The Linux Phenomenon

May 1996 / Letters / The Linux Phenomenon

BYTE captured the Linux phenomenon in "Linux Matters" (February); as one of the rabid fans to whom you allude, I applaud. However, if you plan to use Linux and want to take advantage of the expensive video card you paid for when you bought your computer, you'll absolutely have to buy a commercial X server. The article also doesn't make it clear enough that there are errors in the compatibility lists. I love my Linux box, but for three weeks I went through a hellish orgy of stack traces and expensive trips to the computer store before I could get it to work. If you want to run Linux, find someone who runs it on a platform you like and use exactly the same components they do; it will save you a lot of time and money.
Geoff Smith
gsmith@londo.caltech.edu

Last year I orde red RedHat as well as Slackware Linux. I tried for weeks to get something to work. Your statement that it is easier to change hardware than to configure the software to get "nonstandard" configurations to run does not alert potential users sufficiently.
Mel Hamilton
us067831@whtux.mmm.com

I use many OSes for different purposes. Often it's not the technical aspects but the human ones that make an OS a good choice for a particular person. On the other hand, Linux is wonderful for us geeks: While the major players preannounce goodies to such an extent that the result is always disappointing, Linux always exceeds my technical expectations. Where else can you find an OS that comes with server software for NetWare 3.x, a Windows for Workgroups-style NetBIOS, and Network File System, that can all run concurrently, and for free?
Paul Fremantle
Reading, U.K.
paul@zsassoc.co.uk

Go to next article: And What About FreeBSD?

Matthew Wilson
My approach to software engineering is far more pragmatic than it is theoretical--and no language better exemplifies this than C++.

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