What is Mandriva Linux 2007 to home users?

What might a Linux distribution such as Mandriva Linux 2007 be to a Windows user? Is it a valuable alternative, or do you have to be a real computer nerd to risk the move?

Why would an average PC user make the effort to change over to Linux? Admittedly, not necessarily everyone will benefit from such a move - but it could be a lot more interesting than you may suspect. Many discussions around this topic lead to considerable debate, and in this article we do not pretend to own the truth or to be complete. This article just sums up our own experiences after several years of use of both Microsoft Windows and Mandriva Linux. We wrote with our Mandriva experiences in mind; however most modern Linux distributions offer similar benefits.

The absence of viruses

Until now, there has been no virus outbreak affecting Linux systems outside of lab environments. As such Linux users don't have to worry about anything related to viruses. According to Linux advocates this is due to the better software architecture, consisting of independent layers with specific functions and permissions. Moreover, standard users (and the applications that act with their account) only have limited capability. Only the so-called root account has sufficient permissions to expose the whole system to dangers. Other commentators claim that Linux is not inherently safer, but that Linux is less of a target for viruses, because so far it is less commonly used than Windows. Whatever the reason, in practice the result is the same: a Linux user does not need to care about viruses.

The absence of spyware

Due to the fact that Mandriva Linux is built from Open Source software (and thus the source code can be reviewed by anyone) the risk that a software package contains spyware is much lower than for software of which the source code is kept a secret (closed source software). As a rule of thumb, one can quite safely assume that any software distributed by Mandriva sources is spyware free. Of course, you can get spyware on a Mandriva system by installing software from untrustworthy sources. However, due to the large number of software packages offered by Mandriva, there is very little need to install additional third-party software.

Installation

Some people (re)install their OS once in a while. For those people the installation of a distro such as Mandriva 2007 is a real blessing. Such a distro contains not only the OS itself, but also a host of other software thrown in. During the installation you can choose which software packages should be installed, but even if you just stick with the defaults, you will have a complete system. So, it's no longer necessary to play DJ with a whole bunch of installation CDs for the applications you want to use on top of your OS. You just use the Mandriva 2007 installation CD and after an hour or so, everything is installed. If you do not wish to stick with the standard choices, you will probably spend more time making your own specific choices, than you will with the installation of the system and applications itself.

Personally, we have a tendency to experiment quite a bit. Our experience with a Microsoft Windows-based system was that the system degraded after a while. In practice, this called for a re-installation about once a year. Now that we use Mandriva Linux, we still do that, but now it's because a new version with new and improved functionality has become available. As a result, we know less about any degradation with a Mandriva Linux system, as we never worked with the same system for more than a year.

Re-installation of a Windows system took us easily two full days to get the system completely up and running again: installation of the OS, all drivers and all applications and the tweaking of it all. Getting the system in a similar state of usability takes about half a day with Mandriva. Recently I received a new laptop at work. Although it had Windows already preinstalled and configured for company purposes, it took longer to install missing applications and configure windows to my personal liking than it did to install and configure Mandriva Linux next to Windows onto it.

Ease of software installation

Installing additional software on Mandriva Linux is very simple. At present it is fairly easy to install software on most OS es, but with Mandriva Linux it is really very easy. Mandriva includes Internet based sources with prepared software packages (RPMs in the jargon). A special system management software (the MCC, Mandriva Control Center) allows you to install these automatically. You simply type in the name of the application, select the correct one from a list with search results, and ask for the installation. The package will then be automagically downloaded and installed on your system.

Uninstalling software is equally easy, and again it's possible to select a whole bunch of packages at once. You can even mix the installation of new software and the uninstallation of installed software in one go. All the software management will be executed in a single step - very user friendly!

Software availability and choice

For almost any software that you have running on your PC (or not yet running on your PC) there is choice. This should not put you off, since the Mandriva defaults have already done most of the work for you. However, if you need additional functionality that you cannot find on your system already, you can search the Mandriva Control Center (MCC) for that functionality. All software packages for which the search term is present in the description will then be presented to you. You can then examine the descriptions of those packages and select whichever packages interest you. The next step is the automatic installation of all those application packages, in a single step, without a reboot. An installation on Linux allows you to use the software right away, since for almost no software a reboot of the system is required. So you can try out the installed packages right away, allowing you to assess very easily and quickly which packages suit you best.

That removes the need first to go figuring out which package would be most worth the money, or looking for a free alternative without spyware. And it removes the need to run to a shop to buy your software. Just install and try it out!

Uninstalling software and updating

Mandriva Linux provides a software update mechanism for all your Mandriva software packages. While Windows XP offers an automatic update of your system, increasing the security of your system, this is only provided for the Windows OS itself and a few of the applications that come with it (IE, Media Player, ...). If you run Mandriva, you have a better experience: since nearly all of your software packages have been delivered to you as Mandriva packages, Mandriva offers you updates for them. Even on an updated Windows system, you may still have security risks due to software which is not updated by Windows update. On Mandriva, you are effectively certain that all packages on your system are updated (unless you install software that is not supported by Mandriva).

Help

For many applications, some functions do not exist, do not work as they should, or contain bugs. This happens to most software, of whatever type. It is however much easier to obtain solutions with Open Source software (such as delivered by Mandriva), than for Closed Source software. For Closed Source software, you shouldn't expect to get much response if you don't pay for support.

Even if you do, you should not be surprised to get an answer similar to “We thank you for your feedback. Although the current version cannot offer you a solution to your wishes, we will keep them in mind.” And that is often the last you will hear. Maybe your wish will be answered in the next version, but then you need to upgrade, and often that means acquiring a new license.

With Open Source it is much easier to contact the developers themselves. We can illustrate this with the following example: Once we were looking for a function for which we only found a solution with a Linux based package. However, we were unable to get the package to work due to a conflict with our system. So we sent a short mail to the developer. Less than 24 hours later, we had a mail in return and a fix waiting. We've never received better service than this.

Even if the problem is not serious enough to contact the developer, usually there are user communities ready to help with a workaround or configuration.

Development and licensing policy

Each Mandriva version is improved from the previous one. Mandriva issues a new version each year, and for club members there are some special intermediate versions. In addition, we also regard as important the ethically responsible attitude of Mandriva to licensing.

Thanks to Mandriva Linux, it becomes very affordable to have a complete system without needing illegal copies of software packages. It's still possible to install illegal copies, but for the average home user it's not necessary, since there are sufficient legal alternatives provided with the Mandriva distribution. In addition, Open Source software is a wonderful development for countries where the means are lacking to acquire expensive commercial software. By using Open Source software yourself, you support this development, for example through buying the boxed version of the distribution or a Mandriva Club membership. Even if you do not support in a financial way, you will contribute: even if it is only by increasing the number of Linux users. Indeed, the more Linux users there are, the more important it is for companies to support Linux, leading to a continuous improvement of Linux. And that is to the advantage of all Linux users, including the poorer ones who have few alternatives. A very good example of this is the One Laptop Per Child program (http://laptop.org/). This program aims to provide very cheap laptops ($100) for children in developing countries. This would not have been possible without Linux and other Open Source software, since this allows the price of the laptop to be reduced to the price of the hardware, while equipping it with a very decent set of applications.

Control and tweakability

Almost anything in Linux can be adapted, from the way the system boots to the letter types used in the desktop environment. This makes Linux very easy to personalize.

Safe to allow others to use your system

In Mandriva Linux, by default only the 'root' user is capable to perform the 'dangerous' stuff. A regular user is not normally able to do much to damage or alter the system. That means that I was for instance able to allow my four year old son to play on my PC without the least fear that he would mess up the system. It is possible to give a Windows system a similar security (several user accounts that do not have administrator rights), but you really need to put that in place yourself. It is not anticipated by default.

Even if you manage Mandriva Linux totally via Wizards, you still know quite well what you are doing. The Mandriva Linux distribution usually gives a good explanation about what you are doing and what the consequences are with each of the choice possibilities.

Requirements

In comparison to Windows you have less need for high performing (read expensive) hardware to be able to achieve the same thing. And where with each version of Windows the hardware load increases considerably, we never knew that problem with Mandriva Linux: each version that I put on my (still the same) PC, increases the performance of that system. So Mandriva Linux demands less from the hardware with each new version. Compare that to the hardware requirements of the new Windows Vista. For most people those mean the need to buy a new PC.

Low maintenance

Users of Mandriva Linux do not need to spend time in updating of virus scanners or spyware removers, and also defragmenting is a thing of the past. Most of the file systems that are used under Linux work in such a way that fragmentation does not occur or remains negligible.

Hardware independent applications

In Windows when you buy some piece of hardware it often comes with its own software (scanning software, photo software, etc.). Most of the time however, this software is specific to that hardware. As I experienced some time ago when I bought a new digital photo camera. Although the camera was of the same brand and the software was the same, I had to reinstall the software, so that it would be able to work with the new camera, as the driver included was specific to the camera it came with. Another brand would probably have meant another software package, with another interface to learn. Not so with the software under Linux. It just auto detected the new camera and I could go on with my work without a hitch.

Price

Oh, yeah, next to all those other advantages, I almost forgot the price. Mandriva Linux comes in different versions. First of all a free (as in free beer) version that you can download freely and a few paid versions. You have also the choice between versions which only contain Open Source software (also called free software, in the meaning of free as in free speech) or versions that contain proprietary drivers. The paid version also includes some commercial software such as Java, Acrobat Reader, Flash, Cedega (to run windows games), Flatout (a windows game) and more. That does not say that it is not possible to use this commercial software in the free version. You just need to put in a bit more effort to acquire and install it. But even if you do not wish to exert this effort and you want to go for the paying version, you will still be way better off than with the classical Windows installation (Windows + MS Office).

And if you go for a paid version, unlike with Windows, you can install it on as many computers as you like, not just on one.

So is this interesting?

To summarize: Mandriva Linux is a cheap, user friendly and very secure system, which is as well ethically justified on top.

Do all home users need to make the switch?

No! For a lot of people this choice would really be better, but not for everyone. So what might the disadvantages be? Let's take a look:

A minority system

The majority of PC users are using Windows. And although the file compatibility has improved a lot lately, there is still no full compatibility. So if you are using  more advanced functionality, you might experience some compatibility problems with certain files. In most cases that is not disastrous and manageable, but if you experience this too often, it could become quite annoying. There are solutions to this (e.g. the installation of MS Office on Mandriva Linux with the aid of Crossover Office), but then you lose some of the advantages of Mandriva Linux (price, a bit of security,...).

This is mainly a problem with software that you really need to communicate with others. An example of this is / was the Internet telephony software. This communication passes through a server the client software needs to be able to communicate with, e.g. Skype. It took a couple of months before a Linux version of Skype became available. Also from the Google Talk software no Linux version is available yet (although Google announced this would become available).

'Pro'-software

Some commercial software delivers functionality that is not available under Linux. The other way around happens as well, but that does not give so many problems, as the majority must do without them, and you are not expected to have it available. That is only a real problem for quite advanced or professional functionalities, but if it is those you really need, ...

Games

This is probably the weakest point of Linux for home users. Games are made for the big public. Porting them to Linux is not always easy, since often Microsoft proprietary graphical 3D technology is used, which is not available under Linux. But even much simpler games (for instance for small children) are just not made (yet?) to be able to work under Linux. But also in this area, there is evolution. There are a number of Open Source games in development which (I hear from the grapevine, I'm not really experienced with games) are not bad at all. There is also the possibility to run Windows games under Linux with the aid of special emulator software such as Cedega (commercial). But today, gaming under Linux is still a problem for many.

The future might bring changes into this. And we might have to thank for that the increased recognition of Open Source software by the big players. For producers of specialized hardware , the use of Open Source means a serious saving (compared to developing an own technology or to pay for commercially available technologies). As a result an increasing number of companies are starting to turn away from proprietary technologies and turn to open technologies. Sony for instance, will base it's coming Playstation 3 on Open technologies. The result of this is that games that will be developed for Playstation 3 will quite probably be easy to port to Linux. If that is all correct we can expect a much larger offer of commercial games for Linux in the not so distant future. For more information on Playstation 3, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_3.

Hardware

In general there is a very decent support under Linux for most hardware. But the really new hardware is still often less well supported. Manufacturers still often don't deliver Linux drivers for their hardware. The Linux community tries to support as much hardware as possible, but that is not always easy. Manufacturers are not fond of releasing details about their hardware. This makes it difficult for the Open Source community to find out how to build drivers themselves. That unfortunately means that using all newest hardware at full functionality is not always possible under Linux.

The installation

Although a Mandriva Linux installation is much simpler than a Windows installation, the latter is most often not even required for most users. Almost all PCs you can buy in a shop have Windows preinstalled. So not even a need for installation. And it is even worse, it is even difficult to find a PC that does NOT come with Windows preinstalled. That is something that disturbs many, as it forces Linux users to pay for a license of Windows they might not even wish to use. This is often called the 'Windows tax'.

License

This work is governed by the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 license. In order to obtain a copy of this license, please visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

The author to be credited is Wim Coulier (website: coulier.org).

English translation polished by John Barron (http://www.europa.demon.co.uk/)