Lindows simplifies Linux for masses

Bill Gates believes that if the Earth had an operating system it would be Windows. But a San Diego, Calif. upstart called Lindows is getting out its slingshot to give the Redmond, Wash. Goliath a run for its money.

Literally. While bare bones Windows personal computers are hovering around $600, a Lindows machine will set you back about $200.

Lindows.com Inc., like Microsoft Corp., is a software company that provides operating systems ? LindowsOS and Windows, respectively — to computer manufacturers. An operating system is the basic set of programs and utilities that makes your computer run.

The huge price difference between Windows and LindowsOS is a function of proprietary versus open source software. The Microsoft empire and Gates’ personal wealth were built on playing the company’s software close to the vest. When you buy a Microsoft product you not only pay for the hundreds of developers who worked on that software but for Microsoft’s efforts to keep a proprietary lid on its products.

LindowsOS, on the other hand, is based on an open source operating system called Linux. Open source means no one owns the software. In fact, when Finnish computer science student Linus Torvalds developed Linux in 1991, he just started giving it away to friends. When you get a hold of a copy of Linux, by either downloading it or getting it on a CD from a friend, you also get a copy of its source code, something Microsoft would never do. The source code is the actual guts of the software that makes it work, and if you have the source code you can make changes to it if you’re so inclined, something hard-core Linux users love to do. You’re also expected to share your changes by redistributing your version.

One of the reasons for Windows’ popularity is its ease of use. Using Linux requires a level of computer literacy the average computer user doesn’t have. So what Lindows.com did was change the basic Linux source code to give is a user-friendly front end that resembles the graphical windowing environment of Windows. Because the company didn’t have to pay for Linux, it can pass the savings onto the end user. Hence, the $200 personal computer.

Lindows.com doesn’t make computers but sells LindowsOS to Microtel, Wintergreen and other computer manufacturers. Unlike Microsoft, which uses a per-seat licensing model, Lindows.com charges computer manufacturers $500 per month for a LindowsOS license. ?They can bundle Lindows on one or 500 computers,? said Cheryl Schwarzman, a Lindows.com spokeswoman. said. ?It’s abundantly becoming clear to the general public that Microsoft Windows is not free. They (computer manufacturers) are being charged, and that cost is being passed on to you.?

LindowsOS machines start at $199 for a basic desktop model and go to $799 for a laptop. It’s possible to sell these computers so inexpensively because ?the price of hardware has gone down every year,? Schwarzman said.

Unfortunately, you can’t pop over to CompUSA and buy one since LindowsOS machines are only available online at merchants like Walmart.com and TigerDirect.com. The operating system alone is also available online for $49.95.

Although Walmart.com doesn’t reveal individual sales or demographic information on buyers, spokeswoman Cynthia Lin reported brisk sales, primarily to ?technology enthusiasts, small businesses and some schools.? The Web site isn’t advertising heavily, and most sales have been due to word-of-mouth, she said. No one has been complaining about lack of availability of LindowsOS computers in Wal-Mart stores, she continued, and the company has no plans to offer anything but Windows boxes in stores.

Melville Coolbaugh’s LindowsOS box arrived from TigerDirect on March 3, and he’s ?kind of tickled with it,? he said. The self-described ?old retired guy? from Golden has been puttering with computers since 1985 and has always been intrigued by inexpensive computers. ?When I saw one for $199 I had to see what it was like,? he said.

Coolbaugh also was looking for an alternative to Windows XP. He had tried Linux but, ?I never got along too well with (it) because I didn’t care to put in much time to learn all the stuff,? he said.

Before running anything, Coolbaugh took the whole machine apart to check it out and pronounced it ?a beautiful little computer.? Then he started experimenting with Lindows.com’s ?Click-N-Run Warehouse,? an online collection of about 1,800 software programs. Although LindowsOS can run standard Windows-compatible software, the company admits that LindowsOS-specific software works better. To that end the company has developed new software and tweaked some old favorites to make them more LindowsOS compatible. A one-year subscription to Click-N-Run is $99.

Coolbaugh started off with StarOffice, Sun’s alternative to Microsoft Office, Photoshop alternative GIMP, Quicken equivalent GnuCash, and a number of games. The availability of programs ?is one of the things that’s making it useful for everyday users,? Coolbaugh said. ?I wouldn’t advise anyone to get Lindows without subscribing to Click-N-Run.?

Although Coolbaugh is an experienced computer user, he admits the Linux learning curve was a bit much, and he appreciated the fact that Lindows.com made using Linux as easy as using Windows. But not everyone concurs. There is a contingent of devoted Linux users who aren’t convinced that Lindows.com’s commercializing of Linux is the right thing to do.

Linux aficionado Neal McBurnett of Boulder didn’t buy his LindowsOS machine for the operating system. He was looking for an inexpensive computer to run Linux, and figured if it could run LindowsOS, ?the hardware would be guaranteed to work with Linux,? he said.

McBurnett, president of the board of the Boulder Community Network and a consultant for Internet2.edu, a consortium of universities and industry working on high-speed networking and middleware, is an experienced Linux user. So he was surprised at how the computer was configured. For example, there was no compiler, a Linux standard feature, on the box. A compiler is program that translates a software program written by a human being in a high-level language like C or C++ into machine language so that the computer can execute the code. ?They installed hardly anything!? McBurnett exclaimed. ?That isn’t for Linux users.?

McBurnett also has a ?philosophical? problem with Lindows.com. By adding a proprietary layer in the form of a windowing environment on top of Linux, ?they don’t play as well with the Linux community,? he said. The Linux community expects all versions of Linux to be shared freely, so not being able to ?tweak? with the graphical layer goes against the community’s principles.

Although he’s not very happy with LindowsOS, McBurnett is not ready to reformat the hard drive. ?My intent is to leave Lindows around as a curiosity,? he said.

Industry analyst Al Gillen of Framingham, Mass.-based IDC is skeptical about Lindows.com capturing much of the market. With Windows’ domination of the marketplace, ?Lindows has an uphill battle,? he said. ?The market is not really aligned in such a way that it will warmly welcome this kind of market entry.?

He noted the way LindowsOS is being marketed to a Wal-Mart audience might antagonize the hard-core Linux user. ?They are like the contingent out there that calls AOL ?the Internet on training wheels,’? he said.

The only hope for LindowsOS, Gillen said, is Linux growth. ?If Linux in general takes off, there’s a chance for Lindows.?

Contact Caron Schwartz Ellis at (303) 440-4950 or e-mail csellis@bcbr.com

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