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The Linux distillery 100 reasons Linux beats Windows
The Linux distillery 100 reasons Linux beats Windows | 100 reasons Linux beats Windows |
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| by David M Williams | |
| Sunday, 28 September 2008 | |
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Page 5 of 5 80. The Linux command line lets you recall historical commands from long ago; Windows’ command prompt only lets you recall commands from the beginning of the current session.Featured Whitepaper
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82. I’ve talked about security already, but let’s make sure the message is clear. Project Honeypot found that an unpatched Linux server can sit on the Internet for months before it is compromised while patched Windows’ servers are busted within a few hours. Yep, even without patches, Linux is still better than Windows. 83. Windows types argue Linux admins cost more money. Maybe so, but a Linux admin can run many more servers than a Windows admin – because Linux systems are much more versatile. You can control them in a much tighter fashion via automated scripts than the fabled Windows reliance on point-and-click. 84. An out-of-the-box Linux system can be used for a far greater variety of purposes than an out-of-the-box Windows system. It will be your mail server, web server, database server, file-and-print server, intranet server, remote access server, VPN server, FTP server – whatever you want, really. 85. You can give Linux to your parents and grandparents and know they’ll have no problems. It will boot fine, let them check e-mail, browse the web, share photos, print and write letters without fear of their online safety or software crashes. 86. You won’t have your father calling you to ask why RUNDLL32.EXE is crashing and expecting a quick answer as to precisely what the problem is. 87. And speaking of your parents, you get a load more card games bundled with Linux. 88. Tux is the cutest mascot ever. What does Windows have going for it? A bunch of four-coloured flying Windows? What sort of mascot is that? Oh yeah, there’s Clippy but he annoys everyone. 89. Think of the planet. How much paper and plastic is used to create and distribute all the box sets of Microsoft products? Linux is freely downloadable from the Internet. Those items aren’t needed and you don’t have to dispose of them later. 90. As the hardware requirements for Windows get higher and higher a lot of older computers are made obsolete and must be disposed of. The current versions of Linux still run fine on very old machines allowing them to be recycled for various purposes. You could make a headless storage system for instance. 91. Linux lets you be more productive; you can set up four (or more) totally separate workspaces at the one time. Each workspace is a fresh desktop. You can run your e-mail in one, web browsers in another, office application in another and swiftly switch between them. There’s no need to go through all your windows and tabs to try and find something – just switch to the appropriate workspace and there it is! 92. Linux is more user friendly than Windows. This is going to get some readers up in arms. Let’s think about it. What’s “user friendly” mean? If it means the environment is comparable to what you’re already used to then some might argue Linux is not user friendly because it differs from Windows. Yet, that’s not strictly true. Linux can look like Windows if you want. However, I take user friendly to mean the software can be used to a reasonable level of competence by a user with no previous experience of the software. And here’s where Linux does shine, as evidenced by – for one example – the litany of schools who have switched to Linux and where the students readily embraced it even if teachers had problems. 93. Linux is designed by people who genuinely seek to maximise performance, not maximise profits. The overall speed and experience is monumental. 94. Some hardware vendors like ASUS are looking at embedding Linux on silicon to make the next generation of computers start even faster. You couldn’t do this with Windows, and if it were possible it’d come with a price hike due to licensing. 95. Linux is here forever. Unlike other operating systems which had a cult following – BeOS, AmigaOS, OS/2 Warp – Linux won’t die because of its open source nature. 96. Not to mention the large industry-wide backing Linux receives. Such large organisations like IBM and Sun Microsystems and Oracle and Red Hat and Ubuntu are feeding into the advancement of Linux. Yet, only Microsoft is working on Windows. As a result, Linux is advancing beyond what one corporation could achieve and has major enterprises invested in its success. 97. Linux doesn’t restrict how content is used on the system. There’s no digital rights management (DRM) slowing down the computer or causing conflicts with hardware or software. High quality audio visual output isn’t artificially degraded. With Linux you can play music, watch movies and run software. The operating system won’t interfere with your fair-use rights to the content you own. 98. If ever you do get a rogue Linux process you really can kill it, unlike Vista’s Task Manager where “End Process” may or may not end the process. 99. Linux hasn’t changed its basic worldview. Linux has always embraced TCP/IP, separation of regular users from super-users, powerful command line scripting, reliance on defined standards and other items. By contrast, Microsoft have tried their own route and then come back to these items. TCP/IP wasn’t the lingua franca of Windows until Windows 2000. Vista attempts to break the horrible Microsoft mess of all users being administrators with the woeful User Access Control (UAC.) After years of poo-pooing the command line, Microsoft have now brought in PowerShell. Microsoft Office has finally now embraced XML and open file formats. With Linux you’ve got a system that has consistent design philosophies. With Windows you don’t. 100. Linux just works. Ok, one more ... 101. You can get find better groupware products on Linux than Microsoft Exchange – but with full compatibility for all your Outlook clients. So, that's 101 reasons why Linux outshines Windows. Do yourself and your computer a favour today. |
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