announcement.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
There is a problem with the Corel company and internationalization issues. One of the reasons for an almost 100% success of Microsoft in the office markets in countries like Poland was the speed in which they internationalized their products(*). Corel was always lagging, or failed to do so at all. By internationalization I not only mean translating help messages - there are basic issues like displaying special characters. Do you know that you can type the polish "ogonki" in WordPerfect for Linux only with one font? All others display them not correctly (esp. the slashed 'l') or don't display them at all.
I wonder whether this will be also a problem with the Corel distribution, which is clearly aimed in the first place at american market. There is no problem with the internationalisation of RedHat, Debian, and SuSE does a great job in translating it's yast into a couple of dozens different languages. And one of the success of Linux in countries like Poland, Japan or Russia is it's flexibility in this respect.
Ian Jackson and Debian are majorly pissed off that Corel has written a KDE frontend for dpkg without seeking their permission. This is an infringement of the GPL and is currently being pursued.
Check the latest Debian Weekly News for updates.
It is about time that there is a "easy to install" version of Debian - I am looking forward to reviewing the final release of Corel's distribution, and comparing it to the latest distributions from other vendors.
I actually liked quite a bit about Debian before, but let's be honest, it is not the easiest distribution to install for newbies.
--------- Webmaster, http://www.cpureview.com and
I can see it now: Corel CEO thinks about loading up his email and telling their tech guys to work on a new open source product. 2500 people wrote in to /. to tell us they intercepted this thought process using their transmolecularsuperjorgenatronix device they built in 3rd period metal shop.
News at 5.
Can your IM do this?
There is a problem with the Corel company and internationalization issues. One of the reasons for an almost 100% success of Microsoft in the office markets in countries like Poland was the speed in which they internationalized their products(*). Corel was always lagging, or failed to do so at all. By internationalization I not only mean translating help messages - there are basic issues like displaying special characters. Do you know that you can type the polish "ogonki" in WordPerfect for Linux only with one font? All others display them not correctly (esp. the slashed 'l') or don't display them at all.
I wonder whether this will be also a problem with the Corel distribution, which is clearly aimed in the first place at american market. There is no problem with the internationalisation of RedHat, Debian, and SuSE does a great job in translating it's yast into a couple of dozens different languages. And one of the success of Linux in countries like Poland, Japan or Russia is it's flexibility in this respect.
[damned! I pressed the button. Some people will never learn to handle a computer. Sorry if you read this message twice].
Frankly, I think the answer is "yes". And I don't like it. Projects like KDE are wonderfully internationalized; many programs support locale and have national translations. Most of the companies enthusiastically react to a proposition of translating one or other thing for them (I'm working currently on yast2 for the new release of SuSE). But Corel is another thing. Companies like them arrogant to be tend. Feeling eery I have. It I don't like.
Regards,
January
(*) The quality of the translation is yet another thing. Many of the translations are ridiculous, and their polish thesaurus... Well, in the firs release the only synonimes of the word "ptak" (bird) were those denoting a penis. Well, you use the word "ptak" sometimes in polish the way english speaking persons use the word "pecker"...
See: Corel's Contributions to the Wine Project
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Its high quality - Dell Inspiron 7000. I believe the 7500 is the same thing, with the newer graphics chip (which I have, ATI Rage mobility-P) and same or faster CPU (400mhz). I was able to get FreeBSD and Caldera both on, but still having pains getting the xfree86 config file working. For some reason, just not getting the tricks on the linux laptop pages to work... xfree4 should support it, so if I don't get to an installafest for help...
"Open Source?" - Press any key to continue
Is there anything you would like to say to further justify this comment? Both rpm and dpkg are, after all, GPL'd.
Check the changelogs - the earliest dpkg changelog entry puts it 3 months earlier than the earliest rpm entry (Which means that both projects started at about the same time, not because one didn't like what the other was doing).
Well Corel is contributing extensively in the Wine project. Their contribution is valuable in both running other Windows-software on Linux and developing winelib for porting Windows software to Linux.
IMHO Wine is an important piece of software to help people to move away from Windows. Most have at least one critical app that they have to run on Windows. That's a major reason not to change OS. Wine can break that hinder and help Linux gain more users.
I installed the Corel Linux Beta 2 and it asked me my name. It asked me whether I wanted to install a large development environment or a more basic environment. (I chose the large dev environ) It then asked me if I wanted to fist partition the disk or just install onto free disk space. I decided to use it's unbelievably easy and totally graphical disk partitioning tool, which uses pie charts to illustrate the disk usage as you up the partition size. Then it installed. I went and ate dinner while it indicated it's progress with a progress bar. When it was done, my CTX laptop was fully working including X. I was up and running with no need to tell it anything about my hardware. The desktop is very cool, and it uses the Debian package system which is extremely powerful. You can either use the user friendly Corel method, or the command line traditional debian methods. I upgraded some of the packages over the web using apt-get. I'm more impressed the more I think about it still being beta. Good luck.
Hang Loos and be cool
Why do people let the public see files on their ftp before they are done uploading them? Isn't that just silly? (I know it's just a test for them... but still) It makes a whole lot more sense to have all the files in place (and mirrored) before setting the public read permissions... Is it not? Anything else is just un-professional. Just my Take... *shrug*
Friends don't let friends buy Compaq's. (Dell/Gateway... same same) You want a good computer? Build it yourself.
Um, doesn't it count that Corel will be 'giving back' a *real* office suite and graphics tools?
Sure, they're not open source. It just means they have to work *all* that much harder to compete with an open source alternative. But if in the end they make a product that much better and useable, than the open source version, then everyone wins. I'd certainly pay to get the best; if open source was the best, I certainly use that. Currently Photoshop best suits my needs, not GIMP, so I Photoshop!
-AS
-AS
*Pikachu*
Here's why business can be a win-win.
Corel gains marketshare and profit. They stay alive, and their engineers & families get to eat.
Corel gains mindshare and access to a strong community; the issue with a strong community is that they have to be strong members...
We get access to a world class office suite and graphics hardware, which Linux is sorely lacking. So it's not Open. If Open is in their best interest and they know it, they Open; if it isn't, they don't. If it is and they don't know it, everyone suffers
We get a 'friendly' OS along with a powerful one: Linux, and Debian to boot
We get the stability, reliability, and open nature of Linux
So everyone wins if Corel pulls this off.
-AS
-AS
*Pikachu*
Anyone know if Corel Linux will support FTP install?
Ask Ean @ Novare; I believe he's known as "Special Advisor" for SPI.
There's a hot bed of Debian folk here in Dallas; probably a year and a half ago this was something of a hot topic, and Ean and I held somewhat varying positions, I being "less paranoid," and not a Debian participant, and he being "more paranoid," and heavily involved with Debian.
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
Grin, maybe the intended test was an "ftp site stress test" as in "put some big files that /. idiots will rush to download and leak news that it's something they actually want" sort of test. Probably not, but it'd be funny if someone used Slashdot for such a purpose.
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
Hope it looks good.
a real zero.
Time to start sucking it down the pr0n pipe to see how their WINE build is!
Chris "Ng" Jones
cmsj@tenshu.net
www.tenshu.net
Now they will newer get it uploaded.... You should have kept your mouth! ;)
Aesthetics and Pentium optimizations may be based on Mandrake's example, but the heart of this bad boy is pumping Debian blood.
"UNIX" is never having to say you're sorry.
I have more OS's I want to try than I have computers to try them on. Anyone know exactly how this is different or what benefits it has over the distro it was based on(redhat?)?
hmm.. so which should I install.. Corel or Caldera? I want a nice, easy-to-use distribution for my laptop, so when I need to bounce in and get to work on vacations, or go show off Linux I can have a nice grapical front, but with the srong UNIX CLI and apps. Only problem so far is getting the video to work, but that either just takes messing with xfree's config file, or waiting for v4.
"Open Source?" - Press any key to continue
Phirst Post!! Awwwwwwww Yeah!!!!
Before you start the flame fest, Mandrake is _based_ on Red Hat, not just recompiled and repackaged. Mandrake has several differances (more-so with version 6.1 now). And, Corel looks like it's based on Mandrake at first glance, which would make it _twice removed_ from Red Hat, which, is kind of a nice thing to think about.
Red Hat has GPL'ed all it's stuff for so long, now we are seeing the real benifits of that. Someone was able to make something that better fit a specific nitch based on thier product. And, now maybe we have another company which comes along and takes that a step farther.
Interesting, If It's True... ;-)
Has slashdot not learned its lesson from the times before? Is there really a need for news of an ftp server being updated before the official announcement and before it can be mirrored elsewhere? Just give them their time to get set up for the load.
At least on the other times, the software was actually entirely on the server. Now, corel will be doing battle with not only people downloading the entire thing, but also the people downloading half, logging out, logging back in, and redownloading it all.
Would you please wait for things like this to actually get uploaded before posting? They're probably getting hammered now.
why/how the heck do people monitor ftps?? do these people have nothing better to do? is getting the news to /. first REALLY worth it? :)
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This Post has been brought to you by the letter "E".
I've been using Windows for the past few years. I think its time for me to move onto Linux. I've been told that I should try Red Hat or SuSE, because I'm a newbie. Any Linux experts out there that would suggest Corel Linux for me?
-PovRayMan
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Check out my blackbox styles
I get the impression that Corel is putting out a Linux Distribution, pushing WordPerfect for Linux, and contributing to the community just to thumb their nose at the other companies (i.e.: Microsoft) who can't edge into the market. Yeah, the Linux community is getting support from a big company, but it forces you to wonder why they're doing it. Look at the Beta of the Corel distribution. If they were really into the effort of Linux as LINUX instead of Linux as "just another product", they would have made damn sure nothing violated the licensing. But they're rushing.
Corel is running fast, and they're holding scissors. Let's hope they can jump where they might trip.
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?
-- Give him Head? Be a Beacon? :P)
(If you can't figure out how to E-Mail me, Don't.
According to their press, Corel's distro is based on Debian.
I haven't run Debian since 1.0, and I wondered if they would survive without a firm packaging and selling the distro (of course I blush now, knowing how well they're doing).
Maybe I've got one more drive around here to try it out.
Steve
supposedly the box has a mini-tux in it. it really looks like it is going to be targetted for non-guru users. i like that idea a lot :)
lftp ftp.corel.com:/pub/linux> cat THIS_IS_A_TEST_DIRECTORY
This test directory contains a partial Debian tree and is used
for testing purposes only.
This is NOT the soon to be released CorelLinux Distribution.
Jeez! Why not just spend an hour installing Debian, learn its
elegant features and just save yourself the $ for Corel.
"Captain, I cannot believe my ears!" - Spock
What i dont understand, is why distribution such as corel and caldera hides the kernel and init script output from you? (and how are they doing it?? a special bootloader?)
:-/ )
i tryed Corel Beta 2, it has some menu when you boot, asking which mode you want to boot in, normal expert etc...havent had the time to test something else than normal for now though.
And when i tryed caldera, the keyboard was screwed, i couldnt type in X or console...it only worked when booting with init=/bin/bash
(i guess it was bad luck with the computer i tested it on, but rh6.1 worked 100%
Then run a different distro. It's about choice. Lots of users (folks coming from Windows) would like the OS to feel familiar to them. That's what they're getting.
At least in the Linux world, you're not forced to leave it that way.
Why are people even bothering to question Corel's motives? Isn't it obvious? Here's a newsflash for you... Corel is gasp trying to make money!
Oh the inhumanity of it all.
Seriously, though. There's nothing wrong (at least in my book, others may argue differently) with a company trying to make a buck. That's what capitalism is, after all. Lest we forget, the unofficial goal of us linux-heads everywhere seems to be "settle for nothing less than total world domination". How do you expect to get there if you don't shine everything up with a slick interface, a seamless install, etc. etc. etc.?
Corel wants to leverage linux to try and regain some of the desktop app market share that they lost to Adobe and Microsoft. Microsoft owns the office suite market, and many of us have whined about Adobe not porting their stuff to linux... yet when Corel listens and begins a large porting effort we all question their motives?
No wonder people are scared of us... we're all lunatics.
-- Gary F.
I work for Corel MIS, and I freaked when I read this. Corel Linux isn't supposed to be up there and we're not prepared for the anticipated traffic volume yet. I went to my manager right away and was informed that the files up there are for test purposes only. This is NOT Corel Linux. I repeat, it's not our build.
Please don't download the DEB files and waste our bandwith and server resources. In the future, I hope Slashdot puts the extra few minutes of effort into verifying stories like this before trying to take down a company's FTP servers with the Slashdot effect.
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Corel. I'm posting as an AC for obvious reasons (don't want to get fired?).
In the rare event that there are no Debian packages for the program you want to install, you can use the "alien" program to install Slackware or Red Hat packages.
I'm beta-testing Corel right this very second, and let me tell you, it's not even ready. There's bugs up in this distro like you wouldn't freakin' BELIEVE. From SVGALIB to X to GCC, things simply don't work, or work entirely wrong. I hope Corel understands that they'll never make a dent in the market if they don't betatest more.
It's nothing personal, not at all. I've given it a huge chance. But beta2 is not ready, unless some serrrrrrrious in-house action is going on.
The Magnificent Linnard, coming soon
It's not the voices in my head that annoy me. It's the psychosies they invite over for parties that annoy me.
I feel kind of dissapointed.
I personally don't want a desktop that looks like MS Windows.
I want something special, something exotic.
OK, I use KDE, but it's along with WindowMaker and it's a lot of fun.
Hmm, just a lot of nonsense from me. I'll shut up now...
Thanks for your time !
Given the brouhaha over the beta test requiring an NDA, I'll be curious to see the license terms. Are they going to be bundling proprietary software with the distro, or will the whole thing be open source? I wasn't able to find any information on the website.
I've heard great things about Debian, and since Corel is based on Debian, would it make much sense to install a minimal Corel to take advantage of the easy install, then use Debian's package manager to keep everything up to date in the future?
I've got a Debian CD on its way to me right now, and I can't wait to give it a shot. Red Hat's been good, but I want to try out something else.
If tits were wings it'd be flying around.
Let's see I've been using linux on a laptop for years now. It depends on wither you got a good laptop or a junky one.. if it dont have compatable hardware then it's a member of the junky pile. I've ran Xfree86 and several SVGA apps on my toshibas, lattitudes, and Viao with no trouble.. heck the toshibas installed without a fart! sound and all! just like a good desktop! The moral of the story.... if you have a wan-chun-fen super deluxe laptop.... you deserve the headaches.... if you bought a laptop that has quality hardware (no wierd ass chipsets or special hardware) by using the linux hardware compatability list as your measuring stick... then everything is smoooooooth :-) Question: if corperate IT knows so much, why did they install WinNT on my laptop knowing that it slows the computer down, is un-stable, and helps virii propagate? Time to start the migration to Linux.... if I can get cablescan and qualitap running under wine then I could switch the entire sales office!!!!
you will find this: ftp://ftp.corel.com/pub/linux/THIS_IS_A_TEST_DIREC TORY
which says:
This test directory contains a partial Debian tree and is used for testing purposes only.
This is NOT the soon to be released CorelLinux Distribution.
[ $!# RS x1499 ]
i'm not sure what the crap is at the bottom, but it is clearly a beta at best.
john
-- john
This test directory contains a partial Debian tree and is used for testing purposes only. This is NOT the soon to be released CorelLinux Distribution. [ $!# RS x1499 ] Doesn't look like this is really it guys :(
-- "Big Brother is Watching..."
Does anyone know if the file manager is going to be released back out to KDE or if it will remain propietary? Also, seeing as it is a debian release and uses .deb installs, is there any plan to be able to read .rpm as there is so much pre-built software as RPMs and seems to be fewer .debs? -MrEntropy
Slashdot doesn't verify articles. If it sounds interesting or fantastic enough, it will be posted. If Rob cared he would have deleted the article entirely. Now people are still going to hit the server wondering "gee.. what if they posted the new version up for real and they're tricking us..."
I came to the conclusion that Corel sees a method to remove Microsoft from it's near monopoly on software for non-Macs. By packaging Linux with Word Perfect, Corel can create the integrated packages that people are used to with MS Windows/MS Office. It will remove a lot of the fear the common user faces when considering a switch to Linux. What Corel gets out of it is a chance to make a lot of money, because their name may be enough to get people to bundle Linux on low cost PCs to be sold to the home user.
Think if we avoid some outta left-field disasters, like security problems & install programs freezing, this could be the start of some really noisy wins for the Linux on the desktop.
Just my .02 cents.. please send flame > /dev/null
send flames > /dev/null
Only 'flamers' flame!