WEBVTT - Overview of Linux 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:09.000 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:18.440 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello there, everybody, 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:20.880 and welcome to tech Stuff. My name is Chris Pollette. 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:23.320 I'm an editor here at how stuff works dot com, 0:00:23.360 --> 0:00:26.079 and sitting across from me, as usual, is senior writer 0:00:26.160 --> 0:00:30.720 Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, alright, Well, we're gonna start this 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:33.120 one off the way we've started off several of our 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:39.680 more recent podcasts with a little a listener mail. And 0:00:39.760 --> 0:00:44.280 this listener mail comes from my friend Ari Edney, who 0:00:44.720 --> 0:00:48.520 befriended me on Facebook, and she's swell, and she has 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:50.960 bugged me quite a bit. I mean, she has been 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:54.480 after me quite a bit to talk about a specific subject, 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:56.040 and so let me just read. I'm just gonna read 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:59.160 a little bit of her email, which is much longer 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:03.720 than the X that I'm going to do right now. 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:07.960 Could you please put together a podcast extolling the virtues 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:13.200 of Lennox as a cheap perin free in peren alternative 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:16.440 to a Mac and recommend your favorite flavors. I have 0:01:16.600 --> 0:01:19.280 used Red Hat and Sues in the past, and if 0:01:19.280 --> 0:01:22.760 I missed if I didn't pronounce that right. I'm sorry. 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:27.039 I don't know much about this stuff, but my favorite 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:30.440 so far has been Ubuntu's Jaunty Jackal Loop. Thanks a 0:01:30.440 --> 0:01:33.720 whole lot. It would save us all some grief. Smiley face. 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:38.920 I love the podcast. Erry Edney. Then, actually, we've She's 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:41.840 not the only person who's asked us to talk about learnings. No, 0:01:42.000 --> 0:01:45.480 We've received many, many requests to talk about Lenox, and 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:48.480 the only reason we haven't spoken about Lennox is because 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:52.160 Chris just hates that operating system so much. He's been 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.320 just yelling like every time I'm like, hey, Chris, do 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:56.760 you want to do Lenox? I mean, it's really cool, 0:01:56.760 --> 0:01:58.960 and he says no, No, No one uses that only 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:02.400 losers these linex M all right, Okay, truth be told. 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:06.480 I knew nothing about Lenox other than the very bare basics. 0:02:06.600 --> 0:02:10.160 I've been a Windows and Mac us are pretty much 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:14.359 my entire life. I mean Doss before Windows even and 0:02:14.680 --> 0:02:18.520 Apple before that. But I was the one who was 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:21.160 holding us back because I just didn't have the experience 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:23.720 or the knowledge base really to talk about it. So 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:25.840 I know a little bit more now, but I'm gonna 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:29.000 let Chris take the controls here and I will I 0:02:29.000 --> 0:02:34.280 will pipe in with smartass comments whenever appropriate. Uh. Well, 0:02:34.320 --> 0:02:36.640 I felt like we should probably start with a little 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:39.240 maybe just a little bit of history. It's funny because 0:02:39.240 --> 0:02:41.200 every time we start talking about computer history, all of 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:43.160 a sudden, we're twenty six minutes into the podcast and 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.080 we haven't gotten at the topic, right, UM, So just 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:48.320 a little bit of history. UM. It's a derivative of 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:53.640 Unix UM, which was an operating system originally planned in 0:02:53.680 --> 0:02:56.800 the nineteen sixties. Is a you know, a robust operating 0:02:56.800 --> 0:03:00.919 system that would be uh worked on by ultiple companies 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.200 and everybody was going to come together and use this 0:03:03.200 --> 0:03:08.840 this operating system. UM. It didn't quite work out that way. UM. 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:11.680 Actually it ended up at Bell Labs and the project 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:17.080 actually initially UM was called something entirely different UM. But 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:20.399 Unix is uh you know, it was actually called Multics 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:25.079 at first UM and UH but and then the coalition 0:03:25.080 --> 0:03:27.160 of companies that we're gonna do this fell apart. The 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:29.840 whole reason behind that was at that point in the 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:32.440 in the nineteen sixties, they had all these giant computers 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:34.440 and none of them could talk to one another because 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:37.640 they didn't they all had their own proprietary operating system, 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:41.920 which is exactly like it is now. Oh um oh anyway, UM, 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:45.000 so the coalition between the companies fell apart, but Bell 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.720 Labs UM some some guys that were Bell Labs in 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:51.240 the murray Hill, New Jersey office, UM Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, 0:03:51.360 --> 0:03:57.120 Doug McElroy and jf Osana basically kept working on it 0:03:57.560 --> 0:04:00.800 because basically their bosses felt like it was a worthwhile 0:04:00.840 --> 0:04:03.600 use of their time. I guess um and and it 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.080 basically panned out for them because the more they worked 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:09.160 on it, UM and they basically started for scratch. Once 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:11.920 the Multics thing fell apart and the new project ended 0:04:12.000 --> 0:04:16.479 up being called Unix. UM started about spring nineteen sixty nine. 0:04:16.520 --> 0:04:20.120 We uh have a belated happy birthday to to Unix 0:04:20.320 --> 0:04:23.839 and birthday birthday to Unix. That's all I can do. 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.039 Otherwise we have to pay rights. Yeah yeah, and you know, 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:29.520 I'm sure it would give you a nice greeting in 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:35.080 binary in response to that. UM, and we're talking giant 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:38.240 computers here, you know, the size the size of bookcases. 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:41.400 Um A PDP seven actually is the first that it 0:04:41.520 --> 0:04:45.080 ran on UM and the nineteen seventy actually upgraded to 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:49.400 a PDP eleven for only sixty five dollars. But that's 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:51.240 sort of a test to what Bell Labs thought it 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:53.560 could do, because you know, otherwise they wouldn't work over 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:57.480 uh sixty five grand, you know for for an operating 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.320 system UM. January one seventy isn't that what marks the 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:06.520 Unix epoch? They had an epic. They count, They count 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:11.240 up from January one, nineteen seventy in seconds. So back 0:05:11.480 --> 0:05:13.800 in I think it was February thirteenth of this year, 0:05:13.880 --> 0:05:17.760 we had the moment where the counter reached one, two, three, 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:21.719 four or five, six, seven, eight nine zero. Huh, yeah, 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:24.000 I had no idea. I remember that it was very special. 0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:26.120 My wife was upset because I forgot Valentine's Day the 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:33.840 next day. So where were you on Unix Day? That's 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:40.599 almost that's almost a specialist pie day. However, I knew 0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:43.880 I could get in with that UM. But the original 0:05:44.080 --> 0:05:48.159 Unix UM was written an assembler, a very old and 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:53.120 uh robust computer language UM. And then Mr Thompson kept 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:55.719 working on it, basically decided he wanted to write a 0:05:55.720 --> 0:05:59.080 new language for it, which he called be like in 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:03.680 the or B and then uh, gradually as he made adjustments. 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.039 There was a new language called new B and then 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:09.000 UH a new one which you may have heard of, 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:13.520 called C. So that's where those UH languages come in. 0:06:13.600 --> 0:06:18.240 And UM, you know, there's sort of an August history there. 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:21.600 So UM, basically, the only the only reason we're bringing 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:24.839 up Unix here is because Lennox is a derivative of Unix. UNI. 0:06:25.080 --> 0:06:28.000 U Unix is you know, open for people to uh 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:32.440 to mess with and uh Lennis Torvold's who was a 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:35.880 student at the University of Helsinki in Finland, was kind 0:06:35.880 --> 0:06:38.640 of interested in one of the derivatives called minics, and 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:44.400 then from through he started working on his own UH 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:48.640 Unix derived operating system, which essentially, since his name is 0:06:48.680 --> 0:06:54.719 Lenis he called it. And this is born in officially 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:58.479 when the one colonel and so let's talk a little 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.040 bit about what an operating system is before we go 0:07:01.080 --> 0:07:04.719 into Linux, just to give a groundwork. So you're operating 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.640 system this is UH. It acts sort of as a 0:07:07.680 --> 0:07:12.640 liaison between your applications and your computer's hardware. It is 0:07:12.680 --> 0:07:18.120 what facilitates your applications UH and lets them work. Otherwise 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.600 there's you know, your application Stone just immediately plug into 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:25.560 your your computer's processor. UM it also an accident, right, 0:07:26.000 --> 0:07:28.480 So the operating system is is a liaison. It's also 0:07:28.560 --> 0:07:30.440 you can think of it as a foundation. You can 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:32.160 think of it as like the ground floor of a building. 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:34.920 And the applications are the stories that you you build 0:07:34.960 --> 0:07:38.520 on top of the ground floor. And uh. And so 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:42.200 you know, we're all familiar with various kinds of operating systems. 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:45.880 Most of the United States is familiar with Windows, for example, 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:48.600 at least some format of it. Um that you said, 0:07:48.600 --> 0:07:50.680 the operating system is the ground floor, but there are Windows, 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:58.720 and there's Windows Windows being a graphics oriented operating system 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:02.120 graphic user interface or can we as we say, uh now, 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:05.160 granted when, back when, back when I was starting with computers, UM, 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:10.000 I used a command line interface which was much more 0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:12.800 It required the user to be much more of a 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:21.440 kind of a repository of bizarre and obscure commands run C, 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:25.840 d LS, tree, so you know you had but you 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:27.680 had to know these different commands in order to to 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:30.480 navigate your way around the computer. Now, the nice thing 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.160 about Gooey's, of course, is that it changes all that 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:37.920 into a graphics oriented UH interface. So that's doing all 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:40.200 the work for you. You just have to click around 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:43.360 to activate stuff, and all the command line things that 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:46.000 you would normally do manually is it actually goes on 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:50.600 in the background. So the operating system, the very core 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:53.760 of the operating system is called the kernel. This is 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:59.040 these are the the core programs that interact with the hardware. 0:08:59.280 --> 0:09:03.040 It's a seed like a kernel of corn. Yes, it's 0:09:03.080 --> 0:09:06.839 not a kernel like KFC. It's not that kind of kernel, 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:11.080 not Sanders. So so you've got the kernel, and then 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:13.920 you have various layers built around the kernel and on 0:09:13.960 --> 0:09:17.319 top of the kernel to that make up the operating system. 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:21.080 The kernel is the important thing to remember here because, uh, 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:24.680 the when we talk about the Lenox one point, Oh, 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:27.320 that's we're really talking about the Linux kernel there. And 0:09:27.360 --> 0:09:31.880 then because Lenas decided that this operating system should be 0:09:31.920 --> 0:09:36.760 open source, he allowed anyone to look at the code 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:41.000 and make changes and make their own derivatives. Um, and 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:46.720 that started a pretty uh, pretty robust craze of operating 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:49.880 system development, I would say, at least within the open 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:54.320 source community. True. Um, So it's funny because it's it 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:56.320 really is very much like a tree. Once you start 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:59.120 with Unix. I mean, they're all the other derivatives of 0:09:59.520 --> 0:10:03.079 Unix other than Lenox, like you know, Berkeley Standard Distribution, 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:05.440 which some of you know as b S D or 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:09.520 os X, which is not OS ten, the Mac Operating 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:13.600 System UM, which was developed for Pyramid communters in early 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:16.280 in NINETEENES and q n X, which you know, I 0:10:16.360 --> 0:10:21.200 know from the connection to the Amiga after they were 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:25.439 talking about redoing the Amiga os UH using q n 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:27.520 X as its base. But there are tons of those, 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:29.920 and then a lot of these have other derivatives like 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:34.000 b s D UM shares some of the kernel with 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:37.640 the OS ten operating system for the Mac UM, and 0:10:37.720 --> 0:10:43.000 likewise Lenox has lots and lots and lots of derivatives UM, 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:45.679 some of which we've already mentioned, some of which are 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:50.520 for pay. Like red Hat, UM releases different versions, and 0:10:50.679 --> 0:10:52.600 you know they're they're certainly welcome to do that. They 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:56.360 can package their own Linux operating system and sell it 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:58.079 to you if you like, and you can get support 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:01.880 from the company, which other versions of Linux you cannot. Right, 0:11:02.120 --> 0:11:05.960 there's a trade off. There are plenty of free versions 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:09.600 of Linux. We and versions in Linux in the Linux community. 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:14.920 We call those distribution a distribution of Linux, and so 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:18.240 each distribution is really a version of Linux. So it's 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:21.360 somewhere on that that tree, that tree that branches out 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:25.439 from the Linux kernel and uh yeah, so some of 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:27.719 them are free, some of them you pay for the 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:30.679 free ones. You know, there's no investment up front. But 0:11:31.320 --> 0:11:34.480 the downside of that is if something does go wrong, 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:38.400 there's not really a person you can just easily go 0:11:38.520 --> 0:11:41.600 to and say, hey, this isn't working. Fix it. You 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:46.200 can go to different Linux communities, either online or you know, 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:48.280 even if there's a group that meets in person, because 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:50.840 there are people who do that. Um, you may be 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:54.120 able to go to someone or some community online and 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:56.040 and state what your problem is and get some help 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:58.079 that way, but it's not going to be as quick 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:01.360 as it would be if you had a dedicated helpline. 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:05.040 So that's one downside, um. But the flip side is 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.320 you've got people who really want this stuff to work, 0:12:08.840 --> 0:12:11.480 so they're gonna work very hard to fix any problems 0:12:11.480 --> 0:12:14.120 that that exists on the back end. You know, if 0:12:14.120 --> 0:12:16.560 it's a user error, that's one thing, but if it's 0:12:16.559 --> 0:12:19.160 something that's fundamentally wrong with part of the operating system, 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:22.200 you can bet there's someone out there working to fix it. Yeah. 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:25.760 And I think it's funny because I've talked to so 0:12:25.800 --> 0:12:30.600 many people who really love Lenox and they seem a 0:12:30.640 --> 0:12:34.319 little surprised in some way that Lennox is not more 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:37.880 popular UM. And I think I think it comes down 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.360 to a lot of the In a lot of cases, 0:12:40.360 --> 0:12:44.760 the people who really really like Lenox UM don't mind 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:47.719 getting their hands dirty a little bit. They they're kind 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:50.120 of interested in trying to make it work and figuring 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:54.559 out how to bridge gaps that might be bridged otherwise, 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:59.280 um by a company operating an operating system, offering an 0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:02.520 operating system, or you know, the company in between that 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:06.320 and the company oper offering I can't talk today offering 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:09.679 a a program that you buy. And sometimes you know, 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:12.199 you go, okay, well I've got this file, but I'm 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:15.079 not sure what player I can use to play this file, 0:13:15.120 --> 0:13:18.880 and in some cases there's not one. UM. So you 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:20.800 don't call, you don't get on the phone with tech 0:13:20.800 --> 0:13:23.160 supporter or email somebody. You have to start searching on 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:25.079 forums or talking to your friends who know how to 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:28.080 use Linux and saying, well, you know, what is this thing? 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:32.679 You know learning to program yourself. Yeah, and that's and 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:35.959 I think a lot of people, um, you know myself 0:13:36.000 --> 0:13:38.200 included in in some cases, are just lazy. They just 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:40.559 want it to work and they don't want it. They 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:42.920 know that if you want the plug in for so 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:44.960 and so, you go to their website and download it 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:47.720 or that it's even if your browser is gonna prompt you, hey, 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:49.360 I can't play this. You want me to go get 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:53.360 the plug in for you? Um, thankfully. Uh. There's tons 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:58.479 and tons of software that's cross platform enough, like Mozilla's Firefox. 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:01.560 Firefoxes Firefox regardless of whether you're using it on Mac 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:05.240 Windows are Linux, and Firefox is pretty smart and goes, well, 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:06.640 you know, hey, I know there's a plug in for 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:08.679 this that works for Linux. Would you like me to 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:11.360 go get it for you? Um? You know. So that 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:14.160 I think that helps. That's going to help adoption more. 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:16.760 But I think there's that's why there's that gap, as 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:18.880 people just want to turn on their computer and have 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:21.080 it work for them. Well, there's the other problem is 0:14:21.120 --> 0:14:27.320 that there's not one easily recognizable flavor of Linux. You know, 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:29.120 when you when you're talking about Linux, you are talking 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:31.520 about hundreds of different variations none that there are a 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:34.640 few that are really popular and leap to mind faster 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.440 than others, Ubuntu being one of the the big ones 0:14:37.560 --> 0:14:40.400 right now. But uh, you know, if you're talking to 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:42.080 someone who just said, you know, you just tell my 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:44.720 I use a Linux based machine, and they go when 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:48.280 they do a search for Linux, you can get confused 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:50.760 very quickly. You know. When you're talking about Windows. Yeah, 0:14:50.760 --> 0:14:52.760 there's still a lot of variations. I mean, there's still 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.080 versions depending on what you know. It is a Windows Vista, 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:57.800 is an XP is it? Do you have Windows seven early? 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:03.240 What did you do? Um? But you know it's lenox. 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:06.120 That problem is compounded because you're talking about hundreds of variations, 0:15:06.160 --> 0:15:09.200 not just you know, a few, like even even up 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:10.840 to a dozen. If you're talking about the Windows ones. 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:13.000 If you're talking about Max, you're talking about you know, 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:16.400 leopard or snow leopard or pole cat or whatever the 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:19.880 hell they're calling that. Um, I don't know, they've got 0:15:19.920 --> 0:15:23.840 a cat fixation over there. But uh, yeah, it's I 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:26.400 think that's one of the big barriers is that, you know, 0:15:26.440 --> 0:15:28.960 it's it's there's not an easy thing to point to 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:32.480 and say this is what I'm talking about. Like you said, 0:15:32.520 --> 0:15:36.920 This is one variation of what I'm talking about. I think, um, 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:40.120 there's something else too. People don't trust it because it's free. 0:15:40.840 --> 0:15:43.960 Well that's so too, you know. You think about, well, 0:15:43.960 --> 0:15:46.760 if it's free, that must mean that it's somehow inferior, 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:51.240 when when really most I would I would think that 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.280 a lot of Lenox fans would argue that the opposite 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:57.200 is true, that because you have this big, open community 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:03.160 all dedicated to trying to make stuff that works really well, um, 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:06.920 that the products are in some ways superior to the 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:09.920 things that are available on the market. Uh. We were 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.720 talking earlier before we started recording about the fact that 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:17.640 if something if something is is missing a feature or 0:16:17.640 --> 0:16:20.680 a function, you've got developers out there who may recognize 0:16:20.680 --> 0:16:22.760 that and will work to go ahead and include that 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:26.400 so that the next version of that has that functionality. 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:30.320 Whereas if you are purchasing a big name product from 0:16:30.480 --> 0:16:33.600 Apple or Microsoft, you may have to wait a really 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:35.920 long time before they get around to adding more features 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:40.400 and functions because it's whatever the corporation deems important. In Linux, 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:45.040 you're talking about what the community deems important, and that's 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:48.040 likely to be a whole variety of things. Yeah. Well, 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:50.320 and they're gonna be looking at it from a you know, 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:53.600 a user and developer standpoint, as opposed to what's going 0:16:53.680 --> 0:16:58.040 to make money. You know. So, yeah, well I can 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:00.400 I can tell you that. Um, you know, if those 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:04.840 people are discounting Linux because it's free, sorry pardon the pun, Um, 0:17:04.880 --> 0:17:08.040 they're wrong because frankly you can do if you're if 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:10.480 you're looking for I mean, this story goes back to 0:17:10.520 --> 0:17:15.080 the whole low cost thing. Um, You're you're totally getting 0:17:15.440 --> 0:17:17.879 far more than what you're paying for with it, because 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.000 basically what you're paying for is the cost of a 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:23.400 c D. You download a distribution of Linux, you burn 0:17:23.440 --> 0:17:25.240 it onto a CD, then use that c D to 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:28.679 boot your computer and install Linux. Actually, in most cases, 0:17:28.720 --> 0:17:31.600 you can run the distribution right from the CD and 0:17:31.640 --> 0:17:33.480 you don't even have try it out. Yeah, that's that's 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:36.159 one of the really nice things I like about Lenox 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.760 is that if you are nervous about installing this operating 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:41.879 system on your machine, if you think, well, what happens 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:43.840 if I don't like it? You know, I've got Windows 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.720 pre installed. What am I gonna do? A lot of 0:17:46.720 --> 0:17:49.520 these allow you to boot directly from a CD, so 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:51.560 you can test it out, see if you like it, 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:54.760 and then make your decision based upon that experience. So 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:57.200 if you decide, you know what this is neat and all, 0:17:57.240 --> 0:18:00.920 but I prefer the functionality I have with Windows. There's 0:18:00.960 --> 0:18:04.960 no buyer's remorse or anything. Yea, yea, and you can 0:18:05.119 --> 0:18:06.800 you could do this. I mean, if you think about 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:09.359 what most people do with their computers. You know, they 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:12.320 get online, they check email, they use the web, they 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:20.560 use productivity software. Wait we said most people. Yeah, I 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:24.440 didn't say that, Uh, just pointing out that that was 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:27.719 Jonathan um in case you were listening. Of course, they 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.280 know what your voice sounds like. Um No. I mean 0:18:31.520 --> 0:18:33.800 for what most people do at their desks, you know, 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:37.400 at at their jobs, you don't need Windows for that 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.719 at all. You could do Linux and use all free software. 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:42.879 You're just paying for your hardware. You could download a 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.160 distribution of Linus, and everything you need to do right 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:50.120 there is free. You can listen to music, you can chat. 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:53.480 All those programs are actually they're all pre installed with 0:18:53.560 --> 0:18:57.120 some distributions. I installed um Bun two on our test 0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:00.360 machine and it's get all that stuff pre installed. Now. 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:03.600 There of course, otherre are other issues. For instance, if 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:09.800 your Office does not adopt Linux completely, you know, corporate wide, 0:19:10.000 --> 0:19:14.160 then you may have compatibility issues if they're running other 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:17.800 proprietary software depending on what it is, and some stuff 0:19:17.840 --> 0:19:20.119 like you know, things like basic word documents and things. 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:23.280 They're they're Linux programs that will easily open those up 0:19:23.280 --> 0:19:25.600 and you can make edits and all that kind of stuff. Well, 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:28.919 I mean, open Office is available for Mac, Windows and Linux, 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:31.560 and it has its own standard, but it also reads 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:36.439 and writes files in dot doc format. Yeah, that so 0:19:36.520 --> 0:19:38.880 you can share with Windows people exactly so, But if 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:41.480 you are using any other proprietary software, let's let's say 0:19:41.520 --> 0:19:44.480 that goes beyond just the word processing or spreadsheets or whatever, 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:47.000 that might be a problem because it means, you know, 0:19:47.400 --> 0:19:50.160 if it if it's designed to run on Windows, Uh, 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:52.160 it's not going to run on Lenox unless you have 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:55.440 either some sort of emulator or someone has built a 0:19:55.760 --> 0:19:59.200 version of it specifically for Lenox. So there are there 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:02.400 are other barrier. There's the whole software barriers. The same 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:05.240 thing in a way that that prevents a lot of 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:07.800 people from switching over to Max because they sit there 0:20:07.840 --> 0:20:09.879 and they'll say, wow, this is a really cool machine. 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:13.040 It's very sexy and sleek and pretty, but I can't 0:20:13.160 --> 0:20:15.760 run blah blah blah on it because it's they don't 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:18.360 make it available for Max. Well that that same problem 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:22.040 exists for Linux to some extent. Then again, there are 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:26.919 solutions to that too. You could use uh Sun's virtual Box, 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:29.439 provided you're not a company, because it's well, I mean 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:31.679 you could, you just have to pay for it. But 0:20:31.720 --> 0:20:34.760 if you are a user at home, you can use 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:38.120 virtual box and run Windows and Linux at the same 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:41.960 time simultaneously on your machine. Or you can always dual boot, 0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:44.200 which you are not running them at the same time, 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:46.880 but you get to choose which operating system you want 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:51.480 to use. True enough, but that does compartmentalize your resources. 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:54.880 So but if you are looking for an easy way 0:20:54.920 --> 0:20:58.440 to take a computer, even a lower power machine, because 0:20:58.520 --> 0:21:03.760 Lenox uses many fewer resources than say, I don't know Vista, 0:21:03.800 --> 0:21:06.320 it's not as big a draw on your computer's hardware. UM. 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:08.720 And I'll say why in a second, UM, you could 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:14.720 totally use an inexpensive machine UM with less processor requirement 0:21:15.359 --> 0:21:18.360 and uh you know, in free installation of of Linux 0:21:18.359 --> 0:21:22.000 and you're pretty much off and running UM. Now, I mean, 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:24.560 that's why it's so popular. With netbooks is because those 0:21:24.600 --> 0:21:26.639 you know, those machines don't have nearly the process of 0:21:26.680 --> 0:21:29.879 power that a full sized laptop would have, which is 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:32.560 why Lenox is found on some of those. UM The 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:36.560 thing is, uh, this and this might affect people, especially 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:39.800 uh us Mac users who like everything fancy. Now that 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:42.880 we've got to S ten. Uh Yeah, Linux just isn't 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:45.800 as pretty in a lot of cases. I mean, there 0:21:45.800 --> 0:21:48.000 are ways around that too. But actually that's one of 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:50.280 the things that I've read from the Linux community. Two 0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:53.760 is they're trying there. They want to spice up the uh, 0:21:53.880 --> 0:21:55.840 the look and feel, the gooey a little bit more. So. 0:21:55.880 --> 0:21:58.400 They wanna they want to kind of adopt that esthetic 0:21:58.440 --> 0:22:02.240 approach that Apple has masters. Yeah, and and the reason 0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:06.240 why if they can get more people and gain critical mass, 0:22:06.880 --> 0:22:08.800 you know, they could they could take over the world. 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:11.840 And people say the operating system war is over, but 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:14.240 I think it's just a matter of time before somebody 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:17.200 comes out with something better, and Lenox could very well 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:19.119 be that. Well. And you look at some of the 0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:22.239 other UM operating systems out there that are based on 0:22:22.359 --> 0:22:24.600 the same sort of stuff. I mean Android, the Android 0:22:24.600 --> 0:22:27.720 operating system for Google phones, that's got based off the 0:22:27.760 --> 0:22:29.920 Linux kernel. Well, that's that's true. We didn't talk about 0:22:29.920 --> 0:22:31.600