Most operating system reviews and developer interviews rely on technical points to explain what the project is about and what benefits users might derive from it. But what of the people responsible for the lion's share of the work in the open source software world? So rarely do we hear about their opinions and perspective on their project of choice. So here's a not-so-technical interview with three of the real people who contribute time and effort to developing the Xandros family of GNU/Linux distributions.

Ken Wong, Senior Quality Support Manager

Who are you? What is your role in the company or project, and what are you responsible for?

Ken Wong

Ken Wong: I am Ken Wong, the Senior Quality Support Manager at Xandros. I oversee and manage both the Quality Assurance and Technical Support teams.

What drew you to Xandros?

KW: I am a believer in OS alternatives to Windows. I joined Xandros because the company does exactly that -- develop a user-friendly Linux OS that is a true alternative to Windows for average computer users. I was also attracted to Xandros because everyone here believes in that mission, and works to ensure the highest standards in product development and quality testing. We have an extremely rigorous quality assurance process, and everybody at Xandros respects that, even if it means delaying a product release.

What's the best part about Xandros' GNU/Linux distributions?

KW: Xandros OS is designed with the Windows user in mind, specifically with the intent to ease the migration from Windows to Linux. To do that, we incorporate bug fix patches to many Linux applications so that the Xandros OS closely parallels Windows features and behavior. Windows users can be productive without having to learn Linux commands. Xandros is also extremely simple to install -- a lot simpler than Windows or any other Linux OS, I would say.

What other open source projects have you worked on in the past?

KW: Prior to joining Xandros, I worked on the NetWinder server appliance at Rebel.com, a general purpose server for small businesses running on customized hardware. The software offered a friendly GUI to configure all server components over the Web. The company had similar goals of helping Windows administrators/users on alternatives to Windows server. The company is no longer around but I'm still running a rebel.com server at home. It's still running great -- it uses only 7 watts per hour.

What is the most overlooked fact or most commonly misunderstood idea about Xandros? What should people know that they don't know from other interviews and reviews of Xandros Desktop and Server?

KW: We have received many great reviews, but one thing not well understood is that our desktop is not a vanilla KDE. It includes a lot of usability enhancements to KDE plus our own Xandros applications where there is no open source equivalent to meet the Windows user's needs. For example, our Xandros File Manager has similar look & feel and functionality to that of Windows Explorer, and our Xandros Networks is a central place to install, update and remove software that should be familiar to anyone who has used Microsoft's "Update" and "Add or Remove" facilities. It all comes down to our shared commitment to the end user that, in turn, makes Xandros an exciting place to work.

Erich Forler, Senior Product Development Manager.

Who are you? What is your role in the company or project, and what are you responsible for?

EF: Erich Forler - Sr. Product Development Manager.

What drew you to Xandros?

EF: Xandros is comprised of an exceptional group of developers working on a very cool product. It was a great opportunity to work with good people in a product area that has potential to have a significant impact in the computer market.

What's the best part about Xandros' GNU/Linux distributions?

EF: The ease with which a Windows user can sit down and start using the software right away without any training. There's no learning curve and it's really satisfying to see people discover things like Xandros File Manager which makes migrating so easy.

What other open source projects have you worked on in the past?

EF: I was part of Corel Computer's Netwinder team before we launched Corel Linux but I haven't worked on Open Source projects extensively.

What is the most overlooked fact or most commonly misunderstood idea about Xandros? What should people know that they don't know from other interviews and reviews of Xandros Desktop and Server?

EF: I think most people understand what Xandros is about and who our products are designed for. There are still people in the Linux community who believe that everyone should learn to roll-your-own Linux, compile new applications from source and harness the power of the command line but clearly Xandros isn't designed for those users. However, I've talked to dedicated Debian users who thought Xandros was the ideal distro to give to their friends and family who weren't Linux savvy because Xandros gave them the reliability and familiarity of Debian under the hood with an easy-to-use environment on top. So, not everyone is looking for a desktop or server that makes it easy for Windows users to migrate to Linux and there are some people who don't think that's even a good idea, but the vast majority of people seem to have a pretty good understanding of the benefit of using Xandros products.

Jeff Tranter, Senior Software Development Manager

Who are you? What is your role in the company or project, and what are you responsible for?

Jeff Tranter

Jeff Tranter: I am Jeff Tranter, a Senior Software Development Manager at Xandros. I lead the team the develops and customizes desktop applications at Xandros in Ottawa Canada, both open source and our own applications.

What drew you to Xandros?

JT: I came to Xandros from Corel, where I worked on Corel LINUX and the Linux versions of Corel applications. Most of the original Corel LINUX development team came to Xandros when Corel exited the Linux business.

What's the best part about Xandros' GNU/Linux distributions?

JT: We spend a tremendous amount of effort ensuring that things "just work" on Xandros, from hardware drivers, to networking and applications. We fix hundreds of bugs, make usability improvements, and try to make the user's desktop experience as seamless as possible.

What other open source projects have you worked on in the past?

JT: I've worked on a number of projects including KDE, Wine, the kernel, and the Linux Documentation Project.

What is the most overlooked fact or most commonly misunderstood idea about Xandros? What should people know that they don't know from other interviews and reviews of Xandros Desktop and Server?

JT: Some people have the impression that Xandros is a dumbed-down or crippled version of Linux. That is not the case. We install a limited number of applications by default as part of our philosophy of offering one best of breed application for each major task and keeping the install to one CD. Being based on Debian, you can do anything on Xandros you can on any other Debian-based distribution. If your favorite application is not installed by default, chances are you can get it from Xandros Networks or Debian.

We're also not just a desktop company anymore -- in addition to business and consumer desktop products, we offer a full line of server and management products.

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Copyright 2006 Jem Matzan.