Whistle Stopper - Red Hat Linux 7.2

Linux is for those who either want to do the same thing all the time and are able to get their version of linux to do that, and those who like to tinker with the guts of the OS. I think Windows XP is a better choice for the rest of us.

I am not a linux guru, and I find it difficult and tedious to get things running that aren't installed and running automatically as part of instillation. By the way, instillation is a piece of cake anyone can do, and once it is finished you have a ton of application software installed and running, unlike Windows, which only installs the OS and you have to install each application seperately.

Although I spent 35 years as a software engineer, I still chose Windows XP for my home machine because I am tired of tinkering with an OS. And tinker with the linux OS you will surely have to eventually do, probably sooner than latter.

In addition, it reminds me of a cook book. You just follow the instructions to do specific things without it telling you WHY you are doing what it tells you, or even why you need to do some specific thing. Because of this, it really isn't much of a resource for learning.

WinXP started off pretty stable, but as I add more software, it keeps having new problems and it feels like the updates never stop. So when I need to get some critical work done, I swing over to Linux. Linux feels a bit like a step back graphically for most Windows users (Red Hat doesn't have MEs or XP's slick looks), but I haven't been able to kill Linux yet... It tells me when it doesn't like what I'm doin', but the only problems I've encountered were done through my own toying with hardware configuration files.

Linux has a lot of options Windows doesn't, and the command-line option IS preferable for old DOS jockies like me.
KDE is a good GUI, but it isn't nearly as as advanced as XP or MAC O/S 10.1. I'd say Linux is more of a workhorse. The games for Linux are very behind the times, and it's standard processes can be confusing for those new to it. The capabilities this O/S offers professionals is amazing, however.

I'm starting to like Mozilla better than MS Internet Explorer, and after I get the hang of it, I know Linux is probably going to be first choice booting up. I'll probably always have Windows running on a seperate PC, or partitioned with Linux, as Windows does support the widest range of software.

Still, be aware; If you just bought a brand-spankin'-new PC, and think that your GeForce 4 and Audigy sound-card configurations are going to be a walk in the park, you're wrong. In most cases, you'll be hunting down drivers on the internet, and trying to figure out how to compile your kernel.

All in all, Linux is a great O/S, but the learning curve is steep. Don't feel bad if you're a long-time Windows user, and feel like a dumb newbie again with this O/S... I've spoken to many people about it... you're not alone!

The most substantial innovation present in Red Hat Linux 7.2---which is based on the Linux 2.4.7 kernel--is a new file system called ext3. An improvement on the reliable ext2 file system that's long been standard in Linux, ext3 is a journaling file system. A journaling file system keeps notes on what it's doing with data in the file system--it logs all of its read and write operations. This decreases file system downtime because after a crash, error-checking utilities (like fsck, which must run after an unanticipated shutdown) need not inspect the entire file system--they can look just at those regions that were being manipulated at the time of the problem. This saves enormous amounts of time, particularly on large volumes of 50 GB or more.

By design, ext3 is backward and forward compatible. You can take an ext2 volume (a volume used to store accumulated data, say) that was created under an old version of Linux (Red Hat or otherwise), and mount it as an ext3 volume under Red Hat Linux 7.2 and enjoy the protection of journaling. Conversely, you can take a volume that was created as ext3 and remount it with no problems (though also with no journaling) as an ext2 volume. By switching to ext3, you gain a valuable new feature and give up none of the reliability of ext2. It alone is worth the upgrade if you run a large file system or if you require especially high availability and can't tolerate long fsck cycles.

Another substantial improvement reflected in this version: GRUB, an improved boot loader that replaces the old standard, LILO. (Both bits of software follow the Unix tradition of naming utilities with goofy acronyms: LILO is LInux LOader, while GRUB is GRand Unified Bootloader.) GRUB serves the same purpose as utilities like System Commander, which allow you to select at boot time from among several installed operating systems. Unlike LILO, GRUB allows you to choose to boot pretty much any installed operating system, including FreeBSD, OpenBSD, OS/2, and any version of Microsoft Windows. It's a handy utility to have on a workstation, though you can opt for LILO if you prefer.

Other improvements have more to do with increased hardware support--many more network interface cards and printers are recognized--and general refinements in the user interface (this release uses GNOME 1.4 and KDE 2.2.1). A handful of new utilities make life easier for users and administrators, chief among them the Nautilus file manager. Nautilus does a decent job of displaying local and remote files intuitively--it makes it easy to manage the contents of an FTP site, for one thing. Another graphical tool makes it easier to manage user privileges. As has always been the case with Red Hat Linux, version 7.2 ships with a load of goodies that includes the Mozilla 0.9.2 browser, the Apache 1.3.20 Web server, and the StarOffice 5.2 office productivity suite. Anything else you want, you can easily download and install. Software installation is particularly easy thanks to the long-popular Red Hat Package Manager (RPM) file format for distributables, which this operating system naturally supports.

True enough, you can download Red Hat Linux 7.2 in its entirety from Red Hat's corporate site, and if you have a high-speed connection to the Internet the time required for downloading may not be too forbidding (the download--if you get just the two CD-ROM images required to install the operating system with no frills--is about 1.3 GB). But if you buy the boxed product, you get the installation CD-ROMs, the complete source code, a lot of documentation, and a slew of ancillary software. Plus, you get 30 days of online (not telephone) technical support--enough to get you through any installation hassles.

Red Hat Linux 7.2 represents a significant improvement over its predecessors. The ext3 file system improves system reliability, and a lot of minor refinements increase the product's quality of "fit and finish." It's a worthwhile upgrade, and a better way than ever to get into Linux for the first time. --David Wall