Caldera's OpenLinux eDesktop 2.4
Written: Jun 17 '00 (Updated Aug 06 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Stability, Ease of Use and Powerful!
Cons: Incomplete Compatibility Links for KDE & REDHAT.
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| El_Terrible's Full Review: Caldera OpenLinux |
Overview
* Desktop Manager (KDE)
* Processor (i386 or Higher)
* Disk Space (300 Megs or More)
* RAM (32 Megs)
* Price (FREE - $39.99)
Extras
* Star Office 5.1
* Applixware 4.4.2 (trial)
* Omnis Studio (trial)
* Citrix ICA client
* Partition Magic Caldera Edition
* DRDOS
* CompuPic (Trial)
* Cameleo LE
* One Month Phone Support 3 Months e-mail Support
I'm a PC man by trade and have had the desire to try Linux for quite some time now. I've acted on my curiosity before only to be disappointed with the distribution that I had chosen.
I know that many people actually like Windows and see no need to change and some versions of Linux give you no incentive to change. I've used Redhat (5.x & 6.0), Mandrake (6.x & 7.0) and Corel (1.0 & 1.1) before trying Caldera. I have to say while all of them had their pro's the con's of the previous 3 are what killed it for me. With Redhat the install was painful being the first Linux install that I had ever done. Mandrake was less painful but still lacked a lot in the way of ease of use. Corel was easy to use but had serious stability problems and was missing a lot of the tools that make Linux as powerful as it is. Caldera gave me ease of use, Installation that was easy and found everything I had for hardware and all the tools that make Linux the powerhouse OS that it is.
Installation
This was the easiest of all the installations that I've done including Corel. It found everything that I had for hardware right down to the exact printer that I have. I didn't have to chase things around after installing trying to get some of my hardware to work right. Also the install starts copying files as it gathers your information something that not even Windows does. After it's finished collecting your information it allows you to play Pac-Man while you wait for the files to finish installing.
Configuration
Open Linux has 2 features that make configuration easier then all of the others on the market. The first of these is OpenLinux's ability to properly detect and install all of the hardware inside and out of the PC. This was so good that Linux found my exact printer and installed it and even found my USB compact flash reader (although it had no driver module to use this correctly).
The second feature that made this system so easy to install and use is a new tool (developed by an employee of Caldera) called Webmin (this is being adopted by many distributions now). This is a java based web tool that allows you to setup just about every part of the system and even remotely admin and shutdown the system. You can setup a sendmail server or administer FTP services and security from this, even apache has a nice GUI front end. You can modify startup scripts and choose whether or not they start or stop at each run level. This is only a small part of this tool it just does so much for the ease of configuration of this system and really set Caldera apart.
Desktop Usability
Caldera made this version with all of the tools of their server versions but added several setup scripts and browser enhancements. These allow you to install this version as either a Home Desktop (ala Windows), a Development workstation (complete with Kdevelope) and a Business Desktop (with NetWare Connectivity and a Citrix ICA client). It also packages Star Office and a trial version of Applixware 4.4.2 for office suites as well as several Graphics programs. This version of Linux also appears to be the fastest implementation of KDE that I've seen yet.
Server Functionality
This version has everything the other versions have for server tools but once again Webmin just makes this one easier to setup and use. Anyone who is familiar with Linux knows the of the server tools it has. For those that are unfamiliar with Linux I'll give you a small list of server applications and features...
* Apache (Web Server)
* SendMail (Mail Server)
* Squid Proxy (Proxy Server)
* DNS/BIND (name resolution +)
* DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol)
* FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
* NFS (Network File System)
* SAMBA (NT Connectivity SMB)
* IPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange NetWare Protocol)
In Short this version has all the tools unlike a certain version of Linux that cut out the server side.
Ease of Use
Caldera took great strides to make this version easier all around. They started by making the installation questions less technical allowing most advanced home windows users to install this fairly quickly. They added support for just about all of the latest video and sound cards as well as the best selling models of printers for a quick plug and play installation. On top of these features there is a wizard that runs the first time you login and allows you to set KDE up like the environment you are familiar with (i.e. Window 9x). Once the machine is installed the K Desktop Environment will more then make the average Windows 9x user feel right at home.
Reliability
Out of all the distributions that I've used of Linux this one was the most stable. Redhat and Mandrake would refuse to come back up after a loss of power. Corel had issues with the GUI and wouldn't delete all the symlinks in the trash. Caldera has not as of yet had any of these problems. I've found this version to be extremely reliable even after power failures.
Cons
I guess the only Issue that I've taken with Caldera's OpenLinux is the way they handle the KDE directory structure. They store the applnk forlder in /opt/kde/share/applnk/ while other distributions store it in /usr/X11R6/share/applnk/. I know that this is done for compatability but they should have at least used Symlinks to make things compatible.
<TIP> After installing Redhat RPM's copy the applnk from the X11R6 folder to the /opt/kde folder to automatically add the shortcuts to your application launcher; repeat this with the icons folder to get the icons each rpm has installed and associated with each package.
Conclusion
If you want to try Linux for the first time but don't want all the headache's of trying to figure out things you don't understand or need to then Caldera is for you. This OS has left me nothing but happy and has every feature that I've used in Windows built in with the exception of a great office suite (I bought Corel Wordperfect Office 2000 for Linux). I have no complaints and the software itself is really well written (I guess this says a lot being the only Linux Distribution to actually make money this year). Just try this version and avoid the bad tastes the others leave in your mouth.
Caldera eDesktop 2.4 can be downloaded from http://www.cnet.com under the CNET Linux Center.
*This epinion was written using Corel Wordperfect 9 of the Corel Wordperfect 2000 for Linux office suite.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
El_Terrible
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Location: Tampa, FL, USA
Reviews written: 34
Trusted by: 9 members
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