Linux shell command

As an alternative to the Microsoft operating systems, Linux has gained a strong following among the technically proficient. This is mainly because it's traditionally associated with bare-bones command line interfaces. Developers of the operating system have had limited success in trying to overcome this perception. As a result, Linux continues to be viewed mostly as a Windows substitute for servers and not a true option for desktops.

This is where Eazel's Nautilus comes in (free, www.eazel.com). A desktop management and service delivery platform for Linux, Nautilus integrates access to files, applications, media, Internet-based services, and the Web. The program brings all these features into a single shell, running under GNOME 1.4, a basic GUI for Red Hat Linux 6.x, which it overlays.

Users can install Nautilus via the Web to machines running Red Hat 6, an extremely rare convenience in the Linux world. Linux enthusiasts will also appreciate that it can be obtained as an RPM, a package format that allows for relatively easy installation.

Nautilus has a pleasant appearance. The shell can be customized by dragging and dropping color swatches and background images onto various windows. Slick icons and gradient fills are appealing benefits of the vector-based graphics and give Nautilus a refined feel.

Nautilus presents a dual window-pane view of the home directory, (the user's home base in a Linux system) offering several tabs in the left pane. Convenient features that Nautilus adds to Red Hat 6 are an improved file system viewer and tags (an area for comments that can be attached to individual files or even Web sites) that can improve cross–file system searches. Web sites are rendered in the main window after you specify a URL in your search bar.

The file view—found in the right pane—is similar in look and feel to Windows' directory system. Text and graphic files are displayed in thumbnail format, providing a peek into the file's content. A music- and sound-file preview option lets you listen to audio files with a mouse click or for as long as you hover over it with your cursor.

Nautilus makes better use of drag-and-drop functions than any other Linux file manager. It also lets the user configure the default to open applications by file types. We did, however, miss the ability to filter by file type using wildcards.

Nautilus is good, but it shouldn't give the average PC user the false hope that it makes Linux an uncomplicated "hands-off" operating system. Nautilus is an enhanced file manager that makes maneuvering around Linux easier, but it's not a new OS. Any advanced configuration task, such as installing a 3-D graphics card or repartitioning a hard drive, will require a solid knowledge of Unix/Linux—with Nautilus or without.

Copyright ?? 2004 Ziff Davis Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally appearing in PC Magazine.