Reviews
Linux Router Project
MaxOS
Corel Linux
Mandrake 7.2 & KDE2
Wine
BeOS
PMFirewall
QNX Realtime Platform OS
Available at download FIPS
Linux Router Project FREE(download)
This is a consolidated Linux microkernel that can be loaded with the modules and packages of your choice, then copied to a floppy disk, and run without a harddrive as a router/firewall on any x86 computer(386SX and later). This is not for newbies to setup, but for those familiar with Linux, this is a practical use for all those old computers in the basement or laying out by trashcans. You might be surprised to find out that a lot of old computers set up with this OS are already in service all over the world working extremely reliably. This OS is for seasoned Linux users and a specific use, so don't try this one to start with unless you know what you are doing. There are a few versions out there that are compiled images for a specific network card setup which can save some time customizing the kernel for use.
NOTE* There is a project called Gibralter that is developing a similar distro that is expanded and runs on a bootable CD-ROM (for security concerns). This project is still in Alpha release and not set for public download yet, but it will be something to look forward to).
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MaxOS
(soon to be released...watch at http://www.maxos.com)The year 2000 has been a strange one for Linux. Maybe it should be renamed 'The Year Linux Made The Move Towards The Desktop'!!! A new distribution is about to be releaed that better meets the look and feel of the Windows OS. The installation is the most accurate and easiest of any Linux Distro that I've tried, not to mention the fastest of any OS that I've ever installed. It has a new hardware detection that has only failed me on one old monitor and a sound card, which overcomes the most frustrating part of people trying Linux for the first time.
The desktop features KDE with the "MaxComputer" icon/applet that is Max's work-alike to "MyComputer" in Win9x. In "MaxComputer" you will find "Drives"(floppy,cd, and harddrives), and the "ControlPanel"(like Windows ControlPanel on Steroids) where you can do most of your configurations.
For people who Network, a full set of modules are installed by default, such as DHCP(for dynamic ip's), ipmasq(for internet sharing and firewall), and Samba(for file and printer sharing with Windows computers). These modules caused no problems if not used; but if you need to use them, all you have to do is configure them to your network.
There is a lot of third party software included, such as, StarOffice 5.1, ThinkFree Office, Netscape, and a whole lot more. This will especially be appreciated by those needing office workstations.
MaxOS will install RPM, *.deb, and Max's own packages with their installer.
I found a few downsides in the beta version (many of which will be fixed in the full release). First, there was no applet to set a static ip and related configuration. Second, there wasn't a Samba Browser or related link in the File Manager(for networking with Windows computers). Third, if you needed to do an installation without all the packages to save space, there was no way to tell how much space the install or packages were going to take up.
All and all I found the install and use of MaxOS nice, clean, intuitive, and just a down right pleasure. If a GUI Samba Browser is added in the full release, this OS will probably become my personal desktop system, which should be about all I should have to need to say.
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COREL LINUX
OS ~FREE(download)I have dedicated a lot of time to give review the OS that claims that it can compete with Windows as a desktop OS. I have found that Corel has made some wonderful and unexpected changes to Linux, especially with Samba, but in my opinion it will be a while before it will begin to compete with Windows as a desktop OS, but used as Linux for everyday users, it is at the top of the heap.
Corel has developed a hardware autodetection for their install, which has been one of the greatest complaints for Windows users, and it seems to work well on computers in the 266MMX and newer range. I found on Pentiums between 75Mhz and 233MMX that the autodetection is next to worthless, sometimes taking up to 4 hours to autodetect and still be wrong on supported hardware. Once installed properly (this took 4 tries on my 133Mhz), I set up my CableModem for the internet. This worked seemlessly and I was online in a few minutes. I then started setting up my network. I like the easier and graphical interface with Samba(networks with Windows computers), but the setup is still the same command prompt/trial-n-error ways of old. I quickly found that even though I am very knowledgeble about serveral distribs of Linux, Corel not only has a different file system setup being based off of Debian Linux, but they have changed the names and places that many of the standard Linux setup are located. You can find some good how-to's at "corelusers.com" and in the "corellinux" newsgroups from those of us that have troubleshot and usually conquered most of the bugs that have popped out(sometimes not for the light-hearted however).
I believe they are on an excellent path for the future, but not at all at the point they claim to be at right now. For Linux newbie's, I would suggest reading the documentation first and checking out atleast a month of the newsgroups(you can download old threads) to figure out if you're going to have hardware problems and quite possibly how to solve them.
*Note*(8/2000) There is finally quite a bit of documentation out for CLOS now, including a "Dummies" book. There is also some 3rd party how-to's and the newsgroups have some very knowledgable people who have tried and tested help for specific problems. This makes a huge jump from my initial review, but some hardware bugs still exist, so make sure you check your hardware out for compatibility. I should be testing CLOS 1.2 soon, and hopefully many of these quirks will be fixed. Once I got everything running right, things have been great and I am now using it as my server OS at home with no problems what-so-ever. Special thanks to the networking newsgroup for some great work arounds!.
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Mandrake 7.2 & KDE2
FREE downloadFor those of us that have used Mandrake Linux in the past probably know, there is quite a bit of new stuff added to this new release, but it is still the great and familiar face that has made many Linux "newbie's" stick with this OS for several years now. The biggest and best add-ins to Mandrake this time around is the first release of the KDE2 desktop and a new, improved Drakconf. I will admit, I started off with Red Hat 5.(something...I forget) and first bought Mandrake when version 6.5 came out. As a newbie, I found Mandrake to be a million times easier to install at that point in my experience, with the huge advantage of the free manuals and PDF documentation in which I heavily fell in love with this OS. I loved it so much it is still the main standby on my main desktop machine (I've never had to reload it once in all this time). I've spent about a week playing with 7.2 now and loaded it on my wife's computer. What I've found is a new release that WILL be on my desktop (and kept as a spare server) whenever I find the desire to reload or get rid of the six OS's/distro's on that box. I've find myself loving the ease of installation, configuration, and updating that Mandrake has always provided, now that I can easily do all that in my sleep at a command prompt.
Although Mandrake still, appreciatively provides in the excess of eight different desktops/window managers in their distro, one of my sole interests in trying this release was to check out the new KDE2 desktop. I've always favored KDE a little more than Gnome, but until I try the new Helix Gnome, KDE has really come out with a killer, yet familiar, desktop I've already grown accustomed to. The look and feel of KDE2 simply blows the Windows desktop away. The right programs are on the taskbar for effortless launching, and the "Windows Shares" option in the Konqeror file manager is almost as nice as the built in one that Corel developed (one of the main reasons I'm using Corel on my main server). Konqueror is also a great web browser that can use Netscape Plug-ins, which I prefer to Netscape within a couple of days of use.
DrakConf has truly grown into it's own right over the last few years with new applets to configure Internet Sharing, startup services, webserving, and many others. In fact, from the days when Partition Magic was a god-send, the DrakX partitioning and installation program is among the best there is out there-no complaints here. Tons of cutting edge apps are also included for free.
KDE Office is another interesting development that will be found to be useful for home and light office work. I prefer Star Office myself, but KDE Office is very promising as a first release.
If there is a downside to Mandrake when compared to any other distro that is available, it would be the disappointment of not including the new, super high-speed Reisendorf file system that SuSE and MaxOS now ship with. Not to worry, it's really just a minor disappointment that I can live with for now. All and all, I'll give Mandrake 7.2 five stars, as always, for coming up with another top-notch release!
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WINE
Linux/Unix/Solaris FREEThe new program for Linux that I just tried is "Wine". This is a emulator to run Windows programs in Linux, Unix, and other free source platforms. I downloaded and installed the RPM with just a couple of clicks and I was ready to go! I went to start the first program and it flopped. So I ran the winecfg file as listed in the readme file and found that I had to reset the path names to all my drives(because of the platform of Linux I was using probably) and change the pointer to my Windows profile. Finally I was ready to try again, this time with success-YEAH!!!! I found that it ran 75-85% of my windows applications with very little problems. Many that didn't run I tend to blame on awkward naming and too many files in a folder for Wine to emulate. The easiest way I found to run programs was to browse off of the "start" menu, right click it, and open a terminal window. You have to because it opens programs with the 'wine' command(ie..'wine sol.exe). I will probably write a batch file to do this for me soon. Also Dos programs, like Test Drive4, failed because my Linux video isn't set higher than 400x600. This software is still in beta release for now, but IT IS 100% FREE!!! compared to any other comparable products I know of, and may run better on more compatible platforms. A full release should be availible within a year-I can't wait. Other differences between competing products is that it doesn't run as client/server software, so it doesn't require a client and a server, and doesn't care too much what version of Windows or Linux, Unix, Solaris, ect... it is running(in fact, you can use it without a Windows partition). I give this product five stars for doing what many thought was impossible, with mainly donated help! This has been too long in the making!!!
*NOTE*-You can run Wine without having Windows installed at all, this doesn't work as well as it does with a Windows installation, but it does work. I wrote a HowTo that covers this installation -HERE- !
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BeOS(demo)
OS Demo FREEAnother 'new' OS that can be installed in a Windows 9x/NT file and run. I must admit this was the easiest installation of any OS I have tried. All of my hardware worked without reconfiguring anything. The network setup was just as easy and painless. Within five minutes I was on the internet and was checking my e-mail. 'Be' is adaptable to handheld devices as well as desktops and servers, and a lot of 3rd party software including Windows sharing software is available or in beta testing. I found this to be a very enjoyable experience. The downside is that the full version of the software is not free, even if you download it(it is discounted), and the demo version is -STRIPPED-!!! Unless you just want to play on the internet, have e-mail, play the one game minesweep, edit programs, or use a spell checker I would not suggest using it for your main OS without purchasing the full version. That is probably harsh, but there are so many versions of Linux out there downloadable for free, I can't overwhelmingly support spending money off a version unless you have all the software you want with it and paper documentation. That being said, I'll give it a big thumbs up on the system, ease of use, and the installation.
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PMFirewall
FREE(download)PMFirewall is an ipchains/ipmasq setup/firewall program for Linux/BSD OS's that is available for free at http://www.pointman.org . I personally use it and have found it to be the fastest, easiest, and most secure firewall I have personally tried. I works on stand-alone and server/router machines. It takes about 10 minutes to download, setup, and install on a high-speed connection. First download the ".tar" file, untar it, and run the "install.sh" file. A console box will pop up and ask you for your configuration and how you would like to setup the firewall. Restart your computer and your done and running. For dial-up users, dial-on-demand and wait for a ppp connection is also configurable in the install program. It works for modem (dial-up), cablemodem, xDSL connections and you can block or open any ports you would like to. I left port 80 open for my webserver and blocked the rest. Using a port scanner from a remote location, all the ports except port 80 were found to be "stealth". I love it and have had absolutely no problems with it over several months now, so it is my suggestion for anyone wanting a firewall for their Linux machine.
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QNX RTL OS
FREE(download)QNX,one of the world leaders in embedded OS's and the amazing desktop OS that includes a full web browser and file manager on a single floppy disk, has now released a full blown OS that will give any a run for their money. This is another UNIX-based OS, like BeOS and Linux, that is available for free as a download. Also, like BeOS, QNX-RTL is propietary in the file system, desktop, and development libraries. However,unlike any others, QNX will compile programs across platforms like CodedWarrior does. I didn't find out what file system they're using, but it is incredably fast, like the new Reisendorf system. The look of their desktop is great (phwindows), their web-browser (Voyager) is wonderful,and tons of apps (including third party) come with the stock distro or are available for free with their automatic update and install Package Manager. QNX has also been one of the best hardware detection OS's and this one is no different. All of my hardware was detected correctly on installation, which has been one of the pet peeves in a UNIX-based OS. The game Doom and the RealPlayerG2 are among some of the free downloads. QNX is also completely configurable as a server and have been told that it ports Linux apps beautifully, making it about the most configurable OS that I am aware of. My opinion is that if you have wanted to use something other than Windows and Linux was something you were not comfortable with (or just plain frustrated), give QNX a try....it is probably exactly what you have been looking for....and for free too!!!
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~Guitarlynn
