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Corel

Corel Linux coming Online - NOT 94

Posted by Hemos from the yet-another-linux-distro dept.
Several people wrote in to point out that Corel appears to be uploading Corel Linux to their FTP servers. I see no official announcement from Corel yet on their site as of yet, but we'll update the story when it comes out. Check out their current sneak preview online.Update: 11/04 04:14 by H :Thanks to MarkLCorel for sending us update - Corel will be kicking off their distro on Nov. 15 @ Comdex, complete with party and Webevent. Neat - however, the current material online is just testing stuff - so stop downloading already.*grin*
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Corel Linux coming Online - NOT More

Corel Linux coming Online - NOT

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  • This isn't anything new. I think you just neatly outlined the reasons that Caldera first made a Linux distribution. (Although I hear they've gotten somewhat nicer about it now)

    Sure, maybe it'll start this way for Corel, but they have much to learn. However, donating help to the Wine project is way cool.

    Mostly, the licensing will tell. I'm sure they'll have to release some of their enhancements. KDE is GPL'ed, any kernel patches which aren't modules will have to be released, and technically any GPL'ed modified and distributed packages will have to as well. (either they're exactly the same as Debian's, which is fine, or they need to show us the source.)

    A lot of people would be thrilled for a decent, native Office port to Linux. Or, for that matter, IE5. However, I'll stick to WordPerfect 8 or StarOffice for now, and I personally prefer Netscape, and like Mozilla. :) I hope no one would turn away from Linux just because Microsoft ports products to it. That's stupid. You don't have to buy them... (besides, what's the likelihood that they could do a decent Unix port? IE5 for Unix blows chunks!)

    Sure, Linux is cool and all, but if a company really wanted to release an expensive Unix OS and not worry about all this crap, they'd base it on *BSD. (just like MacOS X, where Macintosh releases whatever bits of code they want to, and holds onto the good stuff) Since Corel is basing it on Linux, they are showing some commitment to releasing source code, and we'll just have to make sure they understand the distinction.
    ---
    pb Reply rather than vaguely moderate me.

  • I agree with you. I also wonder about almost every other company that wants to associate itself with Linux and the Open Source software in general. For the most part, a companies motivation lies in it making a profit. Some companies (i.e. VA Linux, O'Reilly, etc.) arguably do a better job of actually benefitting the community, while at the same time thriving business-wise. I hope that Corel has the same good intentions in mind. I do see their involvement as a very positive thing because they have some excellent applications they can bring to the Linux community. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

    ----------------

    "Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds." - Albert Einstein
  • C'mon, guys -- Beta Two just went out to testers DAYS ago. Keep your pants on. It'll get finished eventually, but I can guarantee you it's not done yet.

    A few new files sitting on an FTP server do not an early release make -- especially when one of the new files says in plain English "This is not Corel Linux."

    Fact checking is a good thing in the journalism biz.

    ---
    Consult, v. t. To seek another's approval of a course already decided on.

  • The point of the exersize, from Corel's perspective, is the bundled "Corel Office Suite". So no, the whole distro won't be free software.

  • A couple of questions for you /.ers to answer for me:
    • Is the corel-fancy stuff going to be GPL'ed or QPL'ed or something, or proprietary?
    • Will this also mark the release of the rest of the suite for linux? I've been waiting for a decent spreadsheet. No offense to you gnumeric guys, but until bonobo gets integrated, gnumeric is useless to me.
    • Is Corel going to port CorelDraw & PhotoPaint to Linux? CorelDraw is, IMHO, a kick-ass vector program.

    (btw to guy below: Corel is doing just fine in the graphics market, and their 9 version is quite good. Not everybody uses Adobe *).

  • I think they are going to linux because they've been soundly whipped by MSFT in the office suite business, and Adobe in the graphics app busniess.

    That's exactly my point. The probability of Adobe entering the Linux market is nill, and you can be damn sure Microsoft isn't going to buddy up with Linux any time soon. So? That means Corel has an edge over these other companies, and pretty much says "nyah nyah, I did this and you didn't."

    And if the other companies DO join the bandwagon, they'll be accused of following suit. POOF. Instant PR for Corel.

    -- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?

  • Fact checking is a good thing in the journalism biz.

    And /. has reached its pinnacle. It's now gotten to the point where Slashdot has indeed become a journalistic force. The real question is: how responsible will it be. In the media world, while the companies may be ruthless, they do a good job of checking to make sure that at least their information is correct (it's not always this way, but for the most part ...). For example, if a news station were to broadcast false information that led to civic unrest or a violent murder, I believe they can be held accountable. I wouldn't be surprised in the future if Slashdot mistakenly posted a story like this and then got sued because the onslaught of the Slashdot effect caused the servers to crash. Something like this is very easy to prevent. A quick call or e-mail to Corel for verification would have prevented this whole little mess.

    This is the second time this has happened in recent memory (a new Apache release put up for distribution to mirror sites being the other). In the effort for the freshest scoop, /. posters, don't give us bad ice cream.
  • Bah, you left out "the debian developers don't know or care about marketing, or the boring work of having CD's pressed, placed into pretty boxes and gotten onto retail shelves but the Corel folks know this quite well".

    I think it's a fine match of abilities and interests. The more stacks of Linux (and especially Debian) I see at book stores the happier I will be.

    Corel can do the grunt work of pressing the CDs and schmoozing the folks from Ingram Micro and the other nonsense needed to get stuff on shelves.

  • Corel hasn't said what license they will release their own code under. They have promised source and I believe have promised that it will be DFSG-compliant. As I understand things, they have some legal issues to wrangle around dealing with Qt, but what do I know? (IANAL)

    Corel has said that they will be porting the rest of their office suite to Linux (well, not really porting, but linking with libwine... hence their involvement in the WINE project) next year. I don't know what the actual ship date of Corel Linux will be.

    I haven't used CorelDraw or PhotoPaint, but if their quality is like that of WP, I'll be impressed. WP screams.
  • If you need something now, it's a no-brainer. Go with Caldera. You can always change your mind once Corel's is released.

    For what it's worth, though, I can report the Corel's Beta 2 installs and runs just peachy on an IBM ThinkPad 600, with only a couple minor snags, which I'm sure will be ironed out before release.

    ---
    Consult, v. t. To seek another's approval of a course already decided on.
  • Take a look at the files underneath. There is a Packages file that uses the same format as a Debian Packages file, as a whole lot of files ending with ".deb"

    That's Debian, [debian.org] not anything else.

    Note that this is a longstanding well known fact. See the April 21 Strategic Alliance Between Corel, KDE and Debian [debian.org] announcement.

    "I am very happy to see Corel taking this step into the Open Source world and cooperating with non-commercial organizations such as Debian and KDE," said Wichert Akkerman, Debian's project leader. "By combining Debian's strengths, which include having a large number of developers, a very open development model and a public bug tracking system, with the experience Corel has with making office and desktop products, I think we will be able to produce an outstanding system with the best of both worlds."
  • Disclaimer: I know that this matter is not necessarily interesting for all English-speaking users.


    There is a problem with the Corel company and internationalization issues. One of the reasons for an almost 100% success of Microsoft in the office markets in countries like Poland was the speed in which they internationalized their products(*). Corel was always lagging, or failed to do so at all. By internationalization I not only mean translating help messages - there are basic issues like displaying special characters. Do you know that you can type the polish "ogonki" in WordPerfect for Linux only with one font? All others display them not correctly (esp. the slashed 'l') or don't display them at all.


    I wonder whether this will be also a problem with the Corel distribution, which is clearly aimed in the first place at american market. There is no problem with the internationalisation of RedHat, Debian, and SuSE does a great job in translating it's yast into a couple of dozens different languages. And one of the success of Linux in countries like Poland, Japan or Russia is it's flexibility in this respect.

  • It is about time that there is a "easy to install" version of Debian - I am looking forward to reviewing the final release of Corel's distribution, and comparing it to the latest distributions from other vendors.

    I actually liked quite a bit about Debian before, but let's be honest, it is not the easiest distribution to install for newbies.
  • I can see it now: Corel CEO thinks about loading up his email and telling their tech guys to work on a new open source product. 2500 people wrote in to /. to tell us they intercepted this thought process using their transmolecularsuperjorgenatronix device they built in 3rd period metal shop.

    News at 5.
  • Disclaimer: I know that this matter is not necessarily interesting for all English-speaking users.


    There is a problem with the Corel company and internationalization issues. One of the reasons for an almost 100% success of Microsoft in the office markets in countries like Poland was the speed in which they internationalized their products(*). Corel was always lagging, or failed to do so at all. By internationalization I not only mean translating help messages - there are basic issues like displaying special characters. Do you know that you can type the polish "ogonki" in WordPerfect for Linux only with one font? All others display them not correctly (esp. the slashed 'l') or don't display them at all.


    I wonder whether this will be also a problem with the Corel distribution, which is clearly aimed in the first place at american market. There is no problem with the internationalisation of RedHat, Debian, and SuSE does a great job in translating it's yast into a couple of dozens different languages. And one of the success of Linux in countries like Poland, Japan or Russia is it's flexibility in this respect.


    [damned! I pressed the button. Some people will never learn to handle a computer. Sorry if you read this message twice].


    Frankly, I think the answer is "yes". And I don't like it. Projects like KDE are wonderfully internationalized; many programs support locale and have national translations. Most of the companies enthusiastically react to a proposition of translating one or other thing for them (I'm working currently on yast2 for the new release of SuSE). But Corel is another thing. Companies like them arrogant to be tend. Feeling eery I have. It I don't like.


    Regards,


    January


    (*) The quality of the translation is yet another thing. Many of the translations are ridiculous, and their polish thesaurus... Well, in the firs release the only synonimes of the word "ptak" (bird) were those denoting a penis. Well, you use the word "ptak" sometimes in polish the way english speaking persons use the word "pecker"...

    • The "ever paranoid" Debian [debian.org] folks, who have been rather paranoid about RPM [rpm.org] because RHAT [redhat.com] wouldn't assure them that it would never be released in proprietary form have commented on Corel's participation, at Strategic Alliance Between Corel, KDE and Debian [debian.org], with the comment:
      "I am very happy to see Corel taking this step into the Open Source world and cooperating with non-commercial organizations such as Debian and KDE," said Wichert Akkerman, Debian's project leader. "By combining Debian's strengths, which include having a large number of developers, a very open development model and a public bug tracking system, with the experience Corel has with making office and desktop products, I think we will be able to produce an outstanding system with the best of both worlds."
    • If you were not previously aware, Corel HAS been involved with development efforts on Linux for quite some time.

      See: Corel's Contributions to the Wine Project [linuxtoday.com]

  • Rubbish!

    Most Debian people are delighted to see that Corel and
    others are using Debian as a foundation.

    The legal issues are being resolved...best seen as
    a matter of acclimatising a commercial s/w house to
    the GPL world.
  • Its high quality - Dell Inspiron 7000. I believe the 7500 is the same thing, with the newer graphics chip (which I have, ATI Rage mobility-P) and same or faster CPU (400mhz). I was able to get FreeBSD and Caldera both on, but still having pains getting the xfree86 config file working. For some reason, just not getting the tricks on the linux laptop pages to work... xfree4 should support it, so if I don't get to an installafest for help...
  • The "ever paranoid" Debian folks, who have been rather paranoid about RPM

    Is there anything you would like to say to further justify this comment? Both rpm and dpkg are, after all, GPL'd.

    Check the changelogs - the earliest dpkg changelog entry puts it 3 months earlier than the earliest rpm entry (Which means that both projects started at about the same time, not because one didn't like what the other was doing).

  • Well Corel is contributing extensively in the Wine [winehq.com] project. Their contribution is valuable in both running other Windows-software on Linux and developing winelib for porting Windows software to Linux.

    IMHO Wine is an important piece of software to help people to move away from Windows. Most have at least one critical app that they have to run on Windows. That's a major reason not to change OS. Wine can break that hinder and help Linux gain more users.

  • I installed the Corel Linux Beta 2 and it asked me my name. It asked me whether I wanted to install a large development environment or a more basic environment. (I chose the large dev environ) It then asked me if I wanted to fist partition the disk or just install onto free disk space. I decided to use it's unbelievably easy and totally graphical disk partitioning tool, which uses pie charts to illustrate the disk usage as you up the partition size. Then it installed. I went and ate dinner while it indicated it's progress with a progress bar. When it was done, my CTX laptop was fully working including X. I was up and running with no need to tell it anything about my hardware. The desktop is very cool, and it uses the Debian package system which is extremely powerful. You can either use the user friendly Corel method, or the command line traditional debian methods. I upgraded some of the packages over the web using apt-get. I'm more impressed the more I think about it still being beta. Good luck.
  • Why do people let the public see files on their ftp before they are done uploading them? Isn't that just silly? (I know it's just a test for them... but still) It makes a whole lot more sense to have all the files in place (and mirrored) before setting the public read permissions... Is it not? Anything else is just un-professional. Just my Take... *shrug*
  • Um, doesn't it count that Corel will be 'giving back' a *real* office suite and graphics tools?

    Sure, they're not open source. It just means they have to work *all* that much harder to compete with an open source alternative. But if in the end they make a product that much better and useable, than the open source version, then everyone wins. I'd certainly pay to get the best; if open source was the best, I certainly use that. Currently Photoshop best suits my needs, not GIMP, so I Photoshop!

    -AS
  • Here's why business can be a win-win.

    Corel gains marketshare and profit. They stay alive, and their engineers & families get to eat.

    Corel gains mindshare and access to a strong community; the issue with a strong community is that they have to be strong members...

    We get access to a world class office suite and graphics hardware, which Linux is sorely lacking. So it's not Open. If Open is in their best interest and they know it, they Open; if it isn't, they don't. If it is and they don't know it, everyone suffers

    We get a 'friendly' OS along with a powerful one: Linux, and Debian to boot

    We get the stability, reliability, and open nature of Linux

    So everyone wins if Corel pulls this off.

    -AS
  • This is NOT illegal. If I write a program that takes as inputs, fields x,y and z. and a clever user or anyone else comes up with a way to provide x,y, and z to my program via a script or a menu or any other interface, they have not violated the rights of my program. My program still functions in exactly the same way it did. It has not been modified in any way. It carries no more dependencies than it ever has. In short, there is no violation of dpkg. The dpkg license needs no modification. If this were not the case, and dpkg ad been messed with, or its dependancies changed, yes, licensing would be an issue, and like Mr Jackson, I would refuse. No, absolutely not. but... that doesnt apply here.
  • Is there anything you would like to say to further justify this comment? Both rpm and dpkg are, after all, GPL'd.

    Ask Ean @ Novare; I believe he's known as "Special Advisor" for SPI.

    There's a hot bed of Debian folk here in Dallas; probably a year and a half ago this was something of a hot topic, and Ean and I held somewhat varying positions, I being "less paranoid," and not a Debian participant, and he being "more paranoid," and heavily involved with Debian.

  • Grin, maybe the intended test was an "ftp site stress test" as in "put some big files that /. idiots will rush to download and leak news that it's something they actually want" sort of test. Probably not, but it'd be funny if someone used Slashdot for such a purpose.
  • Hope it looks good.
  • Time to start sucking it down the pr0n pipe to see how their WINE build is!
  • Aesthetics and Pentium optimizations may be based on Mandrake's example, but the heart of this bad boy is pumping Debian blood.

  • I have more OS's I want to try than I have computers to try them on. Anyone know exactly how this is different or what benefits it has over the distro it was based on(redhat?)?
  • hmm.. so which should I install.. Corel or Caldera? I want a nice, easy-to-use distribution for my laptop, so when I need to bounce in and get to work on vacations, or go show off Linux I can have a nice grapical front, but with the srong UNIX CLI and apps. Only problem so far is getting the video to work, but that either just takes messing with xfree's config file, or waiting for v4.
  • Looking at the "update package manager," the "Pentium class x86" requirement, and the KDE desktop, it looks like this is based on Mandrake.

    Before you start the flame fest, Mandrake is _based_ on Red Hat, not just recompiled and repackaged. Mandrake has several differances (more-so with version 6.1 now). And, Corel looks like it's based on Mandrake at first glance, which would make it _twice removed_ from Red Hat, which, is kind of a nice thing to think about.

    Red Hat has GPL'ed all it's stuff for so long, now we are seeing the real benifits of that. Someone was able to make something that better fit a specific nitch based on thier product. And, now maybe we have another company which comes along and takes that a step farther.

    Interesting, If It's True... ;-)

  • again (Score:1)

    by aphr0 ( 7423 )
    Has slashdot not learned its lesson from the times before? Is there really a need for news of an ftp server being updated before the official announcement and before it can be mirrored elsewhere? Just give them their time to get set up for the load.

    At least on the other times, the software was actually entirely on the server. Now, corel will be doing battle with not only people downloading the entire thing, but also the people downloading half, logging out, logging back in, and redownloading it all.
  • why/how the heck do people monitor ftps?? do these people have nothing better to do? is getting the news to /. first REALLY worth it? :)
  • what benefits it has over the distro it was based on(redhat?)?

    Um Debian?

    It has a fancy install and maintenance package, for those who have been previously discouraged by Debian's really basic (but powerful) install tools.

    The preview does a good job of showing the improvements.
    ^~~^~^^~~^~^~^~^^~^^~^~^~~^^^~^^~~^ ~~~^~~^~
  • I've been using Windows for the past few years. I think its time for me to move onto Linux. I've been told that I should try Red Hat or SuSE, because I'm a newbie. Any Linux experts out there that would suggest Corel Linux for me?

    -PovRayMan
  • It isn't based on Mandrake or RedHat. It's based off of Debian. (best dist IMNSHO)
  • I'm still not totally convinced this is A Good Thing. Well, maybe that's a wrong choice of words. I'm not concerned about another distribution out there, but I am concerned about Corel's motivation.

    I get the impression that Corel is putting out a Linux Distribution, pushing WordPerfect for Linux, and contributing to the community just to thumb their nose at the other companies (i.e.: Microsoft) who can't edge into the market. Yeah, the Linux community is getting support from a big company, but it forces you to wonder why they're doing it. Look at the Beta of the Corel distribution. If they were really into the effort of Linux as LINUX instead of Linux as "just another product", they would have made damn sure nothing violated the licensing. But they're rushing.

    Corel is running fast, and they're holding scissors. Let's hope they can jump where they might trip.

    -- Give him Head? Be a Beacon?

  • According to their press, Corel's distro is based on Debian.

    I haven't run Debian since 1.0, and I wondered if they would survive without a firm packaging and selling the distro (of course I blush now, knowing how well they're doing).

    Maybe I've got one more drive around here to try it out.

    Steve
  • Um... it's been based on Debian for a long time now. If you look all the packages are .deb files. Just because it has similar aspects to Mandrake doesn't mean it's a derivative.

    --Ben
  • lftp ftp.corel.com:/pub/linux> cat THIS_IS_A_TEST_DIRECTORY
    This test directory contains a partial Debian tree and is used
    for testing purposes only.

    This is NOT the soon to be released CorelLinux Distribution.
  • Jeez! Why not just spend an hour installing Debian, learn its
    elegant features and just save yourself the $ for Corel.
  • Damned! Some people never learn. I, for example, hit the "space" one down-arrow to early and thus submitted my comment without a footnote. Here it comes:

    (*) The quality of national translations of Microsoft products is another thing. Many of the syst... of the Windows messages or MS programs are ridiculous. The Word speller contains mistakes, and the first version of thesaurus had about four synonimes to the word "ptak" (bird) - all of them meaning "a penis". Well, it is true that you can use "ptak" the way english speking persons use the word "pecker", but...

    Regards,

    January

  • Motives? (Score:1)

    by Foz ( 17040 )
    Why are people even bothering to question Corel's motives? Isn't it obvious? Here's a newsflash for you... Corel is gasp trying to make money!

    Oh the inhumanity of it all.

    Seriously, though. There's nothing wrong (at least in my book, others may argue differently) with a company trying to make a buck. That's what capitalism is, after all. Lest we forget, the unofficial goal of us linux-heads everywhere seems to be "settle for nothing less than total world domination". How do you expect to get there if you don't shine everything up with a slick interface, a seamless install, etc. etc. etc.?

    Corel wants to leverage linux to try and regain some of the desktop app market share that they lost to Adobe and Microsoft. Microsoft owns the office suite market, and many of us have whined about Adobe not porting their stuff to linux... yet when Corel listens and begins a large porting effort we all question their motives?

    No wonder people are scared of us... we're all lunatics.

    -- Gary F.

  • It's not Corel Linux! (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    I work for Corel MIS, and I freaked when I read this. Corel Linux isn't supposed to be up there and we're not prepared for the anticipated traffic volume yet. I went to my manager right away and was informed that the files up there are for test purposes only. This is NOT Corel Linux. I repeat, it's not our build.

    Please don't download the DEB files and waste our bandwith and server resources. In the future, I hope Slashdot puts the extra few minutes of effort into verifying stories like this before trying to take down a company's FTP servers with the Slashdot effect.

    Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Corel. I'm posting as an AC for obvious reasons (don't want to get fired?).
  • Not everyone has pentium class computers; that and if they have one its possible they have an old 486 lying around that they would rather test it on before they move it completely on their main computer.

    True, but they're probably basing it on the requirements of their applications which is their true aim of the distribution :)

  • In the rare event that there are no Debian packages for the program you want to install, you can use the "alien" program to install Slackware or Red Hat packages.

  • I'm beta-testing Corel right this very second, and let me tell you, it's not even ready. There's bugs up in this distro like you wouldn't freakin' BELIEVE. From SVGALIB to X to GCC, things simply don't work, or work entirely wrong. I hope Corel understands that they'll never make a dent in the market if they don't betatest more.



    It's nothing personal, not at all. I've given it a huge chance. But beta2 is not ready, unless some serrrrrrrious in-house action is going on.



    The Magnificent Linnard, coming soon
  • Actually, it is based on Debian. Disclaimer: I haven't tried it. It is different from Debian first of all because it incorporates KDE; Debian does not include KDE because of potential legal issues (no flamewars, just a fact). Corel has also apparently put quite a bit of effort into the areas of both installation and configuration, creating some KDE-based front-ends that look quite nice from the screenshots. It is also presumably different from Debian because Corel will provide official support for your purchase, whereas Debian does not market or officially support their product.
  • I feel kind of dissapointed.
    I personally don't want a desktop that looks like MS Windows.
    I want something special, something exotic.
    OK, I use KDE, but it's along with WindowMaker and it's a lot of fun.
    Hmm, just a lot of nonsense from me. I'll shut up now...

    Thanks for your time !
  • It is actually based on Debian, so maybe they did the Mandrake thing and just have a pre-compiled 686 kernel. Which if this is suppose to be for the average joe is probably the worst thing Corel could have done. Not everyone has pentium class computers; that and if they have one its possible they have an old 486 lying around that they would rather test it on before they move it completely on their main computer.

    As they say you live and you learn.

  • Given the brouhaha over the beta test requiring an NDA, I'll be curious to see the license terms. Are they going to be bundling proprietary software with the distro, or will the whole thing be open source? I wasn't able to find any information on the website.
  • Well, there might be plenty of Linux experts around here, but hardly any "Corel Linux" experts...give us some time, they haven't even "officially" released it yet.

    I'm a Debian user, but two days ago I would have recommended either Mandrake or Red Hat to a newbie. Then you could "upgrade" to Debian later. However, if we're lucky, you could end up getting the best of both worlds with Corel right here.
  • I've heard great things about Debian, and since Corel is based on Debian, would it make much sense to install a minimal Corel to take advantage of the easy install, then use Debian's package manager to keep everything up to date in the future?

    I've got a Debian CD on its way to me right now, and I can't wait to give it a shot. Red Hat's been good, but I want to try out something else.

  • I get the impression that Corel is putting out a Linux Distribution, [...] just to thumb their nose at the other companies (i.e.: Microsoft) who can't edge into the market.

    I think they are going to linux because they've been soundly whipped by MSFT in the office suite business, and Adobe in the graphics app busniess. Here is a market which:

    • they can control, somewhat, the configuration of the OS (like MSFT can for its Office suite)
    • is almost virgin soil for commercial office productivity suites
    • can't be killed by competition by MSFT or anyone else
    • already has mindshare against MSFT: if Office was ported, it would find fewer users

    All in all, I think they are in this market because they beat out of win32, and this is the only viable alternative.

    Steve

  • Uhm, if you used Debian 1.0 you didn't use a released version of Debian, as the first released version of Debian was 1.1 (Infomagic fiasco with them releasing "Debian 1.0" before Debian released it, that's why Debian uses those code names now)
  • I have similar misgivings. It would be a great way for Corel to generate revenue AND push WordPerfect (which is what they've been struggling to do for years...) It appears they may be riding the tiger purely for their own commercial interests, which is what businesses, in general, do, but we all know Linux is supposed to be different. What can Corel give back to the community? Open source some programs? CorelDraw, perhaps? I get a queasy feeling about Corel in general. We'll see. I'm dismayed that the packaged version will be over $50. That's my current limit to pay for a Linux boxed distro (Sorry, Red Hat). You've got to draw a line somehwere for a "free" OS. Can you see the day when prices begin inching up into the hundreds for all the extra "added value" [read: profits for the distributor]. We shall see...
  • you will find this: ftp://ftp.corel.com/pub/linux/THIS_IS_A_TEST_DIREC TORY

    which says:

    This test directory contains a partial Debian tree and is used for testing purposes only.

    This is NOT the soon to be released CorelLinux Distribution.

    [ $!# RS x1499 ]
    i'm not sure what the crap is at the bottom, but it is clearly a beta at best.

    john
  • This test directory contains a partial Debian tree and is used for testing purposes only. This is NOT the soon to be released CorelLinux Distribution. [ $!# RS x1499 ] Doesn't look like this is really it guys :(
  • I haven't used Corel linux, so I can't say for certain, but Corel Linux is based on Debian, a linux distribution that makes the assumption you already know how to use linux. I'd personally advise you to go with Redhat, mandrake, or caldera openlinux for the time being, until it's known for certain whether Corel has corrected Debians usability bugs.

  • I'd suggest not Caldera, it has a tendancy to croak on Non-standard hardware (or at least all of *my* nonstandard hardware). The best luck I've had on my laptop (A Compaq Presario 1240) is with SuSE 6.2, wich I reccomend. I was running RH 6.0 before that, and it runs pretty well too.

    The only thing Caldera has going for it now is ease of installation - you only have to do that once.

  • >Then run a different distro. It's about choice.
    >Lots of users (folks coming from Windows) would
    >like the OS to feel familiar to them. That's
    >what they're getting.


    >At least in the Linux world, you're not forced to leave it that way.

    I know all this and I agree with you.
    I'm very much for choice, but to take the good KDE and kind of "ruin" it with a _more_ Windows look...
    That is what I'm thinking of...
  • I came to the conclusion that Corel sees a method to remove Microsoft from it's near monopoly on software for non-Macs. By packaging Linux with Word Perfect, Corel can create the integrated packages that people are used to with MS Windows/MS Office. It will remove a lot of the fear the common user faces when considering a switch to Linux. What Corel gets out of it is a chance to make a lot of money, because their name may be enough to get people to bundle Linux on low cost PCs to be sold to the home user.
  • Debian does not market or officially support their product

    A very true in the grand old tradition of Linux doesn't market or support their product. However, I get more help on the #debianhelp channel then I've ever gotten anywhere. In fact I've seen people come in with questions about WinLinux, Mandrake, Redhat, and Slackware (I don't encourage this by the way) and get answers there because they didn't know where else to turn or they weren't getting the right answers from them.

    One of the greatest things about Debian is that they still hold to the old school traditions that people who have been using Linux for a long time have grown to appreciate. The sence of community where we all add value to the product and share in its usefulness.

    I think Corel is just doing with Debian what Redhat did with Linux. Only the job is easier becuase Debian is already refined in the community process as a distribution rather than the package level that Redhat starts with.
    ^~~^~^^~~^~^~^~^^~^^~^~^~~^^^~^^~~^~~~^~~^~
  • corel is putting a lot of resources into Linux, I was at an installfest that corel was at, and they were demoing quattro pro for Linux, a newer WP for Linux, Corel linux, and were talking about how Corel Draw will be out "early next year" for Linux. The office suite is planned to be released in Feb, and their disto for christmas..but I hope they don't push it out the door too quickly..I've played with the beta and it has a lot of potential (for the desktop side)...but there are still lots of things to get worked out.
    Everyone seems to be questioning the motives of Corel..well like any other company they are out to make money. They see _huge_ potential in Linux, and want to get in and be the defacto standard office suite. They are also creating their own distro, one that is aimed at newbies switching from windows, and also at being able to sit on a desktop in a office. And for all those people bitching about them not releasing their code..they will. I've asked several Corel reps, and they have all promised me that all of the code put in for Corel Linux will be GPLed.
  • I don't really care much what their motivations are, so long as the GPL keeps them from bastardizing linux let them do what they will. Personally I think its a big boost to linux. We really need someone to come in and 'polish' things right now for the desktop. Now hear me out, I don't want flamed, but you have to realize its true. I want a simple GUI that allows me to do simple things like 'add items' to my program menus without me really having to know what Im doing. I shouldn't have to make a distinction between if I'm modifying the 'system default' menus or my personal user menus. Not to mention I have a problem with kpanel loosing its settings or just not fixing the settings at all. Now granted these may be known bugs with fixes, but why am I still downloading the latest OS and getting these 'known bugs'? And why do I have to read a bunch of text files to fix them when they should be fixed before shipping? Now that is just one example but its not unusual in my experience. As far as I can tell, things have come a long way but the polish just needs some more work. Maybe a commercial company like Corel can help give us that last bit of 'polish'. Or am I the only person that noticed all of these desktop environments don't quite seem to be working correctly?
  • I just had to have a looksee at it. There new "Corel Filemanager" looks like Explorer with the active desktop. It is rather scary IMHO. There installation menu did not show many options, but the graphics were not that clear so it was hard to tell. It is nice to see that many companies are taking to debain, but it would be nicer to see them contribute back to debain. Maybe it is just me but it seems a growing trend to make money of of other peoples work. I know that Corel has offered there Corel WP 8.0 for free download but it was more of a limited demo version. I am curious how much they intend to sell the distro for and if they are including WP8.0 the FULL version with it not the "limited" edition.

    Just my .02 cents.. please send flame > /dev/null

    send flames > /dev/null

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