Jeremy Anderson

I've run into a lot of new Linux users, and the first thing they invariably say is "Wow. This is neat! What do I do with it?" The problem has hit me on occasion, as well. Linux is an extremely competent OS ”more stable than Windows, with a wider base of software support than any BSD Unix (OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and NetBSD are competing free operating systems), easier to set up than most any Unix, and widely available. It's not the best OS out there ”there is, in fact, no such thing as a best OS. An operating system is really just a tool, like a screwdriver. Some tools are better suited to certain purposes. Linux has quickly found its niche as the jack-of-all-trades OS. I guess that's why I like it so much.

· It doesn't have the fastest TCP/IP stack (FreeBSD's is much better).

· It isn't the most secure (both OpenBSD and FreeBSD best it here).

· It isn't the easiest to configure (for all that I dislike it, Win9x is still easier for the general user to configure ”if for no other reason than it arrives pre installed on the computer).

· It doesn't have the widest base of software support (MS Windows has it beat hands down).

· It's not entirely standard (the differences between distributions are often as wide as the differences between commercial Unixes).

· It's often quick-and-dirty (MacOS and BeOS shame Linux with the ease of their user interface, while OpenBSD shames it by showing how security should be done).

· Most importantly, it does just about everything you could ever want it to do, and does it well enough.

When Linux doesn't do something well enough, it's generally just a matter of time until it does. It's evolving ”at a pace that amazes me every day. Sure, at the time of this writing, kernel 2.4 is still wet behind the ears, but Linux now supports USB devices ”fully two years behind the advent of USB support in Microsoft products. Even OpenBSD and FreeBSD beat Linux in this respect. But in its short life, Linux has already managed to outstrip not only the performance and reliability of the Windows 9x file system, but also the kernel ” and it's developed the ability to read and write the native Win9x file system as well!

As mentioned in Chapter 17 , on Wine, Linux is even developing the ability to run MS Windows software natively. I remember slapping a CP/M card into my Apple ][ + in the early 1980s and being amazed at how cool it was that I could run a few CP/M apps. One doesn't even need an additional card to run a wide variety of supposedly Windows-only applications on Linux. All this is so in spite of an almost geometric growth in software complexity in the last decade or so.

Linux is quickly turning into the Homo sapiens of the operating system realm. Humans don't run particularly quickly, nor do we swim terribly fast or have terrific vision. We can't grow fur to adapt to cooler temperatures , and we spend an inordinate part of our lives in a juvenile state. But unlike every other creature on Earth, we can run, swim, see, make clothes to keep from getting cold, and team up to protect our young. Linux isn't the best at any one thing ”but it's the best at doing everything.

The other authors have covered why software should be free (I agree) and why Linux is keen. I, on the other hand, am having a hard time keeping to just Linux in this. I'm not even sure, in fact, how I got roped into contributing to this book. I think I might've made some sort of flip comment over lunch to Mr. Schwarz. I seem to remember his saying he was thinking about writing a book, and I carelessly mentioned that I'd just reviewed a chapter at Addison-Wesley and had a contact there. Then, in the ensuing months, I failed to back out of the deal before I'd agreed to write entirely too much in too short a time.

Sure, I had months to write chapters before the contract was signed, but that would have been proactive, wouldn't it? Now I find myself in a race with three other men to complete my work ASAP, while fighting off the urge to play computer games , work on the design and code of a fledgling Turn -based game of galactic conquest ( http://stellarlegacy. sourceforge .net/ ), tinker with one of my four motorcycles (the newest of which isn't even broken in yet, and the oldest of which hasn't run in better than five years), play with my dog, spend time with my wife, or rant on any and all subjects political, religious, technical, and ethical. This is trying. My only consolation was that I did make the deadline.

So as you read these chapters which I have written (and some which I have reviewed), try to keep a little kindness in your heart. Mine were written in the wee hours of the morning, under the influence of strong black coffee and Wild Turkey. My computer systems were fighting me with all the silicon treachery they could muster, and my fellow authors were plotting my demise in order that they could divvy up my share amongst themselves . Should you become aware of imminent danger to my life, please drop me a note at patowic+linuxbook@jurai.net .

”Jeremy Anderson

October 2001