If you have questions on how to use Linux on alaptop(http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/linux-laptop/volunteer.html), you should be able to find it on the Web, right?
The point behind Linux is that the source code is open and that you don’t have to pay anyone to use it. So why pay for a free software program? Companies like Caldera and Red Hat are building niche businesses out of packaging Linux with an installation program, some printed documentation, and a rudimentary level of support. And some OEMs are selling hardware systems built around Linux.
We decided to test Red Hat’s Linux support system. After buying a copy of Red Hat Linux 5.1 over the Web, we registered it and then signed up for support via e-mail.
On June 11, we send the following message to Red Hat support:
I have a 6G hard disk, divided into three 2G partitions. I’d like to make the third partition (currently the E drive) a Linux system. The problem: my other operating system on the machine is the new Windows 98 and according to some information I found on the Web (at http://www.users.cts.com/king/s/serwin/), you can’t dual-boot like you could with Windows 95 and Linux. What do you recommend as the best way to install RedHat 5.1 on a machine that will also be running Windows 98?
We received no response to that e-mail, so we resent the message on June 13. On June 15, we received this response:
Linux should work with Win98 either using system commander or LILO, We at Red Hat have not tested Win98 with Linux, but it should be based on the same scheme as Win95, and that works pretty well with Linux.
The same day, we sent this back:
Would you recommend I go ahead and install Red Hat now or wait until someone there has tested Win98 with Linux?
Three days later we received this e-mail:
I have no more ideas about Win98, I personally have not installed or used it, and neither has anyone else in our company. It’s still too new to tell yet . . . Sorry!
We decided to move ahead on our own anyway. The installation disk booted fine, but we encountered trouble when the DiskDruid program attempted to manage the partitioning of the hard disk. We wrote:
OK, I tried it, but DiskDruid chokes, telling me I have a bad partition. Any ideas?
The following evening, we received another “we can’t help you with Windows 98” message. Thinking that perhaps some messages may have crossed, we asked our question again.
DiskDruid tells me I have a bad partition. What do I do about that?
Four days later, we received this brief message:
Try using fdisk instead.
Appended to the message was the “Planning the Linux Partitions” section from the manual and the signoff message, “Hope this helps!” We sent a note back asking for more details; at press time we’ve received no response.
Two weeks have passed since our initial note and we’re no closer to getting the program installed than before we opened the shrink wrap. You have to wonder whether Red Hat support is managed by the same people who run Microsoft support. If Linux is ever to make a serious dent in the Windows NT armor, the first thing that needs to improve is support.
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