If you got on a bus in Balbriggan and found yourself 10 minutes later in Baluchistan, the effect would be similar. There are lots of familiar things here, but the atmosphere, the surroundings and the way of going about things are most unfamiliar. Culture shock can be severe inside a computer that is now running Linux instead of Windows. Unix (on which Linux is based) has been described as "user-hateful" rather than userfriendly. Perhaps it's just shy, but it does take a lot of getting used to. Among the local customs to look out for are:
Case sensitivity: Password is not the same file as password and the command DIR will not get you a directory listing, while dir will. It may allow you to use every letter of the alphabet twice, but this sophistication can be a nuisance until you get used to it.
Man pages: Every command comes with a man (manual) page. Typing "man grep" brings up screenfuls of information on the command and every option that can be used with it. The problems are that the range and variety of options make a DOS 6 manual look like a McDonalds menu - short and to the point - and (just like old DOS) the exact thing you want to do is rarely listed. Everything's been moved: For all its shortcomings, DOS kept things relatively simple. The operating system and built-in programs lived in the DOS directory on the C: drive and most of the application programs had a directory each under the C: root directory. Now there seem to be programs, utilities and applications everywhere, with odd paths like /etc/bin/funnyprog.
Files aren't always files: A simple dir brings up a basic names-only directory listing. To flush out a few more details the command is ls -l to list files in long format. But add the all option (ls -la) and another whole tribe emerges from the rainforest. Their names start with a. and they may be directories, files, or links to other files.
The real fun starts when you run startx and venture out onto the desktop. In some strange way ignorance seems halfway acceptable on the command line - surely nobody could know all those commands and switches - but clicking away with both mouse buttons at an icon that refuses to do anything makes you feel like a complete prat.
Dead icons: The installation had provided a nice set of desktop icons. Unfortunately, in many cases the programs they should run had not been included in our bare-bones installation. There is scope here for lots of experimentation: single-click, double-click, single and double with right mouse button, hold down Control, or Shift, or Alt. OK, some of these icons just won't work - but how to get rid of them?
Lots of desktops: What's on the screen is not the full farm when it comes to desktop real-estate. There are three others of the same size arranged in a square, making up a "virtual desktop" four times the screen size. That's very handy when you realise it, very confusing until you do.
Mad mice: Mouse behaviour really brings home the sense of difference. The window which the mouse pointer is over determines what happens when you click. Fair enough. But it also controls where keyboard input is directed, and even affects "universal" commands like the ones to move between desktops.
None of these things is a fault, it's just that six years of using Windows has conditioned every expectation of action and response to one way of working. It takes a conscious effort to remember exactly how odd Windows 2 felt all those years ago.
As for real work, yes it is possible. A neat new set of utilities called mtools means that DOSformat floppies can be inserted and files copied on and off easily. The Web server is whirring away in the background, banging out pages to any machine that requests them. Netscape Navigator makes the Web accessible, while Composer provides a handy front-end to create documents or look into system files like httpd.conf, the Web server configuration file.
That is where the real satisfaction lies. This system has dozens of text-format configuration files that can be used to tweak it. Shell scripts can be used to extend the built-in commands. Even the source code - the original commands used to create the programs - is there to be tuned and improved by anyone with the expertise.
This openness and availability recreates the wonder of first meeting a computer. At the time it felt like every set of paints, plasticene, Lego, Mecano, woodwork tools, chemistry set and radio construction components you could think of rolled into one. The only limit was your own effort and ability. That air of possibility and excitement is back - and of course you could probably do work on it too.
Next week: Irish companies working with Linux.
Fiachra O Marcaigh: fomarcaigh@irish-times.ie