Geek punishment: are you ready for the Linux test?

Until recently, the view was that Linux was too difficult to install and use for the average computer user. I'd wanted to have a go at Linux for ages but even my most Linux-loving friends discouraged me from doing any such thing.

Now some argue the situation has changed. New consumer-targeted "distributions" from firms like Red Hat and SuSE have comforting printed manuals, graphical user interfaces (GUIs) that allow users to work in a familiar, Windows-like way, and - importantly - access to help desks.

So one sunny weekend I opened a box of Red Hat Linux and went at it.

Red Hat does a good job of making the install process informative and amusing, and easy to follow onscreen. If you want to learn how a computer really works - and for me, that was a key object in installing Linux - it can't be beaten.

The installation process is fairly easy, as long as things go right and you can let Red Hat's installer program, Anaconda, choose for you. On my first try on an old laptop, the installer zipped along, then halted, displaying several lines of code. Checking the manual, I discovered I had a "Python compiling error" and was supposed to copy the code and submit it to Bugzilla, Red Hat's bug-tracking system. Eek.

But the process had given me the courage to install Red Hat into a disk partition on my big Dell desktop system. And this time, Anaconda ran without a glitch. Well, almost. It couldn't find my soundcard, and I couldn't connect to the internet. So I used Linux's best resource -- I called on the army of helpful Linux people out there on the Web.

On the website of the Irish Linux users group, ILUG.org, I got help. Unfortunately, I'd have to go in, add lines of code to the kernel (heart of the OS) and recompile it. I cannot imagine an average PC user even thinking of trying this. But I'm a glutton for geek punishment.

And I love the beautiful Red Hat GUI, called BlueCurve.

My overall conclusion? Linux is not for people who might enjoy computers but whose idea of hell is having to delve into the Windows control panel.