Linux Makes Macworld Debut

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January 06, 1999 (4:35 PM EST)

By Malcolm Maclachlan,

SAN FRANCISCO -- Linux has finally crashed the Mac's biggest party.

Linux is widely known as an OS by geeks and for geeks, but at Macworld Expo '99, a company called LinuxPPC is debuting a version of the OS for PowerPC with features meant to give it greater mass market appeal.

LinuxPPC is the first Linux company to ever exhibit at Macworld. The response at the show has been enthusiastic, said Jason Haas, Web and marketing director for the company.

By the end of January, LinuxPPC introduce version 5.0 of its OS, also called LinuxPPC. It uses a graphical interface known as the X Window System, developed by the X Consortium of the Open Group. LinuxPPC 5.0 will be available for download online, for free.

An expanded CD version, including development tools, AppleShare integration, and other features, cost $32. The full version of LinuxPPC bundled with Applix's ApplixWare will be available for $125, including a word processor, e-mail program, graphics tool, and spreadsheet. It also has a database browser that interacts with most ODBC databases, even those not based on Linux.

The idea is to bring more development power to Mac users and more convenience to Linux users in a package that completely avoids Windows.

"A lot of people are looking for an alternative operating system," said Richard Manly, director of product management for Applix. "As a platform, [PowerPC] offers good value for the money."

Linux runs extremely fast on PowerPC, Haas said, adding that Netscape Communicator, runs more than four times faster on LinuxPPC. LinuxPPC also taps into the Mac OS extensions to use features that it doesn't yet have, like video drivers.

Version 5.0 will also include a new feature call BootX. Once it is installed, users will be given a choice on startup whether to run Linux of the Mac OS. Previously, users had to set their system to default to one of the other. Haas said that at least one Apple user has reacted negatively to the feature, but that it offers LinuxPPC users a far greater degree of convenience.

In the coming months, Haas said, LinuxPPC hopes to add numerous functions to make the OS more usable, such as a sleep function. A group called Sheepshaver.org is working on Mac emulator, which will allow users to run the Mac OS from within LinuxPPC. These changes will be contributed to the Linux development effort for possible inclusion in the next version of the Linux kernel.

Indeed, LinuxPPC grew organically out of the Linux movement. It started three years ago as LinuxPPC.org, a website for Linux development for the PowerPC. LinuxPPC.org has about 25 core members and more than 200 contributors. In June, Haas and three others split off to form the commercial version of the movement; Haas still oversees the .org effort.

LinuxPPC president Jeff Carr said he often has to explain how it is possible to have a commercial venture based on open source. But such ventures, he said, will be instrumental if Linux is ever to become an OS for the masses.

"There are some things in Linux that are not obvious, but they can be fixed," Carr said. "By the end of '99, those things should be a lot better."