From: Chris Robinson 

So, here I am, still using Linux and still enjoying it last time I checked.
Here's what I've been up to:

1. Switching Distro's:
I switched from RedHat 8 to Mandrake 9.  I don't know why I did this but I
think mainly because I'd read that RedHat wasn't too good with KDE support
and I'd seen KDE3.1 and wanted to move to that eventually.  Another thing
was that I'd used Mandrake before and I like the control center, also it
looked (at first glance) to be simpler to network.

The install went fine with zero problems so it's just like all other Linux
installs really.

One thing Mandrake made a lot easier from the word go was regarding
mounting of Samba shares on other workgroup PC's - this was now a simple
procedure.

2. Samba - Now I can share my files! Mandrake has a built-in Samba tool
that allows you to enable a "right-click" file sharing option
a-la Windows.  Unfortunately, it sucks.  I could well be missing something
here but it's fairly hidden if I am.  Once enabled, you can right-click any
folder and select "share" and turn sharing on.  Sounds good, but
Mandrake creates its own Workgroup (called "mdk???" or
something), gives yoiur PC its default name ("Sama Server x.x.x")
and then I can't find any options to allow others access to my files - not
very configurable unless A) I'm missing something or B) You're happy diving
into the smb.conf file (Samba's config file).

Never fear, Webmin's here!  I was reading the Samba documentation and they
mentioned a tool called Webmin (recommended over their own SWAT admin
tool), so I hunted it down and installed it.  The install went fine.  To
use Webmin you connect to your PC on port 10000 and log in.  This gives you
access to the config tools (it does way more than just the Samba config
though).  You go into Samba config and from here can enter yoiur workgroup,
network name and set your sharing method (e.g share-level access).  Then
simply enter the directory you wish to share, apply any permissions and hey
presto - files are now shared!

3. Criticisms (Constructive):
So, having used Linux for a few weeks I thought I'd say the areas where I
think it needs to improve in the usability stakes.  I know I haven't tried
every distro out there and also haven't yet tried KDE3.1 or Gnome 2.2 so
appologies in advance if any of the things below have changed.  I'm sure
some people who've been using Linux for a long time will probably say
things like "no that's not needed" and "tough shit" etc
but the fact is that the things I'm saying below are probably common areas
that people new to Linux have problems with.

- Networking (Windows sharing):
This is far from easy from an out-of-the-box point of view and really needs
sorting IMHO.  Mandrake 9 appears to have had a go but it's not a very
useful go, although is heading in the right direction.  I think some kind
of Network Neighborhood equivalent is needed that automounts network shares
whilst browsing or something along those lines (i.e. so you don't have to
mount them before you can use files from them).  I also think that sharing
files needs to be a built-in feature rather than something that requires a
tool or direct editing of a config file.

- Disk Space:
I'd've thought that checking free space on a hard drive would be a simple
task but this requires a small program (which took me a while to find) to
check.  I'm guessing that this is because of the way the Linux filesystem
is arranged (i.e. you can't right-click a "drive" and select
properties as everything is mounted in folders).

Chris.

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