Software > Open Source, Operating Systems

Is Linux Ready for Non-Geeks?

By Max Hertzberg, Seeds for Change

Interest in the use of open source software in voluntary organisations is increasing, but is it a practical alternative? Max of UK-based campaigning organisation Seeds for Change discusses his organisation's experience of moving to Linux on the server and desktop.

GNU/Linux (or Linux, as it is more popularly known) has been attracting a lot of attention lately.

Microsoft has been investing a lot of money in advertising aimed at discrediting Linux, and with some success: Linux still has the reputation of being hard to install, hard to configure and hard to use.

Being the person responsible for maintaining a Linux network for a small voluntary group I don't agree that Linux is "too hard". Already many governments, armed forces and large companies are using Linux, and I feel it's high time the social sector started using this free software too. Linux has a lot to offer: it is stable, secure, virus-free, can run it on obsolete computers and has decent, usable software for most people's needs as well as lots of free support.

But is Linux ready for your average user?

Yes, it is! Where I work, at Seeds For Change, the full time staff are very happy with the software, rarely asking for help or advice. Compare this to when I was working with Windows software - back then most of my time was used up on providing support for users. Now volunteers who come in to use the computers have never noticed that we're not running Windows - they have without exception assumed we're using some funky version of XP. After initially getting a bit lost by not finding "Word", "Internet Explorer" or "Outlook" (having to click on "wordprocessor", "webbrowser" or "email" instead), they have no problems. For me, the key is how it's been set up.

So Is It Easy to Change to Linux?

If it's easy to use, does that mean it's easy to set up?

Well that depends on so many factors - what software you're using, what computers you're using, how they are networked...

Personally I regard anyone who is confident and competent at maintaining a Windows or Mac computer as being able to do the same for a Linux computer. It may take a little time to get used to the different ways of doing things, but once you've got your head round it there should be no problems. In fact, life should be easier. Imagine no viruses, no random crashing, no files deleting themselves... The computers here were set up three years ago, and since then I have done one upgrade (to make use of new software - the users didn't notice anything) and regular backups (which we've never needed - fingers crossed we won't).

That's it. Total time to maintain five computers over three years - less than 20 hours (that's about 30 mins per month on average). So how did we get into the whole Linux thing? We were impressed by its stability, security and versatility, but Linux also fulfils two other very important criteria: the ability to make old machines useful, and 'freedom'.

Old Machines

Computers are one of the worst things to make and dispose of. Heavy metals, toxic waste and human slavery are all components of modern electronics. Because of this we adopted a policy of only using second hand computers. Consequently in our office all but one of our computers are too old to even install a recent version of Windows on, yet when people use them they think they are using Windows XP. So how does that work?

We have a server that runs all the programmes, and the other machines are nothing better than glorified keyboards and screens that are plugged into the server. That way everyone is using the central server, rather than the machine physically in front of them. With 1.5Ghz processor and 512Mb RAM the machine is big enough to have more than our five users simultaneously surfing, emailing, graphic editing and word processing without noticeably slowing down. We call the machines in front of people "X-terminals", and like to use Pentium I computers for that, because they're fast enough and generally available for free.

Instructions on how to set this kind of system up are available on the Seeds for Change site.

With Linux you can use old machines in other ways too - general uses include print servers, file servers and firewalls - more info can be found on Seeds for Change.

Freedom

Linux is "Free Software" as described by the Free Software Foundation. This means that the code behind the software can be used and further developed by anyone. This leads to co-operation and sharing rather than competition and profiteering. It also means that the software is generally available for free (although the free in Free Software refers to freedom rather than price). Since we work co-operatively we feel a strong affinity with software that has grown out of the wish to share and allow peer review.

Distributions

Another effect of the free software concept is that there are countless versions of programmes, desktops, and even Linuxes!

If you try and get some Linux CDs to install, you'll find yourself looking at a bewildering array of "distributions". These are packages of Linux and software put together for you to install from the CD, or even from the Internet. Some are aimed at experts, others at particular tasks like firewalls or web-servers.

Fortunately there are a lot aimed at the average user. We recommend Mandrake Linux, since it is easy to install and maintain. Other popular choices include Fedora and Debian.

More Choice - too much choice?

But once you've chosen your distribution the choice doesn't stop there - you'll probably have the choice of 5 or 6 web browsers, email clients word-processors etc., and even the desktop. In Windows you only have the choice of one type of desktop - the way you click on things, the toolbar etc. - in Linux you can choose a desktop environment that looks and behaves much like you're used to in Windows (like KDE or GNOME, or choose something completely different, like XFCE). All this choice can be confusing, so we recommend staying with KDE or GNOME until users feel like exploring other environments.

Live CDs

If you want to try out Linux without having to install it on your computer I recommend you use a LiveCD Linux. This runs Linux from a CD, and doesn't touch what you have on your computer. Obviously it'll run slower than if you had it installed properly, but it will give you a good idea of what to expect. Knoppix and PcLinuxOS2k4, are two of the most popular LiveCD Linux distributions.

So how do we change over to Linux?

Some Free Software will run under Windows and Linux, and by running these you can get used to the programmes that you'll be using under Linux. OpenOffice.org - an MS-Office clone and Mozilla (web-browser based on Netscape) are good places to start. After that there are basically two ways of changing ("migrating") over your computer - you can give a Linux CD to the person who does your IT support, give them a few weeks to get hooked and let them experiment on a computer until they (and you) are confident that they can migrate you safely over to Linux.

The other way is to get somebody (perhaps somebody from your local Linux Users Group) to install and set up your machines, and provide training in how to maintain the software. Make sure that the people doing this can communicate in English as well as Geekese, and are going to be around to iron out any teething problems. If you can't find a reliable local geek, or want more peace of mind, you could use Linux consultants that specialise in the voluntary and charitable sector like SCN Consulting. Even if you pay consultants it will still work out cheaper than upgrading to Windows XP and buying new computers, since the chances are you can continue using whatever computers you already have. Not to mention never having to pay for upgrades or licences again!

The Small Print

There's always a catch, and by now you must be wondering where the catch with this whole Linux thing is. Currently there are two problems, both well on their way to being sorted out:

"Is there a programme for..."

At the time of writing (March 2004) we have an excellent office package (compatible with MS .doc, .xls and .ppt formats — www.openoffice.org), several brilliant browsers, email clients, image editors plus all the other day to day office and home programmes you'd expect. What I do miss is a professional layout programme. Scribus (www.scribus.org.uk/) is a good layouting programme that is in development - my guess is that it will be ready to use for everyday layouting by the end of 2004. Also, if you use MS-Access then when you transfer your data over to a Linux database you'll have to redo your forms.

Hardware compatibility

If a hardware manufacturer doesn't write a driver for Windows then they won't sell anything (a driver small piece of software for running a particular piece of hardware). If the manufacturer doesn't provide a Linux driver then we have to write them ourselves. This means that, depending on how popular a particular piece of hardware is, and how open the manufacturer is with the details, drivers may or may not exist for your bit of kit. This really isn't a problem with most computers nowadays, but you may find the odd thing, like a scanner, or bluetooth that is difficult to get working. As more and more people get involved, and manufacturers realise that Linux is quite a large market this problem is fast disappearing. If you're having problems with hardware recognition when you're installing Linux it's worth trying another distribution.

Support

Finally on the question of support, Linux has great support on the Internet. Almost all problems I've ever had have been solved by a quick Google search, or failing that, a question on a newsgroup. So if you have somebody who is prepared to fiddle a little, and surf a bit, most questions should be answered almost immediately.

Further resources

For more on the risks and benefits of using open source software see the knowledgebase article Going With Open Source Software and the following resources:

• Using old computers
  
• How to set up X-terminals
• Seeds for Change Linux Info-Sheet SCN Consulting: Linux training and migration support
• Advice on switching to Linux
• AbilityNet factsheet on Linux (PDF file, requires Adobe Reader. If you don't already have this, download it from Adobe).