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Good news: The Stoned Beaver is finally clean and sober and may soon be coming to a desktop near you.
"Stoned Beaver" was the code name for Linux Kernel 2.6, a major new upgrade to the Linux operating system kernel that was released on Wednesday. In a post to the Kernel Developers list, Linus Torvalds announced that the Beaver had entered detox over Thanksgiving.
Torvalds released the original Linux kernel in September 1991. The detoxing of the Beaver indicated to developers that kernel 2.6, the first major release of a new Linux production kernel since January 2001, would soon be made available for download.
But will 2.6 be the one that will finally bring the Linux operating system to the masses? Torvalds thinks it's a big step in the right direction, but Linux distributors are ultimately responsible for incorporating the kernel into a user-friendly format.
"My take on the desktop world is that Linux isn't ready for all desktop users because of some shortcomings in application coverage and application integration," said Andrew Morton, the maintainer of the Linux production kernel. "However, it is ready for a lot of desktop users – those with less-demanding requirements. We expect Linux to have some success in this space over 2004."
Some programmers and analysts believe that Sun Microsystems has the Linux distribution that could finally woo Windows users over to open source, assuming users can get past the product's confusing name – Java Desktop System.
"Yes, there's Java in there somewhere, but JDS is really a distribution of the Linux operating system and a collection of open-source applications that anyone can easily use," said programmer Mark Fahley. "Why Sun opted to call it Java Desktop is simply beyond me – even something as silly as Stoned Beaver would have been a better name."
The New Rowley Group, a market research and analysis firm, also chided Sun for the product's name in a recent report, but added "our view is that JDS is a direct Windows/Office competitor for a large number of PC users."
I tested JDS, which was released early in December, by installing it on a Compaq M700, a Dell 8000 Laptop and a custom-built desktop computer.
On the laptop, the only installation glitch was the failure of the system to recognize the presence of an LCD monitor. The installation defaulted to a standard monitor, and screen resolution was set to 800x600. But it was no problem to specify in settings that the monitor had a higher resolution, and the installation quickly got back on track.
JDS quickly found the correct video and sound card drivers, something that Windows 2000 wasn't able to do without being supplied the manufacturer's driver disks during previous installations. All ports were correctly identified and configured automatically.
After one re-boot, the shiny new system was up and running flawlessly. An Epson and an HP printer, Epson scanner and a digital camera were recognized by the system with no problems.
JDS comes with Ximian Evolution's e-mail and calendar application, which connected easily to our existing e-mail accounts on setup. The interface is very similar to Outlook, Microsoft's e-mail and contact program.
Also included is StarOffice 7.x (OpenOffice), a suite of productivity applications that includes a word processor, spreadsheet and presentation program. Documents created in each application could easily be saved in a format compatible with Microsoft Office, and documents that were created in Office opened without a hitch in StarOffice.
Mozilla is provided as the Web browser of choice, and I didn't notice any difference when browsing websites that I normally visit with Microsoft's Internet Explorer.
There is one big difference between the two browsers. Most of the online nasties like Web bugs, hostile scripts, hostile ActiveX modules and such do not work on a non-Microsoft browser and operating system.
This extra level of safety isn't a complete protection against every nasty thing that's lurking in the dark corners of the Internet, but it sure helps.
JDS does present a possible security-related issue. Patching the system is unnecessarily complicated, according to tester Mike Sweeney, a networking and security consultant.
"Given the security concerns and all the noise about patching systems, I was struck by how badly Sun blew their patching solution," said Sweeney.
He said that finding Online Update is easy enough – it's under the System Tools menu. When you click on the Online Update icon, a dialog box pops up offering a choice of automatic updates or manual. When you select one option and click Next, a dialog box pops up asking for a code and a password.
"This is where Sun blows it badly," said Sweeney. "There is nothing in the documentation that explains just what or where the heck is this code or password. We did find it finally on Sun's own website with about 10 minutes of digging around. It turns out that your serial number is the 'code' needed and should be used also for the password. The word 'moronic' comes to mind for this little exercise. Bad Sun. Bad, bad Sun."
But despite the update snafu, Sweeney loves JDS.
"JDS rocks, and I don't say that lightly. It's Microsoft's worse nightmare come true."
Like most Linux systems, JDS offers full functionality and reasonable speed on older systems that cannot really run the current Windows 2000 or XP desktops well.
And the price is right. JDS can be purchased online. The price, until June 2, 2004, is $50 per desktop, or for corporate use licenses, $25 per user. After June 2, the price will rise to $100 per desktop, or $50 per licensed user.
Sun has not stated when it will incorporate the 2.6 kernel into JDS, but believes the "2.6 kernel goes a long way in moving Linux from an OS used mainly on servers to a truly enterprise-wide OS," according to a statement by Stephen Harpster, director of Linux software engineering at Sun.
Kernel maintainer Morton's favorite features in 2.6 are those that the average user will never see.
"Internal cleanliness and maintainability," Morton said, when asked to name 2.6's standout improvements. "The kernel's internal mechanisms and build/configuration environment have improved vastly. This will help to ensure the viability and reliability of the kernel over succeeding years, but only kernel developers will directly see this."
The rest of us will just have to be content with knowing that a sober Beaver is romping happily somewhere inside our computers.
