With all the hype about Windows 7 I can’t help pointing out an alternative. Linux, now more than ever is a viable alternative to other operating systems. “The name "Linux" comes from the Linux kernel, originally written in 1991 by Linus Torvalds (Wikipedia)”.
Some of the advantages of Linux include:
-Linux is free and you can download several different distributions including, Ubuntu, Red Hat, SuSE, Fedora, Slackware to name a few. You can also download an ISO image of a “live” CD which will allow you to try it without loading any software on your pc. A live CD is also good when you want to browse the Internet without having to worry about getting some malicious software because it is running from a non-writable CD.
- You don’t need to worry about disk fragmentation.
- Viruses have a more difficult time on Linux. This article explains why: “The short life and hard times of a Linux virus.”
Some system services include:
- Apache Web server which is very robust and scalable.
- Ftp server.
-SSH a secure shell.
- Samba which makes the Linux file system look like a Windows system. This allows you to map the server and store files there.
- Bind or DNS which allows the server to cache DNS information locally.
- DHCP server which allows you to serve IP addresses to clients.
- Firewall that is configurable with iptables.
- There are many free compilers including: C++, C, Java and Fortran.
There are many free applications:
- Open Office which is a suite of Office applications similar to Microsoft Office and you can also download a version for windows.
- Gimp photo editing software (Photoshop like) which also has a windows version.
- Audacity audio editing tool and, of course, there is a windows version.
- Tux Typing a typing tutor.
- Tux Math a children’s math learning / practice application.
- Scientific calculators.
- TeamSpeak which allows people to talk to each other over the Internet.
- KStars is a desktop planetarium which provides accurate graphical simulations of the night sky.
- Firefox and Opera browsers are also available for Linux.
There are many Games:
-Arcade
-Board
-Card
-Tactics and Strategy
There are many more free applications available and here is a list of “100 top of the Best (Useful) OpenSource Applications”
Linux has been used primarily for Servers in the past but is becoming more popular for Desktop computing. Even though I give Windows a hard time it is currently what I use for most computing. I do use a Linux server for file storage and backups and, I currently dual boot my laptop with XP and Linux.
Terry,
ReplyDeleteI have always thought of Linux as only useful for server operations. I had many classes that we used Linux, but still don't think that I would ever switch to it. I must admit though I did not realize that there were so many different applications for it. Most of my experience had been on the security end of it. Do you think that anyone uses/prefers Linux over Windows just because it is free or do you think that it is more preference?
Michelle, I forgot to mention that Linux has not been user friendly in the past (which I am guessing you already know) however; I think that has changed somewhat especially with some of the newer releases. From what I understand Ubuntu is quite popular and the version I use, SuSE, is also very much like Windows. That being said, I don’t think the average computer user would install Linux just because it’s free. There is a learning curve involved and most people I see using Linux either want to learn something new or have a need to learn Linux because of something they are trying to do.
ReplyDeleteFrom a corporate stand point linux is good for alot of server functionality such as DNS or web services, but the cost of the software (free) also brings its worries, who is going to support it when it goes down? large companies who wish to use Linux seemed to gravitate to software such as RHEL (Red Hat Enterprise Linuz) in order to get the piece of mind that their software is covered by some sort of maintenance and support.
ReplyDeleteJosh, That is one of the downsides to open source software. The fixes are not always timely if a problem is found and there are no guarantees. However, there are stable and proven releases of Linux and we used and supported one when I worked at Ford. There are just some applications that run better on UNIX / Linux and some software is written specifically for UNIX / Linux. You are correct though; it can be quite a battle convincing management that Linux can be supported.
ReplyDeleteTerry,
ReplyDeleteI tried to get linux running twice. Starting with Suse 9.3 which I had running, but I was not able to find interessting application in those days.
The second attempt to get into Linux was last year. I tried the Knoppix and was astonished that it almost looked and felt like a common OS (Win).
Unfortunatly not every device in my notebook was recognized so I quit using it.
Maybe I will make a next attempt but most of my classes I ever had used Windows applications and had supported Linux. Maybe things will change