iYAN inside! Online Index SoftwareTurboLinux Comes Home
Introduction
Slashdot seems to be about the closest thing the Linux community has to an official poll. So upon getting the latest copy of TurboLinux 3.6, I decided to head over and check out some past polls to get an idea of its usage. A poll in February was completely underwhelming. TurboLinux wasn't even a choice. On a recent poll by MozillaZine, it was at least listed, but the numbers were disappointing.
This is precisely what TurboLinux Inc., formerly Pacific HiTech, is trying to change. TurboLinux's market had been primarily Pacific Rim countries until very recently. With the advent of the 3.0 series, TurboLinux decided to jump into the North American market . They may very well be on their way with worldwide sales of over 2 million copies in the past 18 months,
In order for any Linux distribution to survive, it must do several things well.
- Installation must be painless for the new user while remaining powerful enough for the advanced user.
- The X Window System must install with ease, preferably during system installation.
- The user desktop must be easy to navigate and allow for minimal command line intervention.
- Finally, support options must be available, preferably through as many means of communication as possible.
The latest round of distributions has raised the bar on each of these items. As we will see, TurboLinux shines in each of these areas.
Upon unpacking the TurboLinux 3.6 box, I discovered the standard user manual, boot disks, and CD set. The nearly 300 page User Guide covers installation, configuration, and troubleshooting in depth. The boot disk becomes necessary if the the CD-ROM cannot be booted. A second disk is also required for "Extra Hardware" support. The CD set contains the main TurboLinux distribution, its source code, and another very interesting "Companion CD". More on that one later.
