BENEFITS OF LINUX
Linux can give you:
1. A modern, very stable, multi-user, multitasking environment on your inexpensive PC hardware, at no (or almost no) monetary cost for the software. Linux is a rich and powerful platform don’t think of it as a “poor people” operating system. Out-of-box Linux has as much capability as MS Windows NT with $5000 in software add-ons, is more stable, and requires less powerful hardware for comparable tasks.
2. Standard platform. Linux is VERY standard–it is essentially a POSIX compliant UNIX. (Yes, Linux is a best-of-the-breed UNIX. The word “UNIX” is not used in conjunction with Linux because “UNIX” is a registered trademark of “The Open Group”.) Linux includes all the tools and utilities typically associated with UNIX, plus more, significantly more than even the most expensive commercial UNIX implementations. To run Linux software, UNIX vendors these days implement “Linux compatibility layers” into their platforms.
3. Unsurpassed computing power, portability, flexibility, and customizability. A Linux cluster recently (April 1999) beat a Cray supercomputer in a standard benchmark. Linux is most popular on Intel-based PCs (price of the hardware), but it runs very well on numerous other hardware platforms, from toy-like to mainframes. One distribution (Debian) expresses the idea like this: “Linux, The Universal Operating System.” Linux can be customized to perform almost any computing task.
4. Advanced graphical user interface. Linux uses a standard, network-transparent X-windowing system with a “window manager” (typically KDE or GNOME). The graphical desktop under Linux can be made to look like MS Windows (or probably ANY other
graphical user interface of your choice).
5. Dozens of excellent, free, general-interest desktop applications. These include a range of web browsers, email programs, word processors, spreadsheets, bitmap and vector graphics programs, file managers, audio players, CD writers, some good games, etc.
6. Thousands of free applets, tools, and smaller programs. “Small is beautiful” goes well with Linux philosophy. The small Linux tools and applets often work in tandem to perform more complex tasks.
7. Hundreds of specialized applications built by researchers around the world (astronomy, information technology, chemistry, physics, engineering, linguistics, biology, …). In many fields, Linux seems like “the only” operating system in existence (try to find out what your friend astronomer runs on her computer). The software in this category is typically not very easy to use, but if you want the power, it is the best software that humanity has in these areas. Doubtful? Have a look at: http://SAL.KachinaTech.COM/Z/2/index.shtml for examples.
8. Scores of top-of-the line commercial programs including all the big databases (e.g., Oracle, Sybase, but no Microsoft’s). Many (most?) of these are offered free for developers and for personal use.
9. A truly great learning platform. If you are a parent, you should be really glad your daughter/son does Linux–she/he will surely learn something of lasting value. If you are a teacher, you should consider the installation of Linux at your school. “It is indeed a strange world when educators need to be convinced that sharing information, as opposed to concealing information, is a good thing” (http://edge-op.org/grouch/schools.html). You select Linux if you care to provide education, not training. The better the university, the greater the chance their computer department uses Linux in teaching. For example, under Linux, you can immediately begin modifying and compiling for yourself a spreadsheet application which is in every bit as advanced and capable as MS Excel. Linux puts you right on the cutting edge (in technology, project management, QA, methodology of science). Many teachers won’t use Linux in schools because they are lacking in computer education themselves.
10. Excellent networking capability built into your operating system. You think you don’t need a network? Once you try home networking, you will never be able to live without it! How about connecting the two or more computers that you have at home and sharing your hard drives, CDROM(s), sound card(s), modem, printer(s), etc.? How about browsing the net on two or more machines at the same time using a single Internet connection? How about playing a game with your son over your home network? Even your old 386 with Win3.11 may become useful again when connected to your Linux Pentium server and when it is able to use your network resources. All necessary networking software comes with standard Linux, free, just setup is required. And it is not second-rate shareware–it is exactly the same software that runs most of the Internet (the Apache software runs more than 50% of all Internet web servers and Send mail touches some 70% of all e-mail). The pleasure of home networking is something I was able to discover only owing to Linux.
11. Connectivity to Microsoft, Novel, and Apple proprietary networking. Reading/writing to your DOS/MS Windows and other disk formats. This includes “transparent” use of data stored on the legacy MS Windows partition of your hard drive(s).
12. State-of-the-art development platform with many best-of-the-kind programming languages and tools coming free with the operating system. Access to all the operating system source codes, should you require it, is also free. The “C” compiler that comes standard with Linux can compile code for more platforms than (probably) any other compiler on earth. Perl, Python, Guile, Tcl, Ruby, powerful “shell” scripting, and even assembler tools also come as standard with Linux.
13. Freedom from viruses, “backdoors” to your computer, software manufacturer “features,” invasion of privacy, forced upgrades, proprietary file formats, licensing and marketing schemes, product registration, high software prices, and pirating. How is this? Linux has no viruses worth mentioning because it is too secure an operating system for the viruses to spread with any degree of efficiency. The rest follows from the open-source and non- commercial nature of Linux: Linux evolved itself by “bazaar-like” mechanisms to encapsulate the best computing practices, code legibility and correctness, security, flexibility, usefulness, coolness, and performance.
14. The operating platform that is guaranteed “here-to-stay.” Since Linux is not owned, it cannot possibly be put out of business. The Linux General Public License (GPL) insures that development/maintenance will be provided as long as there are Linux users. There are a great number of highly-educated Linux users and tens of thousands of actively developed projects.
15. A platform which will technically develop at a rapid pace. This is insured by the modern, open-software development model which Linux implements: “build-on-the-back-of-the-previous-developer” and peer-review-your-code” (as opposed to the anachronistic closed-software model: “always-start-from-scratch” and “nobody-will-see-my-code”). Even if the current “Linux hype” died out, Linux will develop as it did before the media hype started. Open source development does have its peculiarities: the development appears rather slow (vertically) but it proceeds on a very wide front, dangerous security bugs are fixed almost upon discovery, there are typically several alternatives for a program of similar functionality. Linux depth cannot be overestimated.
If you wanted to learn first-hand about the General Public License, check these famous GNU documents:
- http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
- http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html
- http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html#TheGNUsystem
In a nutshell, the GNU General Public License (GPL) allows anybody to:
- use the software at no charge, without any limitations,
- use the software with proprietary (e.g., your own) modifications, free of charge, as long as
- you do not distribute or sell the modified version,
- copy, and distribute or sell unmodified copies of the software in the source or binary form,
- modify, and distribute or sell a modified version of the software as long as the source code is included and licensed on the same terms as the original you received (the GPL),
- Sell support for the software, without any limitations.
