Linux - My Story.

This is the story of my experiences with Linux before I got familiar with the system. I present it here, with various annotations in the hope that it might provide a message of hope to any Newbies struggling with their configurations or developers who would find this sort of perspective useful, or even just amusing.

The story starts in the autumn of 2002.

I've spent a mad week trying and succeeding to install Linux - Mandrake 6.5, a 1999 Distro onto a slightly cranky, but basically sound computer that I've cobbled together out of bits that no-one else wanted. (This machine was a PI with 32Mb RAM) My mission is to find out how to get maximum computing power and experience for FREE, not because I'm some bastard freeloader but mostly because I have never been able to afford new computer hardware / software and partly because I wouldn't want to buy into some multi-national corporatised nightmare even if I did! When I started writing this, I was just about to re-install the system for the third time (ahem) - I didn't know I had any other option at this point. My hardware wasn't configured right - I swapped boxes at some point and forgot to write down the details with my Analog Graphic Inscriber (pen).

It is often said that ordinary folk may well find installing Linux a scary prospect. In these early weeks I began to understand why. It took me about a week to even begin to understand Linux Jargon - processes, packages, daemons, bash, HOWTOs, etc., etc., and also to understand my hardware in a way that Windows(TM) never made me bother with. For myself I'm glad, I was up for learning more about computers, however I _can_ understand that for most Windows users the learning curve might prove prohibitive. Most people can't afford to take a week out of their busy schedules in order to work out how to configure the thing (actually, make that two (in fact lets round it up to a whole month (or three ... All told I reckon it took me a good year to get every bit of hardware working the way I wanted it, so then I upgraded and started all over again.));~). I'm thinking of the frustrating 48 hours I spent sat in front of the boot prompt, close to tears, until I realised that the CDs did in fact contain the full range of HOWTOs, but their authors had deigned to give them rather arcane names not immediately obvious to the newcomer. I really could have done with a MUCH more friendly installation manual - seeing as how this is a DIY system, perhaps I'll get round to writing one, once I've installed Linux on all my friend's systems too :~] It will need to explain to people used to Windows stuff like; Linux will refuse to do ANYTHING unless it's configured right (and explain that the payoff in system stability is well worth it). I have learned that crashes are actually worth taking notice of!: You get a bit reset-button happy with Windows. I discovered that trying to futz it from bash when you don't know what you're doing = another few days of scorched frontal lobes. I could have done with a detailed trouble shooter for what to do if your system won't boot with no arguments and more thorough guidance, checklists of what you need to know about your hardware before you begin (everything and more, but in varying degrees of importance). It's also worth knowing beforehand what drivers exist, especially if you're building your own hardware system too. Configuring my soundcard is really awkward, and I still haven't got it right. It would also be useful to get an idea of expected behaviour of the installation system. Like the fact that the initial filesystem does take a good ten minutes to install and then up to an hour to install all the packages. Good time to go get something to eat! see you back here in a moment then!

I had real problems trying to figure my mouse (due to my dodgy hardware). As a result I discover that most Xapps lack hotkeys or at least weren't where I was expecting them to be and there doesn't appear to be any kind of standard. Particularly in the realm of opening, closing and moving windows - KDE nearly did it, but then I couldn't work out how to get a bash screen up so as I could follow the mouse configuration instructions. I realise that some of this stuff may well have been solved in later Distros - I'm using Mandrake 6.5 because that's what my friend had, and I'm impatient. Once I'm familiar with that then I'll see about upgrading. (Note: I later discover that 'hotkeys' are called 'keybindings' and that there are two main conflicting standards - A sort of Windowsy one and the GNU-emacs standard (all that C-x C-c stuff you keep seeing) The good thing is you can usually define your own. Some apps use a Windows and Mac style CLIPBOARD, but there's also these things called the PRIMARY and SECONDARY selections, the middle mouse button nearly always pastes the PRIMARY selection, which is the bit you just highlighted with the mouse, just in case you were wondering.)

I'm hoping that I can install the latest kernel without too much additional brainache (hollow laugh) but I bet it's more complex than that. My box doesn't seem to like X very much - It worked fine when I first installed it - I have already had to start from an 'improper shutdown' - I hope I've not messed it up too badly. I think my video & soundcard are not set quite right. Lots of nice green [OK]s phew... and at last KDE opens gracefully. I am rather impatient and should have followed the on screen instructions TO THE LETTER I now realise! I _am_ happy! It's only taken me a week so far and now I have a functioning version of Linux on my little Pooter, Free from nasty Microsoft et al. I am frankly overwhelmed, and so is my little pooter. My hardware Guru tells me that I need to fix up my hardware before trying to configure or install any more software (he's probably right). I'm running a P133(+f00f bug) on 32M RAM and a 1.5G Hard Drive, titchy eh? My primary use for the machine is as a test bed for internet ideas and a place I can learn/experiment more about programming and perhaps a bit of MIDI. This machine has no permanent connection with any other machine at the moment; although I may well decide to install an Ethernet card and use a networked modem at some point. I shall also be investigating its uses as a MIDI driver, my motherboard has a USB port, obviously my system won't be fast enough for sampling. Does Linux suffer from latency problems the same as windows (Short answer, it's the same hardware, so yes, however, Linux has this nice application called the JACK audio connection Kit (It's a recursive acronym, you'll get used to it) which magically sorts out real-time operation).

So anyway, I finally get to look at all the software that I've dumped on my system (just under 4000 executable files, yikes! I said I was overwhelmed). I LOVE the operating system - Linux is VERY cute - I love the fact that the text interface clearly is designed to be USED as the primary means of communication, in colour too! - something that DOS claims to be able to do but rarely delivers (Please note, I'm a non-technical user coming from a Windows background). A lot of the X-GUI is rather on the chunky side, I have a 14" monitor that only works on the lowest resolutions (640x480) and no specific driver. This is something that many hackers and html page authors fail to take into consideration and I find myself constantly having to resize things to fit my screen, or more often than not dragging dialogs backwards and forwards so that I can access the buttons (This is particularly bad when some joker decides to disable the ALT key as holding this button down is the ONLY way of moving windows around with the mouse) :~x I am also totally flummoxed by the fact that the Mandrake Distro I've loaded contains up to half a dozen different versions of the same generic type of program and the names given to them are less than enlightening. I have all the K* and GNOME apps on my hard drive currently (and several X* and C* too!) - surely I only need one of each? I'm using KDE as my desktop at the moment, mostly because it's the Mandrake default - I found it easy to make it look MOST unlike windows (I particularly don't like pale grey), but it does seem to hang _rather_too_often_ I know I'm pushing my system but I'm sure I could configure it for better performance yet. I seem to have a lot of Daemons configured to run on startup - Do I really need all/any of them? Is it possible to disable them and only have them run when they are required? (I found sysV, but it looks scary). It's taking me a while to understand the difference between the actual programs and their various graphical front-ends. It's also a little nerve Wracking trying to figure whether one of those little cogwheels is going to run happily on my KDesktop or just hang - Is there any way of gauging the various programs load on my CPU (I now realise that memory usage is as much of a consideration as CPU power), Program size isn't often a good gauge of this and I have no way of knowing whether it is this or config problems.

I seem to have about half a dozen different Environments/Window Managers, I can't see me needing more than two - one I can customise for look and feel and something more lightweight (like twm) I can run during more complex processes where I need to have graphical output. Most G*apps seem to run happily in a K* environment, so surely I don't need Enlightenment or whatever as well? I think my son is going to be blown away when he logs on to his new Spiderman Desktop for the first time, He's already sold on just the IDEA of Linux - and I don't think he's going to be disappointed.

Little update - a month later.

Oh I found gtop, useful little thing! ('ps fax' is handy too) I'm still overwhelmed and I am nowhere nearer doing any actual WORK on my system (ho hum). As time goes on I'm warming to the GNOME environment, I figured out how to customise GNOME windows, and now I'm happier. I think in general I'd rather learn to do things the Linux way than try to emulate (or use [at all]) other operating systems. I'm principally a creative person and It's important to me how things look on the computer screen - in my case; as UNlike Windows OR appleMacs as possible, and I HATE pale grey (did I mention this already?) I frequently run out of screen space for the actual document I'm trying to look at. To be honest I'm actually using this machine MUCH more than I ever did when it had Windows95 running on it. I find the whole business of package management a little difficult to get my head around but that's ok because compiling programs from tarballs is so straightforward by comparison. I'm a little perplexed by the fact that my screensaver seems to have gone on holiday (no biggie) and The Gimp won't open (biggie). I may as well go get the latest version and upgrade. I _was_ warned that Linux takes a degree in computer science to configure properly, but I shall persevere.

btw: my 8yr old wasn't disappointed, he's been thoroughly enjoying sokoban, GNOMEstones and Kasteroids, but he's waiting for a decent 3D adventure game before he decides to be REALLY impressed ( ... ).

One of my best friends has taken to saying "Oh I've just cum" every time I start talking about Linux, Is that because she truly appreciates how sexy it is or do you think she's being sarcastic?

I got long-term-loaned a Dell vi1428E and given an S3 Virge (Woo!) which improves my monitoring situation. So a month later, I decide to upgrade to Mandrake 9.0 using the copy of the distro that I got with this month's LXF. It kind of installed relatively smoothly, but once I'd got it up and running, which wasn't too painful, I found that the whole thing ran painfully slowly on my little box, plus I still couldn't compile the programs I wanted and the combination of the supermount bug and my badly set-up hardware meant that I couldn't access the CD to install anything different. The whole distro seems to have lost its cute cuddliness and become somewhat bloated and barren. Although I approve of minimal setups, they do need to be functional and efficient. I daresay I could have battled with it and got it to work, but there was something decidedly uninspiring about the whole package, sorry.

So I sent off for Debian and turned my computer off for a week.

Debian loaded sweetly at first, albeit I'm running woody with a 2.2.20 kernel, perhaps I can look at that when I come to rebuilding my kernel sometime, I definitely don't feel brave enough to do that right now, although the various help files make it seem possibly one of the more straightforward configuration tasks.

unfortunately, I didn't quite set it up right, I left out my home partition and then couldn't figure out how to reconfigure X and various other bits once I'd remounted it So I went for a complete reinstall. This didn't go at all smoothly, and I found my problems with my CD player were getting worse in a kind of randomly degenerating manner. I got so sick of listening to my CD player thrashing about and generally not doing as it was asked, The rather arcane error messages I'd been receiving didn't make an awful lot of sense, but it was clear that my CD player wasn't able to receive the control messages it needed, so I thought I'd take a peek inside the case (again) just to see if there was anything completely obvious that I'd missed.

I noticed that the Hard Drive and CD were plugged into the same IDE port, I mean I'd noticed it before and wondered why the other one didn't get used and assumed blondly that there must be some good reason. Well, I guessed it might not hurt if I tried plugging the CD player into the second one and Joy of Joys, my BIOS instantly recognises what I've done and prints an understandable message. HOOray!

The rest of the installation proceeds just like the manual says, It took 4 Hours off my little 8x CD drive but by midnight I'd logged in and was up and running. It even set my monitor up better at 800x600 at 60Hz although it is still has a very slight flicker, which makes it very eye-tiring. I had one little glitch, I managed to botch my root password somehow during installation. The help file on the subject was easily findable and clear. I followed the instructions and the problem is solved. So while we're on that subject:

*big smile*

a note about user-friendliness

I've read a lot about how Debian is not supposed to be so user-friendly as Mandrake, well as a newbie who doesn't have anything like a degree in computer science, I've got something to say about that:

I found Debian slightly easier to install and I like the fact that you get more information about what is going on. This really helped me realise that I had a hardware problem.

Once the installation is over it does seem that there is a lack of useful, immediate information about how to configure the system. As a newbie you need to know what you are looking for and roughly where to look. Once you know that, typing command line instructions is often more straightforward than a badly designed configuration utility that just gives you a more limited, but equally confusing choice. That said, I am having a teensy bit of trouble with my soundcard - I think because it's a non-probing PnP device and I don't seem to have any isapnp stuff installed on my system. The help files make it look Awfully Complicated.

I'm still finding myself using KDE for straightforward businessy stuff and I've started using Fluxbox (which I seriously rate) or the command line when I want to experiment. I'm glad to say that Gnome actually opens up and runs faster than KDE with Debian and CD access is nicely straightforward. I think I may have to learn a little gtk+ in order to get it to look the way I want without stopping certain programs from functioning (see earlier). I know I could import some themes but did I mention I'm a control freak?

possibly not.

Generally I'm finding Debian easier to use and friendlier than Mandrake. It's cute and geeky with lots of anthropomorphic cuddly animals. Mandrake seems to have gone all grown up and sensible these days. I rather like having a quirky micro-Unix on my box - I really don't want to be reminded of anything remotely Microsoft right now. I love the family-centredness of Debian and I'm so glad that somebody obviously did spare a thought for us poor souls running piddly PIs with little memory. I am especially grateful for that right now.

Despite my not having figured junior Debian as yet, the kids have been thoroughly enjoying gcompris and games like gnome stones. The 4 yr old keeps asking for the penguin game (she means TuxType). My 8 yr old has his own KDE desktop, cunningly fashioned in bluegrass, pink and grey - he thinks having his own desktop is cool. I'm finding the combination of Konqueror and Advanced editor my choice for editing HTML over all other available options, and I'm now intending to move all my business stuff over by April.

Phew! well I'm sure that's about as much as anyone needs to read in one sitting, thanks for bearing with me :~). I am back to feeling overwhelmed, not quite as overwhelmed, but definitely stuffed full of herring and surrounded by a pile of even more *burp*. It's been a really exiting emotional rollercoaster ride installing Linux, but now I'm looking forward to becoming a Linux USER. Which I think is my next step.

Three years later ...

I'm still using Debian. :) I got kind of excited when I discovered that there was a semi-official multimedia version of Debian. At first it wasn't much more useful than just playing a few MP3s, but the concept was awesome. During this time I also helped set up a local Linux Users Group and was able to upgrade my box to something much more suitable for music making - a 500Mhz PIII with 320Mb RAM and 80Gb Hard Drive, still mostly from recycled bits and pieces, (I shelled out for the hard drive) and the software started getting more stable and useable. Up to this point I hadn't really seriously considered using computers for music making, I had mostly been using them for emails and editing web pages. Now it began to look like a reality, so the obvious next task was to record an album. The full story of that still remains to be told, in truth I still haven't finished THE album, but have found myself having loads of fun actually making music, which will probably end up being more like three or four albums, I really MUST try to finish something one day. ;). I now use Firefox + WebDeveloper plugins and NEdit + my home-made Python plugins as my web-editing environment. Beats Dreamweaver anyday!

My son, now 11 still happily uses Linux, plays PowerManga and Frozen Bubble a lot, hassles me to get the graphics acceleration working and is getting pretty smart with Blender and the GIMP these days. He gives me really good insights into how to get people interested in Linux (clue: give them a flash & Java enabled browser and a whole pile of games ;)

I've (almost completely) replaced the one sad windows machine at the local community centre, where I volunteer, with half a dozen Linux boxen, running Debian, DeMuDi and Ubuntu. The other volunteers were highly resistant to start with, but now it no longer occurs to them that they're using some wierdy-beardy system. This includes one of our most dyslexic volunteers. It's great watching them help each other out and pass on tips about how to configure their desktops.

So, all in all; Big Up to Anyone who has ever written code and freely distributed it - It really _is_ a Dream Come True! In fact I get a little bit choked when I think about it. No-one ever gave me so many excellent tools - for free, or otherwise - that have given me so much enjoyment, education and hope for the future. Thanks to everyone for all their hard work - May your coding be ever mighty!