Linux believers dispense gospel

Intrepid "newbie" MICHAEL FOREMAN places his precious notebook computer into the hands of a Linux installer.

Last Easter Weekend a couple of hundred people piled into a hall at the Faculty of Engineering at Auckland University to attend what was probably New Zealand's largest Linux "Installfest" yet.

At an Installfest, I was told by organiser Dylan Reeve, experienced Linux users help "newbies" to install the operating system on their PCs.

"The idea is that you, Joe computer user, are interested in this Linux thing but are not sure where to start - this is fairly common, in my experience.

"The Installfest is your chance to leap that first hurdle with some help."

Reeve promised that an up-to-date Linux "distribution" would be installed on my computer, to run alongside Windows. Experts would be on hand to help me get it configured and working properly, but he warned me to make a backup copy of my hard disk before coming along.

"Oh, and you might want to bring a good book to read, as the installation process can take some time," he said.

The first Installfests took place around 1998, but they are now firmly entrenched in the Linux culture, and the web chronicles scores of similar events held regularly around the world.

Event co-ordinator Sherry Chen, president of Auckland University's Software Developers Klub, said she had been involved with a few small-scale Installfests held by the local Linux Users Group, but she thought this was the first in New Zealand to be open to the public.

On the day, around 20 volunteers, from the New Zealand Linux Users Group, Auckland University's Faculty of Engineering, the Computer Science department and several other organisations with an interest in Linux, were standing by, but no one was sure how many would-be Linux users would turn up.

But soon after the Installfest opened at 10am a steady stream of people, clutching PCs with the keyboards tucked awkwardly under their chins, began to push their way through the doors. Quite a few had brought friends, partners or children with them, so the event soon took on the atmosphere of a social gathering.

At lunchtime, Alex Grant, of the New Zealand Linux Users Group, who had been given the job of allocating users to installers, estimated that 60 PCs were being converted to run Linux.

By this time, long queues formed at the installation tables, and anyone who knew something about Linux was in great demand. Such people could often be recognised by their fondness for open-toed sandals or ponytail haircuts, but I soon discovered that the hallmark of a true geek is that when a computer crashes or shows some other fault, instead of cursing they will say, "That's interesting."

I heard my installer, Simon Britnell, utter this phrase many times in the four hours it took to install the Mandrake Linux distribution on my notebook PC.

Britnell, a research analyst at a large software company, started using Linux about six years ago and now spends some of his spare time helping new users. He said newish desktop PCs were the easiest installations, but ageing laptops like mine often posed problems.

We were about to create a "dual boot" system, which would run Windows and Linux on the same PC, on separate "partitions". The Mandrake installation program handled the partitioning process - the only risky bit - without incident, and Britnell then helped me to choose between various configurations.

He said Installing Linux with a modern distribution like Mandrake was fairly straightforward, but there were a few pitfalls that might trap the unwary.

A few minutes later and we were ready to run Linux on my notebook for the first time. But after the final restart, the notebook just died.

"That's interesting," Britnell said. He reckoned that the little piece of software that told the notebook to boot Windows or Linux had been corrupted somehow, and the computer was stuck in a limbo between the two operating systems.

Never mind, he said, we could boot from a floppy disk or a CD and sort the problem out.

"Have you signed the form?" Britnell asked casually, when neither of these methods had worked. He was referring to the waiver that the organisers would not be responsible for any loss or damage, etc.

The notebook was brought back to life by the simple act of switching the power off and on again, but it still wasn't running quite right. The screen sported a psychedelic colour scheme, and the notebook displayed other strange behaviour which Britnell and some of the other installers seemed to think was quite fascinating.

At one point, five of them surrounded my notebook, offering various remedies.

Eventually, Linux was installed successfully and now, when I turn on my notebook, a menu pops up and gives me 10 seconds to decide whether I want to boot Windows or Linux.

Choose Windows, and the computer runs as normal, except that Windows thinks the hard drive has mysteriously shrunk. But choose Linux, and the computer enters another world, in some ways very similar to Windows and in others quite different.

I can browse the web, send emails or instant messages, but instead of using Internet Explorer, Outlook Express and Windows Messenger I am using Konqueror, the Kmail client, or the EveryBuddy instant messaging program. Where I would normally use Word, I now have five or six text editors to choose from, and there is a full set of other Office-type programs, including a PowerPoint lookalike, and various time managers and organisers.

The reliability of Linux also seems to be very impressive. In about a month of use the operating system has never crashed - the only problem I have had is with a text editor that "hung" once. That is not to say everything works properly: the display does not operate at full resolution and I can't get the sound going at all.

But I am working through these glitches one step at a time and I'm learning a lot about Linux in the process. It's quite interesting.

The NZ Linux Resource

Installfest