Which Distribution for Grandma?

[This article was contributed by Ladislav Bodnar]

Linux distributions have traditionally catered to technically savvy computer users and IT professionals. But the growing disillusionment with some of the Microsoft practices as well as the realization that Linux is, in fact, a superior operating system (both technically and philosophically), have made many others consider Linux as an alternative to Windows. Look around some of the Windows community web sites and you will see that many people are seriously trying (even if some of them fail in the end) to convert to Linux. This has created a new market for Linux software integrators - making Linux distributions for Grandma (and Aunt Tillie), the unfairly designated lowest common denominator when it comes to knowledge of computer technology.

The concept of creating a simple and easy-to-use Linux distribution is not new. Corel Linux made an early attempt in 1999, but the company's efforts have faded together with the end of the dotcom era. A new wave of these attempts have started within the last year or two, with Elx, Lindows, Lycoris and Xandros (Corel's successor) all vying for the non-technical users. As many of us are regularly approached by friends and family members asking for advice on computing matters, perhaps it is useful to take a brief tour of these distributions and also mention one upcoming surprise that is likely to succeed where others have (so far) failed.

What are the major characteristics of these so-called "user friendly" distributions?

1. Very simple installation program. Always graphical, usually limited to no more than a few clicks, free of technical jargon and superior hardware auto-detection. (In other words, exactly the opposite of the Debian installer.)

2. Limited number of applications. The motto is to have one application per task instead of giving users a choice of several browsers, e-mail clients, office suites, media players etc. (In other words, none of these products come on 9 CDs that one finds inside the SuSE Linux Professional box.)

3. Windows-like menus and graphical utilities. Single-click software installation routines, graphical system management utilities, menu layout and application names strongly resembling those found in Windows - all designed to make the migration process as painless as possible (In other words, Slackware's text-only configuration doesn't cut the mustard here.)

Unfortunately, none of the four distributions we have mentioned above have generated mass conversions. Xandros Desktop ($40 - $100) has probably created the best distribution for general desktop use, so it's disappointing to see how little marketing effort the company has expended to get the product onto the shelves of software stores and pre-installed on new computers. LindowsOS ($129 per annum), on the other hand, has been on an enormous drive to grab media attention with grand (and shifting) claims, but the product itself received mixed reviews. Neither Xandros Desktop, nor LindowsOS are available as free downloads.

Lycoris Desktop/LX (free for non-commercial use, otherwise $30 per seat) has been in development for a long time, nearly 3 years. However, the small development team insists on working on the old Caldera OpenLinux code base and outdated applications, failing to take advantage of the great new developments that have taken place recently. The advancements in XFree86, KDE 3, GNOME 2 and much improved font rendering have seemingly gone past them unnoticed. ELX Linux (US$50, free download of an older release) is another distribution which promised plenty at first. But as the developers stopped reading the mailing lists and responding to queries on their forums, many users simply walked away. There aren't many web sites where the only indication of a product release is a big "buy now" button, which wouldn't be much of an incentive even if the economic times were better.

But all is not lost. There is a new horse in the race and it is looking more promising than anything else created to date. The name to remember is Ark Linux. Why such a bold claim? Two reasons. Firstly, the project was started by Bernhard "Bero" Rosenkraenzer, a well-known KDE developer and former long-term Red Hat employee. This in itself creates an atmosphere of trust and high probability of success. Secondly, Ark Linux is a completely non-commercial project à la Debian, with open software repositories and freely available source code. As such, it will remain free, it will attract new developers and it will certainly gain market share a lot faster than any of the commercial distributions.

While Ark Linux is still in early development (only alpha status ISO images are currently available), the project has a clearly defined to-do list and several unique features. When the final product is released, we will more than likely examine it in much greater detail, but those who want to know more, follow these links to early reviews by addaboy.com, madpenguin.org and osnews.com as well as this interview with Bero by OSNews.

Watch out for Ark Linux. It is probably the first Linux distribution that has a serious potential (in its pure form or, more likely, as a commercial fork) to take a significant market share away from Windows on the desktops of home users.

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