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My first Linux distribution was Corel Linux, which few people know about. I wonder what might have happened if they had pushed on that track. I'm actually sur

My first Linux distribution was Corel Linux, which few people know about. I wonder what might have happened if they had pushed on that track. I'm actually surprised to find out Corel still exists.

Zardoz84 7y ago
I have a copy of it!. if I remember correctly, was based on Debian with a strong UX changes to make more similar to Windows UX. Sadly, M$ paid money to Corel, and Corel was forced you kill it and Kyrlix
starsinspace 7y ago
I also bought and used Corel Linux when it first came out. It was great. To me it is still the closest thing Linux ever had to being a really user-friendly desktop OS. No other Linux distribution ever since quite got that right as they did. It was based on a heavily customized KDE, they even replaced the entire KDE file manager with a new one written in-house (heavily inspired by Explorer). It worked so well, especially the integration of network share access - both SMB and NFS - which was often a pain on Linux back then, but on the file manager in Corel Linux, it just worked. But what I remember most about it was the beautiful icon theme they had made for it. They had applied it to everything, every single application was themed to look nice and consistent. Included was the Linux version of WordPerfect, which was great in days long before OpenOffice became a credible alternative. They also had a Linux version of Corel Photo-Paint, although that was half-emulated via WINE, but still worked well. Unfortunately, the hardcore Linux crowd seemed to despise it, I guess because it was too user-friendly (even today many people in the Linux world are opposed to the idea of GUIs and user-friendly software, back then it was much worse) and maybe due to their inclusion of proprietary software. And then Corel killed it off, and the year of the Linux desktop never happened. The assets were then picked up by another company called Xandros, which continued it somewhat, but IMO it was never the same again.
- tombert 7y ago
  > even today many people in the Linux world are opposed to the idea of GUIs and user-friendly software I hear that a lot, but is that really true anymore? Linux Mint, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, and Fedora are all in the top 10 most-watched distros on Distrowatch, and two of those have Gnome as their default GUI. Say what you want about Gnome after Gnome 3, but it certainly was intended as something to be a lot more user-friendly and embraced the idea of a GUI heavily. (Personally, after I gave it a chance, I grew to really like Gnome 3; I think a lot of people's visceral reaction to it had to do with the fact that it was no-longer trying to be like Mac or Windows). I've been using Linux full-time (no dual boot) since 2010, and consider myself somewhat of a "hardcore" user, and even I still mostly use a Gnome setup.
bregma 7y ago
I wanted to buy it because you got an inflatable penguin with the boxed set. Later on I worked at Xandros, which was what became of Corel Linux after Microsoft infused cash into Corel. They had inflatable penguins and Netwinders (another Corel spinoff) everywhere in the office, because apparently nobody was willing to buy Linux. Eventually Xandros went under because nobody was willing to buy Linux. I went to work for Canonical on Ubuntu, but eventually they, too, got out of the desktop Linux business because you can't make money on something nobody is willing to buy. I guess they should have sold inflatable penguins and included a free CD with Linux on instead.

My first Linux distribution was Corel Linux, which few people know about. I wonder what might have happened if they had pushed on that track. I'm actually surprised to find out Corel still exists.

Zardoz84 7y ago

I have a copy of it!. if I remember correctly, was based on Debian with a strong UX changes to make more similar to Windows UX. Sadly, M$ paid money to Corel, and Corel was forced you kill it and Kyrlix

starsinspace 7y ago

I also bought and used Corel Linux when it first came out. It was great. To me it is still the closest thing Linux ever had to being a really user-friendly desktop OS. No other Linux distribution ever since quite got that right as they did. It was based on a heavily customized KDE, they even replaced the entire KDE file manager with a new one written in-house (heavily inspired by Explorer). It worked so well, especially the integration of network share access - both SMB and NFS - which was often a pain on Linux back then, but on the file manager in Corel Linux, it just worked. But what I remember most about it was the beautiful icon theme they had made for it. They had applied it to everything, every single application was themed to look nice and consistent. Included was the Linux version of WordPerfect, which was great in days long before OpenOffice became a credible alternative. They also had a Linux version of Corel Photo-Paint, although that was half-emulated via WINE, but still worked well. Unfortunately, the hardcore Linux crowd seemed to despise it, I guess because it was too user-friendly (even today many people in the Linux world are opposed to the idea of GUIs and user-friendly software, back then it was much worse) and maybe due to their inclusion of proprietary software. And then Corel killed it off, and the year of the Linux desktop never happened. The assets were then picked up by another company called Xandros, which continued it somewhat, but IMO it was never the same again.

tombert 7y ago
> even today many people in the Linux world are opposed to the idea of GUIs and user-friendly software I hear that a lot, but is that really true anymore? Linux Mint, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE, and Fedora are all in the top 10 most-watched distros on Distrowatch, and two of those have Gnome as their default GUI. Say what you want about Gnome after Gnome 3, but it certainly was intended as something to be a lot more user-friendly and embraced the idea of a GUI heavily. (Personally, after I gave it a chance, I grew to really like Gnome 3; I think a lot of people's visceral reaction to it had to do with the fact that it was no-longer trying to be like Mac or Windows). I've been using Linux full-time (no dual boot) since 2010, and consider myself somewhat of a "hardcore" user, and even I still mostly use a Gnome setup.

bregma 7y ago

I wanted to buy it because you got an inflatable penguin with the boxed set. Later on I worked at Xandros, which was what became of Corel Linux after Microsoft infused cash into Corel. They had inflatable penguins and Netwinders (another Corel spinoff) everywhere in the office, because apparently nobody was willing to buy Linux. Eventually Xandros went under because nobody was willing to buy Linux. I went to work for Canonical on Ubuntu, but eventually they, too, got out of the desktop Linux business because you can't make money on something nobody is willing to buy. I guess they should have sold inflatable penguins and included a free CD with Linux on instead.