Can we afford not to give our kids Linux?

Stan Beer
Saturday, 10 November 2007 18:53

Opinion and Analysis

There is no question that surfing the net and engaging in other online activities using one of the many excellent Linux distros is a much safer prospect for both kids and adults than turning them loose with Windows. However, given many schools are using Windows in their curriculum, what are they losing by using Linux?

Online, there is very little lost and much more gained by using Linux instead of Windows. There are still a few backward websites that insist on Internet Explorer and proprietary Windows Media Player formats to give users an "optimum experience" but with the vastly superior Firefox browser continuing to tear massive chunks out of IE market share, the diminishing number of IE websites will inevitably be forced to wake up.

As far as email is concerned, there is nothing lost with Linux. Thunderbird is every bit as good or better than Outlook Express. Evolution can match Outlook for features and usability any day. And of course all the web mail packages run under Linux.

Kids, like an increasing number of adults, communicate a lot via instant messaging and Internet telephony. Skype, the most popular IM and Internet telephony package in the world, works just as well under Linux as Windows. Yahoo IM also works under Linux, which of course gives users access to Windows IM users.

All the online social networks run under Linux. YouTube works fine.

For my money, or lack of it, OpenOffice.org is every bit as good as Microsoft Office, largely compatible, it conforms to the ISO ODF standard and it can save files in PDF format. Some schools may insist on teaching their students Office 2007, with that horrible "ribbon" instead of the classic menus. Forget the hype, the different interface was designed purely to protect Microsoft's investment in Office.

If your youngster insists that he or she simply must have Office 2007 and you cave under the pressure, then you can always run it on Linux using a Windows compatibility layer like Wine or a VMWare Windows virtual machine. However, try to hold firm and stick to OpenOffice. You can also encourage your child to explore the possibilities opening up for them through the online software as a service office packages, such as Google Documents and Spreadsheets, Zoho and Thinkfree.

Older kids studying subjects like accounting may be forced to use programs like Quicken and Quickbooks that run only under Windows (thanks Intuit), although there are some excellent Linux alternatives, such as GNUCash. However, once again there is always the option of running a virtual Windows implementation just for the privilege of running proprietary software whose developers have lacked the foresight to port their application to the Linux platform.

Of course if your kids are into Windows PC games, there's not much you can do except tell them to get over it and point out that there is a growing Linux games market and perhaps buy them a games console to soften the blow. Myself, I would be quite happy to be in the dog house over depriving my kids of Windows games but secure in the knowledge that my kids are safer online because they use Linux. For kids Linux is not a fad or a toy for geeks, it's a necessity and as responsible parents we cannot afford to deprive them of it.