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Linux Software

WinLinux 2000 167

Posted by Hemos from the mommy-i'm-scared dept.
asdren writes "WinLinux 2000 has entered the final beta stage. This sounds like an interesting option for current Windows users who are interested in taking the Linux plunge but don't have the time/patience/guts to partition drives and configure drivers. " has anyone tried this yet? I'd be curious as to how the installation/running of the system is.
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WinLinux 2000 More

WinLinux 2000

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  • loopback device? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    If it's like PhatLinux [phatlinux.com], they may have just one big file in the FAT partition that contains the linux filesytems that are then mounted via a loopback device. Now as far as using Windows Drivers, it during the install process, it may scan the windows registry to figure out how your machine is currently configured and use that information to configure any linux drivers and X so you don't have to.

  • I'm almost against this... (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Sure, this is all fine and good, but it possibly can construe some misconceptions about Linux. People might start thinking Linux is an "application" for the Windows Desktop instead of a full Operating System. I can tell you the first time someone comes in an IRC channel or posts to a mailing list and says "When I double-click on my Linux icon on my desktop, it says it cant find c:\linux and bluescreens!", they're going to get a boot to the head.

    -Dave

  • is anyone else bothered by this? (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I'm a Linux advocate. I like it and I'd like to see more people try it. Its great that there are those out there trying to make it accessible to more people.

    That having been said...

    Is anyone else bothered by this 'post' which is basically an ad for this distribution, being moderated up to a 5? It seems a little wrong to me. I'm all for posting news like this and letting people post their opinions and experiences and maybe someone who is behind the scenes posts some additional info, but this is wierd.
  • Well. This kind of attitude is exactly what is hurting Linux. Here is the thing. I know an awful lot about computers. When I first heard of Linux, and then tried it, I realized I didn't know as much as I had thought. I still don't know all that is required to really USE Linux. However, I do use it. I've networked it, IP-Masqed my network, got Apache, MySQL, PHP, and various other things to work. I consider that a lot of stuff that isn't very easy to get running correctly. (hell, I still don't have it exactly right.)

    Point being, I know a lot about this stuff. What I don't know, I don't tend to have a real hard time learning. However, what we computer geeks forget is that there are VERY clueless folks out there. I've met and consulted a ton of people, friends, family, etc. They say things like Connect me to Netscape. I had one person try to use the internet without a modem and complained when it didn't work.

    If the Linux Community wants World Domination and death to Windows so badly, they need to make room for a Linux for Dummies Distro. (Watch out Apache..Win2K has a server setup wizard..I say watch out because no matter how bad the M$ server is, it will be used a lot because it is easy to setup by Mr. Schmuck)

    Also, to get back into topic...A lot of people don't have time or interest in learning as much as we have had to. I know I wouldn't recommend Linux to a few people because I don't want them asking me questions all the time. The HowTos are not going to cut it for them. Point and Click is why 90% of computer users are using Windows. If they wanted to think, then Unix would be the BIG thing and M$ would be a little known company that failed with the Altair.

  • I can't say they're a "major" manufacturer, but Indelible Blue, http://www.indelible-blue.com/, offers multi-boot systems, and custom configuration, or did, last I checked.
  • cant find linuxppc lite (looked all over both
    the .org and .com site)

    have a friend learning web stuff, has an imac,
    wants to play with the gimp...
  • Anyone wondering about Lnx4Win (how it works, how to install it, etc.) can contact me, as I'm one of the authors (along with Alex from MandrakeSoft).

    I don't think Mandrake included my nice Windows setup tool, since the source was for C++Builder and they hadn't got it to compile under BC++ 5.0. But if you want that too, I can supply it.

  • This isn't Linux running ``under'' Windows as an application. It's merely Linux sharing a filesystem with Windows. You still have to reboot to the Linux kernel. Thus I suspect that you are going to, for instance, find it rather inconvenient to interoperate gnupg with your Windows e-mail program.
  • What's so heart attack inducing about being able to boot Linux from another OS and sharing a filesystem partition between the two? It's been done for years, starting with DOS. You can use LOADLIN to boot Linux from DOS and thanks to the UMSDOS file system, you can have a root partition (with long file names and other comforts) based on a DOS filesystem.
  • This is the BEST feature I can see.. UMSDOS doesn't really impress me, but having the install actually detect the settings for hardware FROM the Win9X registery is really, REALLY nice..
  • Chances are, if the user hosed them under 9X, then they're going to hose things WORSE under Linux.. ;-P

    And those hosed settings at least worked under 9X, so should work relatively well under Linux.. ;-P
  • Wasn't there an attempt to implement a toy version of Linux which ran entirely as a user-space Windows application a while ago? (I think someone mentioned a version of Linux that ran as a Windows Netscape plug-in, though they may have been joking.)
  • Most definitely. The "rite of passage issue" is at the root of these attitudes. However, I feel that intentionally keeping the bar artificially high is an attempt to fight off the inevitable. While humans have always had those rites, they have changed as technology advances. The old computer rite of passage was the ability to write in bytcode, punch cards etc. For those programmers, who spent their time in the trenches learning how to program low level stuff, the bar to programming was lowered when the compiler was introduced.

    While there can be the loss of identity in the original group, they will often regroup and form a new identity with a barrier of entry of its own. When Linus first released the kernel the barrier was getting to even run on your machine. Eventually, the barrier was to build a complete system with the kernel, then it changed to being able to get a distribution up and running, then to being able to properly tune the "best" distribution. These things change. I think that rather than foam at the mouth as they see the bar lowered, hackers should be seeking their new identity. Not just as being able to hack "a Linux system together", but to hack a system targeted at a particular need or some other identity.
    LetterJ
    Writing Geek/Pixel Pusher
    jwynia@earthlink.net
    http://home.earthlink.net/~jwynia
  • Nothing to do with MS.
    $ whois mslinux.com
    [rs.internic.net]

    Registrant:
    Newyen Corporation (MSLINUX-DOM)
    6119 Welch Ave
    Stockton, CA 95210
    US

    Domain Name: MSLINUX.COM

    Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:
    Nguyen, Kiet (KN1767) domain@NEWYEN.COM
    1-510-459-7528
    Billing Contact:
    Nguyen, Kiet (KN1767) domain@NEWYEN.COM
    1-510-459-7528

    Record last updated on 14-Jun-99.
    Record created on 10-Sep-98.
    Database last updated on 21-Sep-99 14:40:22 EDT.

    Domain servers in listed order:

    NS.CSOFT.NET 208.161.216.110
    NS2.CSOFT.NET 208.161.216.111


    --
  • OK someone always asks this but today I haven't noticed anyone ask this yet. Disclaimer: I believe that people are entitled to decide whether they make their programs open or closed source and under what terms they do that.

    Anyway, does anyone know if the code they use for detecting the users settings in the Windows registry is available under the GPL (or similar)? I think it would be useful for many other Linux distributions that would like to make installation easier but would like to take a different approach to WinLinux (installing Linux in it's own partition would be a priority for many). This feature would be useful to anyone who wants to install Linux on machine running Windows already and other distributions could benefit. Like I say, I'm not saying they should HAVE to GPL their code (unless it incorporates GPLed code) but it would indeed be useful.
    --
  • This actually exists....

    Get ready!

  • Heeeeere, kitty kitty. (Petting tiger) Nice kitty. Good kitty.

  • What the hell does "31337" mean, anyway?

  • if they could just "open a Linux Window" and play with the shell and XFree a little

    Start->Run->telnet [hostname]

    :) [Sorry..had to be said]
  • Hey - you actually think the Linux community can *agree* on something?

    The Linux community has got less cohesion than the Protestant church - for any viewpoint, you'll ALWAYS find 5 people with an opposite (and mutually incompatible) one.

    The miracle is that we're still able to work together!
  • Okay, please don't moderate this down until winlinux.net has recovered from the /. effect, a mirror is found, or it is reasonable to assume that there is no mirror

    BUT

    Does anyone know of a mirror???

  • You're clever!

    Whenever some "noname" company announces a new app, and i want additional info, then i'll do it your way:

    1. Check the Website
    2. Get some staff info
    3. whois domain, and get the registrators name
    4. check dejanews, for staff members and registrator
    This should reveal a lot of info, otherwise hidden. Maybe, next time, we should also nmap the server, and neighbors, for additional info, also whois-ing relevant neighbours... We could also finger them, websearch (google/alltheweb) for staff webpages, and additionally query peoplesearch or similar searchengines, which may provide additional info.

    Does anyone have other ideas, for getting background infos?

  • Ummmm, what I really want to know is what they are offering that Caldera hasn't already offered. Lemme see here, UMSDOS based, a Control Panel icon to run loadlin.exe, reading existing Windows hardware settings to use in the Linux setup. Yep, thanks guys, you rock.


    This seems even lower than the Mandrake guys offering a "better Red Hat". At least they acknowledge where their distribution comes from. Seems like every cheese-eater with a CD burner is trying to make a quick buck off the uninformed masses these days by claiming Windows-interoperatbility. I see nothing particularly special about their screenshots.


    I have a bit of advice for all you "distribution chasers". Instead of wasting your time and energy building your own half-baked distribution, why don't you offer to help the people who built the one you are working on? Until you have a fundamental difference of opinion about how the distribution should look, you don't have any good reason to roll your own.

  • Sounds like you need VMWare so you can run Linux and Windows on the same box at the same time. I set this up for one of my developers and it's working great for him. He can still use his Windows stuff, but he's learning quickly the Unix Way.
  • > I guess if I were going to reproduce something verbatim like this, I would say so at the top

    Yeah, like say "--MIRROR" or something.

    > and provide a link

    The link is in the article already...
  • What goes up, must come down. Ask any system administrator.

    And that exactly what happened. Considering the name not really amazing. few sites can survive a full ./ assault.
  • >It asks for a user and password, and even gives >you the option to make root the same password.

    WOW!! That's a great option! Let every one do this!! Maybe that's why it's called Win...

    =)
  • Amen.

    There is much to be learned from breaking things.
    Being able to beat on a box mercilessly will teach you things that you could never ever learn on a machine you care about.

    That being said, there is also a lot to say about giving people a path to the rightous way. Being able to get a taste of linux on a Windows box is not such a bad thing. This might just be the motivation some people need to do it right.

    2 from an ex-manager of professional wrestlers.
  • It's not what you said. It's how you said it. It is entirely possible to make good points without lots of sarcasm and insults. If you are worried about being moderated down then post responsibly.

    Can't we all just get along?

    <SIG>
    I think I lost my work ethic while surfing the web. If you find it, please email it to crispy@crotch.caltech.edu.
    </SIG>
  • I would really loved to see how this runs under wine. I know, I know, that isn't the purpose of this distro... but it would be fun to see the results.


    More seriously: Other linux distro's should take a clue from this. If it is possible for WinLinux to take a snapshot of your windows hardware settings and then install the appropriate Linux drivers, how about a floppy disk utility that would extract this information to the floppy. Then, during the linux install, the install process could prompt the newbie for the disk and then load the linux drivers. Makes it all pretty simple, huh?
  • Two problems with detecting settings from the registry: What if the windows partition is NTFS or FAT32? and what if the user wants to completely destroy his/her window's partition during the install. It would be easier to distribute a preinstall disk that a user could obtain and run on their system to determine hardware compatibility before obtaining the full linux distribution. That disk could also be used to load settings during the linux install process.
  • I finally got through to the web site. WinLinux appears to be a smart installer and a standard Linux. I'm not sure whether the installer partitions the hd, or creates a large Windows file that the Linux system lives inside of.. my bets are on the partitioner, but I couldn't tell for sure. It doesn't seem to actually use the Win device drivers. It specifically doesn't support WinModems.

    Basically it looks like a way to avoid having to figure out how to partition your hard disk.
  • 6.0 Mandrake sucked, never got Hardware right, and even if it thought it did, didn't boot properly. However 6.1 Seems to have cured all these problems. I'm not sure why there were so many problems with 6.0. I never did find a system it would install on. Haven't had that problem with 6.1. I didn't have any of these problems with RedHat 6.0.


    -- Keith Moore
  • i've tried to download from their web and ftp
    site and both appear to be down. i've sent
    them email asking if they will be allowing
    official mirrors, and also received no reply.

    anyone know if these people are awake yet ? :-)

    -jason
  • Well, I have to answer directly, IMO it isn't always a good idea to nmap the server. There is no important information to get anyway.
    One could go to www.four11.com to search for (alternate) email adresses. You could try a zone transfer of the domain, sometimes funnily the names of their machines tell you something.
    Watch the headers of the postings at dejanews (under "view original usenet format"). If you find an interesting post in dejanews, got to altavista and search in their usenet engine for the same message, they show you all headers if you push the "B" (retrive binary attachment, don't ask me...). Then you have normally the nntp-posting host, ergo the provider of the individual if he posted from home.
    Voila, perhaps he has a nice homepage...
    If you find some office documents on some pages, download the and view at the with an editor.
    If you're lucky you get his home adress, telephone number and some porn websites he visited sometimes. Really, I found www.penthouse.com and others in some business documents...
    Does anybody know how to do an _reverse_ whois search, i.e. person-record->domain-records this person owns?
    Oh, and at altavista, try link:domainname, perhaps some staff members or companies have a homepage on which they link to the company you want to check out.

    Some interesting links for this kind of stuff:
    http://www.cotse.com/searchengineref.htm [cotse.com]
    The whole site is cool
    and
    http://www.cam.org/~intsci/ [cam.org],
    perhaps a bit old, but most links work...
  • The fundemental (sp?) problem to doing that is that the site has been slashdotted and it looks like it's not recovering for a while. It's 4:45pm EST, and still no avail.

    Even though the information is on the site, we can't GET on the site. Therefore, the moderators moderated the post up since we want to know wtf it is.
  • That Lnx4win is also on the Mandrake 6.0 disc that got included in every one of the 100,000 copies of the new "Maximum Linux" magazine. I haven't tried it because I don't have the space on my Windows machine (a laptop) and all the others are already running Linux.

    Unfortunately (as with a few other CDs included with magazines I've seen lately) it's rather short on details on getting started (although the magazine does have a coupleo of pages on installing Mandrake once you've got your HD partitioned).
  • Opinions differ on the best way to set up Unix/Linux partitions. About the only generally agreed on rule of thumb I've seen is to make swap about twice your RAM size -- although I can remember back when we used to use 3X RAM size or 60 MB, whichever was bigger.

    Beyond that, it varies all over the place from putting everything else on a single partition to splitting out nearly everything else to their own partitions. It depends what you're using it for -- on my web server I've got /var on its own partition for the logs and / and everything else (relatively static) on another, but on my development system /var is on the same partition as / but /home is separate to simplify backups. There's also a big VFAT partition for the Java programs in development to access them from either Linux or Windows (dual boot).
  • From /usr/src/linux/Documentation/Configure.help:

    CONFIG_UMSDOS_FS
    Say Y here if you want to run Linux from within an existing DOS
    partition of your hard drive. The advantage of this is that you can
    get away without repartitioning your hard drive (which often implies
    backing everything up and restoring afterwards) and hence you're
    able to quickly try out Linux or show it to your friends; the
    disadvantage is that Linux becomes susceptible to DOS viruses and
    that UMSDOS is somewhat slower than ext2fs. Another use of UMSDOS
    is to write files with long unix filenames to MSDOS floppies; it
    also allows Unix-style softlinks and owner/permissions of files on
    MSDOS floppies. You will need a program called umssync in order to
    make use of umsdos; read Documentation/filesystems/umsdos.txt.

    I suppose they're using this. So that's on top of FAT alright... Eewww.... :)
  • WHO ARE THESE FUCKING DUMBASS MODERATERS? i post the truth of what people are saying, and since it doesn't give linux a nice shiney good feeling look to it, they moderate me down to 0 (flame bait)
  • Was that an insult to me? this is not a joke, i really can't tell if it was or not. Or are you trying to say that if you know linux your a gay script kiddy.. i don't get it.
  • If you did any 'code hacking' you couldn't post the binarys anywere, it would be a violation of US crypto exsport laws.

    now, outside of the US....
    "Subtle mind control? Why do all these HTML buttons say 'Submit' ?"
  • ***!!!PHHHOOOOOOT!!!***

    Huge spit take all over the monitor. What?! What? Your chocolate is in my peanut butter! Your peanut butter is in my chocolate! Cats and dogs living together!-Real Wrath of God type stuff! Bun's not meat nor cheese. Word!

    Why does this bother me, but LiteStep for Windows not? I think it's the name; yes -- the name.
  • >What's so heart attack inducing about...

    Well, if he had the same instant reaction I had, I thought this was a Microsoft Linux... two seconds later after looking at the comments, I figured it out...
  • but it just feels like linux is going point and click, or ./script. which isn't the best plan imho.

    but you can still do it the way you want. Nothing can stop a diehard CLI user. This just makes it more accessible. The problem I see with this is users who think they know what they're doing, fscking up their systems and blaming Linux.
  • This sounds like an interesting option for current Windows users who are interested in taking the Linux plunge but don't have the time/patience/guts to partition drives and configure drivers.

    Huh? So how does this work...it just uses your current windows drivers and your FAT* partition? (I'd go see for myself but I can't get to their site) How would they handle buggy drivers that Windows would give a blue screen for?
  • I recently installed Red Hat 5.2 and the book was clear about what size to make each partition. I think it was in the chapter before the instructions for how to make partitions, so that may have been a little confusing.

    The bigger problem I had was getting X to work. It still isn't. My Compaq Presario has built-in video hardware (which is non-operational since I have a better video card in a PCI slot) that gets detected during configuration instead of the desired video card.

    I can't imagine any OS being easy to install due to the enormous variability in hardware between vendors/models/revisions/upgrades. The only truly easy way to get Linux is to buy it preinstalled. Do any major manufacturers offer dual-boot systems?

  • Everytime i've tried partitioning my drive i've
    got it wrong. For this reason I just split out
    /home from /. This way, if anything goes *drastically* wrong personal stuff is still there and a clean install is simple. Some of the problems *imho* are books like O'Reilly's installing linux is a bit misleading. Also, the base linux install has a lot more stuff sitting in /bin than most *nixes and has a habit of growing a bit more arbitrarily than most *nixes (where "new" stuff goes in /usr/local

  • Don't forget gnu make, which is an order of magnitude better than most makes and tar w/ the built in -z is entirely too cool :)
  • I couldn't! The ftp server was down. This is a bit of an old post (by /. standards), so I don't think it was that they got /.ed. But when I went to give them some feedback, there php and sql combo for there comment database was all screwed up. Looks like there server is in beta test as well. That and I want to download this over my schools network, but it is to big to fit on a zip disk in one piece. Wish they would break it up into two. Now, with some of the comments on here, I am wondering if it in fact uses the windows enviroment for anything, and if it will use my scanner drivers to let me use it with a stable version of the GIMP. Bugger.
  • They could use an existing FAT partition if they used a filesystem like UMSDOS. They wouldn't be the first to do that sort of thing. It's sort of like a Ext2 on top of FAT. Works pretty well, although it is slower.
  • because youre an idiot. ZipSlack installs on a FAT32 or FAT16 partition just like winlinux. Slackware proper requires ext2. note that i started on slackware and learnt a helluva lot before switching to mostly redhat with a little debian thrown in.
  • It was down yestersay (9/21). They have a ftp address, but I have it at home and I'm not there now.

    JCM
  • I have been wishing i could install linux in some form without messing with my windows setup, which i am bound to by a lot of adobe and macromedia software. I have been waiting for windows to super-crash so that i have to reinstall (and repartition), and even burned all my important files on cd, but it hasnt cooperated yet!
  • Just create a swap partition, say 128 MB, and use as much space as you want for linux as the other partition, mounted as root (/).

    I'll have to take your word on the "considerable experience" part. If there is some reason you want separate partitions for other reasons then you know more about your intentions of the system than anyone else.
  • If you destroy it, call it a lesson learned. Re-install and repeat.

    That's what I'm doing right now. I've reinstalled Linux about 4 times since I got it about a month ago. I probally didn't really NEED to do it, but I had no idea how to fix what I broke, so it was easier to just reinstall. I've come from a complete Windows GUI user (never really did DOS), to a semi-competent Unix user, which is better than I was. And I still have problems with it, but I chalk it up as learning, and I don't fret it, the worst I can do is have reinstall, and that only takes 30 minutes.
  • Can you install this thing directly from Windows? I ask this, because of a incedent that happened recently. We were loading up Red Hat onto some of the computers at school. This kid was interested, so he takes it home one night to install on his machine. He comes back the next day and says it doesn't work. He thought that when he put the CD in the CD-Rom drive, it would read it automatically, like most windows CD's will do, and then go to a nice little install process, like a normal Windows program, and then there would be a little Red Hat icon under his programs menu when he wanted to run Red Hat. Remember, these are the kinds of people that Linux will have to cater to if you want it to overtake Microsoft. So to help poor people like him, will this thing have a .exe file to start it off with, or even a little program icon in Windows that would restart his machine to boot into Linux?
  • LOL, Yeah but truly would be nice if there was an ASF player for Linux.

  • Download now! You will be amazed by its power and reliability and with Netscape Communicator included you will have a fast and stable Internet browsing machine.


    Hmmm.. I wonder what version of netscape they use, can't be the same one I use, Hell I wonder if it's even the same product. They must be talking about some other browser

  • Now I can run gnupg under Windows (mind you, that's what I use at work and the gnupg team still has no binaries for Windows, eventhough it is supposed to allow "everybody" to exchange secure stuff).
  • I'm no computer newbie, but I am what you'd call a Linux newbie. I bought a Mandrake 6 GPL cd a week ago, and after running the installer 117 times on a computer with all supported hardware and oodles of disk space, I must say that it is the stupidest installer I've seen yet. All my hardware is detected, fine, but for crying out loud why does it deceive you into thinking you'll be running X Windows and then dump you at the command prompt? I have no problem using a command line, but figuring out how to fix things the installer should have done right in the first place is a pain and a crying shame.

    The point of all this is...I can only hope now that other distros will get the hint on useability. If other users' experiences with even a supposedly user-friendly install program like Mandrake are anything like mine, then Linux is not ready for prime time any more than "Three's Company".

    (?) [ech, venting frustration and all that jazz]

    - J DUECK

  • I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who's actually tried this. When I decided to try Linux, I got a new computer (actually, a friend gave me her old one when she got a new one). As soon as I can afford a CD-Rom drive for that machine, I'll be installing Linux. I won't put it on my Windows machine because I don't have the time to have my software down while I'm messing with a new OS. I don't mind partitioning my hard drive and the like, but I needed Windows stuff for my last job, and if I get the job for which I just applied, I'll be needing some of the same stuff (unfortunately, Windows is fairly ubiquitous, as if we didn't know this already). I've had friends suggest various distros of Linux, none of which had Windows in the title, so chances are I'll pass on this one, but I am curious to see what others think about it beyond dissing newbies for wanting or needing it. Is it any good?

  • The dozens of other upstart linux distributions which attempt at making the install process easy. You have mandrake with their new Panoramix/DiskDrake based install, EasyLinux with their totally KDE based install, and Caldera OpenLinux already has a VERY easy and graphical install process.

    I saw about 10 other things like this at the Linux World Conference. I think that people are realizing that there is outside demand for easy to install linux, lets hope that some of these projects can merge.. not contribute to the looming fragmentation of linux.

    ...
  • Is not very hard to install, although it does involve making some sacrifices (either re-installing MacOS or buying a partition resizing tool), it would be very easy to install after the partitioning. LinuxPPC comes with a graphical install program, and is very user friendly. Maybe you should help your friend with the install of LinuxPPC.

    In response to your question about LinuxPPC Lite, read this [dartmouth.edu].
    ...

  • I bought an obsolete laptop, and the first thing I tried was putting a tiny Linux, muLinux [sunsite.auc.dk], on it. muLinux will run from floppy (4 of them if you want X, gcc, and network tools), but can also clone itself to create a UMSDOS installation or a loopback installation (this latter is a Linux filesystem inside a big file on the DOS partition).

    The UMSDOS clone worked OK, but the problem is that Linux needs thousands of tiny little files. These are stored rather inefficiently under UMSDOS, and become a nightmare if you need to defrag (for example to partition for a full Linux distro). The performance hit is also noticable. (Notice that WinLinux2000 occupies 500Mb on a FAT32 partition or 1Gb on a FAT16 partition - that is the impact of all those little files).

    My guess is that the loopback filesystem, as used by Mandrake's Lnx4win, is a better choice. Hopefully the WinLinux people will add this option in future. Otherwise, a great piece of work - I love the idea of stealing all the settings from Windows.

    Also worth looking at is DemoLinux [demolinux.org], which runs off the CD.

    My laptop now runs Slackware 3.4 in its own (half empty) 120Mb partition, with X, compilers, networking and freeciv. I might try Debian 2.1 if I need libc6.

  • Granted that Wine is still alpha, but even still, winLinux should package Wine, and setup the KDE menu with all windows programs (Unless a kde equivelent exists, and the windows version doesn't work). This way a user goes into linux, and still can run all programs

    PS, for a real challange, see if you can parse windows data structures enough that you can take a program running under Windows, start winlinux, and have it show up under Wine when the first user logs into linux! (This is theoritically possibal, but practially a real mess that due to changing fixes/versions of windows probably cannot be done reliabally)

  • Anyone that has half a brain and has used any "real" Unix OSs knows where Linux stands. Come on people, we've all used it and seen what it can do. It's not a religion and it's not even that good.

    Granted, the hype isn't that cool, and it's certainly not worthy of being a religion, but don't sell GNU/Linux short, either. As someone with at least half a brain (as evidenced by the existence of this post) who works daily with the real Unix OSes, I'd have to say that in general the GNU tools are significantly better than their "native" counterparts. Things like chmod -R a+X somedir/ (a+X, not a+x) and cp -Rdp foo/ bar/ come to mind. The main shortcoming has been lack of ACL support, and some features of sort(1) and uniq(1).

    With regard to the Linux kernel itself, the only shortcomings I've found there have been some low-level aspects of the SCSI subsystem and lack of proper LVM (although you can still do LVMy things in a pinch). (Most of the rest of my complaints have been addressed in 2.2 and 2.3) Otherwise, in most ways it seems to be superior to the proprietary Unix kernels from a functionality standpoint. I still can't mount Joilet CDs under HP-UX, dammit...

    Documentation and many of the third-party tools are a real mixed bag, though. Documentation in most areas is unquestionably worse in Linux, while XFree86 (the S3 server) is considerably more stable and featureful than the X server on the HP-UX 10.20 box sitting on my desk. Most Linux distros also come with loads of very useful little tools that don't ship with most real Unix systems, except the *BSDs.


    Berlin-- http://www.berlin-consortium.org [berlin-consortium.org]
  • It's just the content of the page the article links to. Hopefully it will avoid a sever /. effect on their server.

    Considering how few people every actually READ the articles they comment on, I think it's a good idea to have a mirror posted with a Score of 5.
  • Mandrake's put a beta version of their Lnx4Win in the 6.1 distribution. This also lets you install Linux without repartitioning, but it doesn't use UMSDOS. Instead, it makes a Linux image file (of a restrictable size) and runs an ext2 filesystem off of it. You boot up with loadlin. Apparently, there's a little bit of a performance hit, but it sounds pretty good.
  • This Is amusing.

    (Score:0, Flamebait)
    by infojack on Wednesday September 22, @09:27AM EDT
    (User Info)

    I Read through all the comments of people who think they are all that and a bag of chips becuase they installed slackware. And then they call this winlinux an emulator, and make up things like it does partition becuase its imposible to install linux on fat. Which proves my point that the distro doesn't tell you how smart the person is. I run redhat and I knew about running linux on a fat partition, and i can read and find out that it reboots the computer, so most likely guys, its not emulating linux. So mabey some of you slackware guys should spend less time flaming and more time learning linux. Or are you too coool for that?

    Mirrored this post because I don't have any moderator points and felt I should do a civic good for the day :)
  • When I got my PC around 3 years ago I installed then current Slakware using UMSDOS on the Win95 partition. It worked in a fashion, although due to the limitations of the VFAT16 filesystem, each file was hugh, even a device node took up one alloaction unit, and I quickly ran out of space. There were additional problems with UMSDOS and VFAT16 not being totally compatable with each other, and some Win95 files lost their long filenames. I even added an icon to the start menu to boot straight into Linux.

    This distribution has been made possible by advancements made with VFAT32 support in UMSDOS.

    As a matter of fact I recently installed the VFAT32 version of Windows95, to allow me to run some games, and also to browse a job related website that only works with IE4 (natch!). I will probably stick a UMSDOS filesystem on this drive to allow me to share the disk between the 2 operating systems.
  • Hey, I was a Slackware guy! I still run it on my notebook.

    You're trashing everybody who ran Slack because they didn't know Linux could be installed on FAT?

    That was always a selling point of Slack. Anybody who installed Slack by reading the installation instructions (ie. nobody standing there saying "press enter here") knows that Slack has installed via UMSDOS for a looooooong time. Now there's ZipSlack, which is specifically designed to install on UMSDOS. Check it out here [slackware.com].

    So be assured that all of the *real* Slackers know all about it. Any Slacker who says what you say they do is, well, a liar.
  • This is not Linux for Windows in the same sense of "Word for Windows." I know that is what a lot of people thought because I thought that too... and that is what a lot of the comments seem to be saying. It has an installer that runs under windows, pulls settings from Windows to make installing Linux easier, and uses UMSDOS to put the linux files on the C: drive.
    e.g. c:\linux\usr\bin\netscape etc.
    Then when you run linux, an icon set up for you, (probably using loadlin) Windows is shut down and the linux kernel takes over completely starting with text mode and everything.
    Your best bet for running Linux at the same time as Windows is VMWARE for windows NT (or vmware for linux, you can run win95/98/NT or almost any other OS under linux).
  • I think a lot of the resistence you cite is present, but stems from another, perhaps subconscious reason. Humans have always had "rites of passage", whereby people /earn/ their entry into a particular group. In the hacker/geek circle, this "rite of passage" was RTFMing, spending hours in the dark behind a glowing monitor, tweaking code, and intellectually grasping the system so that at the time you are considered "passed", you are in truth already a /part/ of the system. As the bar lowers more and more people can flood in, risking the original group from losing its identity.
  • Linux is already being affected by hoards of Windows users deciding, hey, I want to run my own fl00d bots and strike ph34r into everyone on IRC.

    The problem is, they install Linux, and discover they can't use it. They may be able to use their wonderful point 'n' click winnuke app to kill anyone else using windows's box instantly, but they dont know how anything actually works on their computer, so they install Linux, and think, hey this sucks, then they find the odd cracking tool, and start running around IRC saying they are a l33t hacker cause they use Linux...
    All this does is give Linux as bad a name as Windows, regarding the lame users which (both) OSs have (started to, in Linux's case) attract[ed].


    I remember when I used Windows9x, and sure, I could do some interesting things on it, but I can remember downloading an eggdrop and asking what are now, to me, embarrasingly lame questions about how I could run an eggdrop 24/7 on a dialup computer (ok, I was an idiot -- im not now, honest) -- at least I knew I needed a shell :)

    I at least, downloaded linux (I can still remember the episode of the Outer Limits that i was watching as slackware downloaded, heh), installed it, and even started mucking around with the source of CircleMUD and now know a decent amouns of C (and I'm learning).

    Now, however, you can download a distribution of Linux for Windows... Great.. Now you don't need to be competent at computers to use 'Linux' (I almost destroyed the FAT of one of my drives.. bad mkswap), you point, click, and get thrown into Linux, and have the ability to say 'I know nothing more about computers, but hey, I use Linux'.

    IMO, it isn't the OS that is cool, its the fact that using Linux means/ment that you at least had a clue about using computers, and you werent some lame idiot trying to crash boxes, and crack into things you knew nothing about.. Or even if you were, installing Linux meant you had a CLUE, which an increasing number of people using Linux nowadays, no longer have.

    They install Red Hat, and then the simplest thing to do with Linux goes wrong, they haven't the faintest idea how to fix it in Linux -- and they dont want to learn. They want someone to give them a magic command, so they can keep living in ignorance..

    Ok. I'll stop rambling now.
    --
    David Taylor
    davidt-sd@xfiles.nildram.spam.co.uk
    [To e-mail me: s/\.spam//]
  • They don't promise support of winbloze NT. Oh Well. They're also nice enough to suggest downloading it in pieces (it's a 138 Mb download). AFAIK, there is no CD distribution, but I may be mistaken there. It's too bad you can't download a minimal winlinux (kernel, filesystem, shell) then download the parts you are interested in.

    They do lock you into KDE, though. If you don't mind being locked into the UI, go for it. As you learn more, you can always get a "real" distribution. I am concerned that the skill for managing your system's boot process won't be learned, but as someone pointed out - so what?

    On a personal note, I also find it interesting that the command line interface is viewed as intimidating. I am somewhat intimidated by GUI's. I can't always remember where some setting is hidden, but I can remember a command or the filename to change the setting far more easily.
    ---

  • First off, very well put. However, I would tend to disagree with you on point number 2. Linux is not an operating system for beginners. It is a full-fledged multi-user server platform and as such needs an administrator. Someone brand new to linux will find out quickly that they don't get those annoying 'permission denied' messages if they always run as root. Plus, they don't want to use a password to use their own computer. They'll use 'password' or 'secret'.
    What I'm really trying to get at here is that The more you know about computers, the better you can use one. And using linux as an OS is somewhat pointless unless you know quite a bit about computers. It occurs to me that a person that would put linux on a FAT partition does not care about security, or multi-user capability, and is basically trying linux because its the 'Cool Thing'. If someone wants to try linux, that's great, but for God's sake, read the manual.

    return 0; // ithmus
  • Dragonlinux [dragonlinux.nu] is a nice UMSDOS linux that I found and tried a little under a year ago. Fairly stable, not too sluggish.

  • As someone who has considerable experience with various Unices and has no compunction about (re-)formatting and (re-)partitioning my drives, partition setup proved to be the single biggest barrier there was for me to install Linux. The Red Hat documentation was very clear about *how* to partition, but *nowhere* was I able to find any advice about the size and number of partitions to create. The very fact that this is necessary is somewhat irritating -- why can't I just create a single partition and use it for everything? Now, if I run out of space in (say) /usr but I still have plenty of space in /home, I've got to go through contortions to rectify the situation.

    It's as bad as partitioning a drive under DOS.

  • Don't forget that some of us are required to use windows for our jobs. I have an old pentium in my office that is a great Linux server. But my primary PC unfortunately has to run Winbloze. A lot of my co-workers as well as the system admin might be willing to try this if they could just "open a Linux Window" and play with the shell and XFree a little. Then once they've learned the basics I'll finally be able to move some development servers to Linux.

    Anything that makes Linux easier to learn is good. Although That's the key, to LEARN it.
  • Any heart-attack inducing teasers in the future MUST include non-slashdottable links/mirrors!
  • Is this the same thing: http://winlinux.tip.nu/ [winlinux.tip.nu]?
  • i think that if you are going to install linux, you've got to learn a few things. i sure as hell didn't do my first linux install as a *nix-virgin. i say spend a few weeks, maybe a month or two, on a shell. where you can learn basic commands and basic filesystem/compiling/kernel/lib/etc stuff. sure the install may be easy but when the
    bash~#
    pops up. are you gonna know what to do with it? sure books are kinda cool but you can't really learn anything unless you get some hands on experiance.
    im not saying this is a horrible idea, linux should be installable by anyone, without diffulculty. but it just feels like linux is going point and click, or ./script. which isn't the best plan imho.

    tyler
  • The single biggest obstacle to many of my friends and associates making the switch/taking the plunge is that they need a lifeline. Repartitioning your hard disk and what not does not offer that.

    THIS DOES. Sure it's not a 'great' linux system. But it sure looks like an excellent way to dip ones toes in the water and get used to the linux world... While still being able to switch back to MS Windows and load up your office documents...

    I don't think this will ever be a 'major' linux distro ... except as a great 'entry' level, learning tool.
  • Well, i did you my first install of linux as a complete unix virgin. Heck, i didn't have any clue what it was even (other than i had the notion it was supposed to be "cool").

    I had no manuals, no books and no one to ask. All i had was a brief introduction in a magazine telling me about 6 commands. ls,rm,cp,cat and most importantly: man and info! It took me a couple of months to even begin to learn to do anything useful in linux, and i erased it and went back to dos many'a'time.

    I realize that most people wouldn't do this nowadays, and why should they?

    Pop up a nice GUI, let them see a friendly interface when they've installed linux. Lots of little games, a quick and easy way to get on the net.

    The users will eventually learn more and more, if they're the least bit technically interested, and will grow up to be the next generation of unix gurus. The command prompt will always be more powerful, and they'll eventually learn it. I don't see how you could do stuff like wc -l `find -name "*.[ch]"` in a GUI.

    And if they're not technically interested? Just let them enjoy a crashproof OS, so that they can use a computer like it was intended - as a tool. Most people just want their computer to *work*. They don't want their OS to hang multiple times a day, or having to reinstall it every couple of months.. Linux: It Just Works(tm) :)

    You can combine a friendly OS for non technical users and a powerful interface for us geeks. They're not mutually exclusive.

  • Not the first Linux for Windows (Score:3)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @02:24AM (#1667565)
    This is NOT the first Linux for Windows. One I have tried that is really good is PhatLinux. I tried it just to see if it worked, then it got deleted off my system (along with Windows). PhatLinux is at www.phatlinux.com and I believe does have an Installshield install, and puts an icon on your desktop to reboot to linux. The only thing that WinLinux2000 is supposed to do that PhatLinux doesn't is load the right drivers automatically. PhatLinux comes with a generic kernel with all modules possible compiled in. Most systems should work OK with it...

  • Make up your minds! (Score:3)

    by Zack ( 44 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @06:22AM (#1667566) Journal
    Sometimes I get really confused by the postings on here, often from the same people. Now here's where the confusion is: If someone mentions a computer running WinXX then someone else always says "That sux, why don't you run a real operating system?"

    Of course, when someone actually creates a product that makes it easy for people to install and begin to use Linux then the tune changes all together. "They're just trying to be 31337 h4x0rs!"

    So which is it? Do you want more people running Linux or not? Or will you complain no matter which way it turns out. If everyone moves to Linux then will it just be something to be shuned as being too mainstream? If no one new starts using it will you complain that they don't know what's going on?

    Here's my rambling point: Allowing the average Joe User to install and experience Linux easily is a Good Thing(tm). If he likes his experience then he might swtich over all together... it extends choice to those who are not of the technologicaly elite.

    So make up your minds. Either help people use see that they have a choice, or convince them to be locked into the MS world. Don't change your tune to make yourself feel better.

  • ... (Score:3)

    by Signal 11 ( 7608 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @01:41AM (#1667567)
    Oh my god... *thud*

    MEDIC!

    what happened? This linux geek was just sitting here surfing.. and now he's passed out.

    What was he reading?

    Says here that "Winlinux" is available. Maybe some kind of new Microsoft offering?

    --

  • Re:WinLinux2000? Does it work with WINE? (Score:3)

    by Garion911 ( 10618 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @03:30AM (#1667568) Homepage
    How about this:

    During the install process, detect the registry files residing on a VFAT partition, and open and read it in then?? Why bother starting from the windows end anyways? No "System Information" disks needed.

  • Some meat (Score:3)

    by platypus ( 18156 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @01:55AM (#1667569) Homepage
    Before the great speculation begins,
    heres some info.

    whois www.winlinux.net gives

    [...]
    Registrant
    Dinamerico Schwingel (WINLINUX-DOM)
    [...]

    A search in dejanews for Schwingel AND Dinamerico gives this [deja.com](Date: 1999/06/25):
    In newsgroup installshield.is5.general :

    [...]
    I'm trying to build my software distributions which is very large. Some thousands files and 219MB total.

    The Media Build Wizard goes ok, until it tries to create layout.bin. Then it stucks for about an hour and comes whith this message
    [...]

    There show up some linux-specific postings (some old) too, so no microsoft, no panic...







    [...]

  • Re:Slashdotted ALREADY? :/ (Score:3)

    by asdren ( 35537 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @01:50AM (#1667570)
    System Requirements

    Your computer must have, at least the following configuration to run WinLinux 2000.

    a Pentium class processor

    16 MB RAM

    VGA video card

    Windows 95 or Windows 98

    an IDE disk drive with approximately 500MB free space on a FAT32 system (Windows 98) or near 1GB free space on a FAT16 system (most Windows 95), for a full setup.

  • Linux offers Experience (Score:3)

    by _Sprocket_ ( 42527 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @02:00AM (#1667571)
    i think that if you are going to install linux, you've got to learn a few things. i sure as hell didn't do my first linux install as a *nix-virgin. i say spend a few weeks, maybe a month or two, on a shell. where you can learn basic commands and basic filesystem/compiling/kernel/lib/etc stuff.

    I disagree.

    I've ran into a number of folks in the IT industry who express interest in Unix. For the most part, their entire computer experience has been Microsoft products. They don't have access to Unix - but they're interested. My advice? Used hardware that'll handle Linux is dirt cheap. Buy an old Pentium, install Linux, smack it around a bit. Experiment. Learn. If you destroy it, call it a lesson learned. Re-install and repeat.

    Experience is indeed the best teacher. Linux (and lets not forget *BSD) offers a low barrier option to that experience.

  • Re:ive always disagreed with stuff like this... (Score:3)

    by thunderbee ( 92099 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @02:01AM (#1667572)
    You can't have widespread use of linux if one has to know how to enter shell commands. Most sytem adminitrators choose NT because they're scared shitless by the linux user interface. Right, they should learn. You did. I did. But isn't it easier when everything works, and you learn things as you need to know them? Some people won't ever learn, so be it. And do you know everything about linux? Kernel? IPChains? SMB? NFS? Sendmail? Nah. You install what you need, and look into it further when the need arises. Same for beginners. Everything works out of the box; if you want more, you look deeper into the subject. That's why it's called a learning curve and not a learning cliff ;-)

  • Distribution Information. --MIRROR (Score:4)

    by jelwell ( 2152 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @01:53AM (#1667573)
    Here it is! The first Linux for Windows!

    If you've ever dreamt about choosing the software for your PC, WinLinux 2000 is for you.

    If you've ever wanted to have a powerful and reliable system on your computer, WinLinux 2000 is for you.

    If you want to enter the Open Source world, WinLinux 2000 is the easiest path.

    WinLinux 2000 is the only Linux system that installs as easily as any Windows application automatically detecting and configuring most of your hardware devices.

    WinLinux 2000 Beta Release

    JRCP is releasing the Final Beta version of WinLinux 2000 for evaluation and testing purposes. We have made every effort to create the easiest to use Linux system in the world and we ask you to give it a try [winlinux.net].

    Why would you use Linux?

    Linux is one of the most powerful systems you can have on your PC. Linux was made for the Internet by the Internet and it is a standard choice of Internet Service Providers around the world. Besides that, Linux is a fully Open Source system that comes with a handful of applications, development tools, games, Internet applications and more. Click for additional features... [winlinux.net]

    Why would you choose WinLinux?

    All that power usually demands a complete reconfiguration of the software on your computer and that can be very difficult if you are not experienced with PC hardware and software. WinLinux is a complete Linux system and it is the only one that installs directly to your Windows PC just as any other application. Just point and click to set up.

    So, what are you waiting for?

    If you think Linux is just for geeks, you are loosing your chance to try it out and start mastering the operating system of the 21st century.

    Download now! [winlinux.net] You will be amazed by its power and reliability and with Netscape Communicator included you will have a fast and stable Internet browsing machine.

    If you want more information, please check the other areas of our website using the menu in the upper left of this page. See also our Press Releases [winlinux.net]

  • Re:ive always disagreed with stuff like this... (Score:4)

    by DHartung ( 13689 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @07:22AM (#1667574) Homepage
    discore sez:
    i think that if you are going to install linux, you've got to learn a few things.

    No. If you are going to become a knowledgeable computer geek, you need to learn a few things. But why should Aunt Jane have to learn how to compile a filesystem just to have a cheap e-mail/word processing computer? Why should Linux force extra learning on people? Isn't the point of open source software to create something that's arguably better than closed-source stuff like Windows? How does making it easy violate that principle?

    The last thing the Linux community needs is to turn into a bunch of arrogant helpdesk geeks laughing at the newbies who don't know that the disk label goes out. That's just adolescent egotism, and doesn't reflect well on anybody. That is, unless you only want arrogant helpdesk geeks using Linux. Well, then, that attitude's gonna help keep it that way.

    Here's a clue from my many years supporting end users: end users don't care how the computer works, as long as it works. Hell, you can even be an advanced 32-bit environment C++ developer -- a good one -- and need help putting the RAM in the right way (actual example). Linux will always have the availability of the CLI to get under the hood, but please, I beg you, don't force people to use it.

  • Downloaded it yesterday... (Score:4)

    by mubley ( 28858 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @01:57AM (#1667575)
    Must say it is not bad for a beta version. You download a single InstallShield executable, run the program, the only information you have to enter is a username. The installation queries the Windows registry for the relevant devices and figures out what Linux drivers should be loaded. It DOES run from a UMSDOS filesystem, so it's not a perfect solution, but for a newbie who would like to try it out without having to repartition their hard drive, it seemed to be pretty user-friendly. Another downside was that it chose the frame-buffer video device instead of the native X driver for my ATI card, but again, WinLinux is a good solution for somebody itching to try Linux, but not wanting to take too much risk.

  • Slackware in 96 (Score:4)

    by Foogle ( 35117 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @01:47AM (#1667576) Homepage
    I got a slackware CD in 1996 that used the UMSDOS filesystem so that users wouldn't have to screw around with fips or fdisk or any of the other garbage that newbies run crying away from. In my eyes, *that* was the single most important factor in my movement to an almost 100% linux world. If I'd had to remove my Win95 system to install Linux, I would've said "Eh, not worth it", but I was able to do it without changing anything, diskwise, so I went ahead.

    I think that any product that makes transition from Windows-to-Linux easier on new users is immeasurably useful. At least, until more manufacturers start preloading Linux.


  • A little perspective (Score:5)

    by LetterJ ( 3524 ) <j@wynia.org> on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @02:42AM (#1667577) Homepage
    As I write this, I'm sure that a pile of shocked, righteous posts are piling up. Most will assault the very concept of running Linux in conjunction with Windows, others will wax nostalgic about their entry into the world of UNIX while preaching that because it was difficult for me it should be difficult for others, some will be lamenting the fact that it isn't "real" Linux, while still others will pound on the performance issues of using the UMSDOS file system.

    The fundamental problem with those attacks is that they all assume that those who will use WinLinux have the same goals, purposes, ideals and reasons for using Linux in the first place.

    The first type assumes that by the time a person has decided to use or try Linux, they are already a zealot. That is simply not the case. There are a great many Linux users who secretly hid their Windows usage from other geeks while they climbed the learning curve. The simple fact is that many people's entry into home computing follows the MS path. Once those people have a PC (with Win installed), they may discover Linux and want to try it. One of their primary reasons for wanting to try it? It can be provided free. But, to those people, is a possible disaster ruining an already functioning machine (most people consider their Windows boxes to function) free? Is buying a dedicated box for Linux when they aren't sure they'll like it free? No. Along comes a flavor of Linux which allows you to try it without doing much to your system. Why wouldn't that be good?

    Enter attack 2. UNIX/Linux was hard for me, it should be hard for you. I always wonder why I have to hear this one. Particularly from folks who hated it when their parents used this logic on them. Remember, "Walked to school in the snow" or "I worked 3 jobs to finish college"? Science is based on building on the work of others. Sure, you still need to learn how it fits together, but you don't have to recreate all of scientific history. There SHOULD be a way to learn Linux without having to kill one's entire outside life. It may be simplified, it may be limited, but when a beginner hits those walls, sees the potential in someone else's system, then they will move on.

    Attack 3. "It isn't real Linux". Because it doesn't reside on its own set of partitions? Because it relies on Windows for driver information? Or because it isn't the same as YOUR Linux? It has a Linux kernel. I think of a parallel in photography. Most people, including most Slashdot readers take the few pictures they do with a point and shoot camera. Hardcore amateur photographers and professionals would say that you aren't going to get good pictures with that type of camera, and some would go so far as to say that unless you are using a high-end medium format or 35mm camera with ultra-fast lenses, you aren't using a real camera. But it has a lens and holds film doesn't it? That makes it a camera. Your point and shoot fits your basic photography needs, and WinLinux fits the basic learning/experimentation Linux needs of many users.

    Attack 4. It won't be as high performance as "pure" Linux on SCSI hardware. I guess I always thought one of the benefits of Linux was that it would run on cheap hardware that you already had around. Why doesn't this idea extend to cheap filesystems you already have around?

    Sorry to have rambled on and for any lack of clarity in my statements. Flame away.
    LetterJ
    Writing Geek/Pixel Pusher
    jwynia@earthlink.net
    http://home.earthlink.net/~jwynia

  • Used it.... discovered it yesterday. (Score:5)

    by Seth Cohn ( 24111 ) on Wednesday September 22, 1999 @01:54AM (#1667578)
    I downloaded it yesterday, and it works well for what it does.

    Unpacks into a UMSDOS directory, c:\linux

    Autodetects all of your hardware based on your _windows_ settings. Really nice. I'd like to see more of this in the other distros. Save it to a floppy, and that would solve a lot of questions newbies have (like irq,i/o etc)

    If it's wrong (such as missing my video card), you can override the setting. It did really well, finding my printer (hp laserjet), joystick but not sound card (no sound setting?), mouse, modem, timezone.

    It asks for a user and password, and even gives you the option to make root the same password.

    Gives you a menu option (aka icon) to reboot system into Linux.

    I've tried a few of these UMSDOS ones. Armed Linux didn't work with this system, but WinLinux2000 did work. I ended up with a nice (if slow due to UMSDOS) Linux system. Won't replace any of my real linux boxen, but for newbies wanting to try Linux, this is a new option.

    Another option is DemoLinux, an entirely CD based Linux. I've had good luck with that one too.
    http://www.demolinux.org

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