| Top 10 reasons Linux pwns your OS |
by Scott M. Morris (Mar. 16, 2006)
You've probably heard the talk and seen the articles from Linux enthusiasts on how virtually any Linux distro can run rings around Windows. To help clarify things, Scott M. Morris, the editor of Novell's CoolSolutions website, has complied all the key reasons in one handy, bookmarkable article.
(Oh, and the headline is correct -- true hackers will get the "pwns" reference. You'll find bit more "coded" language at the end of the article, too.)
Enjoy . . .
Top 10 Reasons Linux pwns your OS
by Scott M. Morris
1. Security and Stability - Yes, Linux is more secure. I know that there are over 120,000 viruses and malware designed specifically to exploit Windows (I personally asked Symantec). To date, I have discovered that there are only about 500 targeting Linux. Let's see. Yep, Linux is more secure and less vulnerable. I have personally seen several hacked Windows machines. Number of compromised Linux boxes that I have seen: 0.
- When vulnerabilities are found, it takes about a week for exploits to come out. With Windows you wait for about 45 days for patches from your OS vendor. With Linux, you will probably have a security patch before the exploits start appearing. In other words, if you use Windows, prepare to have your system hacked within a couple of hours.
- Unpatched Windows machines, left naked on the Internet, are owned within a little over an hour. Unpatched Linux machines outlast the study. Here are two studies that spell this all out (study one -- study two).
- Sure, you can tighten down Windows security, but who has six extra hours to tweak every registry setting, install antivirus, spyware/adware software, set up email scanning, and all that. Your computer convulses and trips all over itself with security scanning, checking, auditing, repairing, detoxing, and quarantining. Once in a while, you get an extra CPU cycle you can actually use for checking email, word processing, and all that other productivity stuff that you bought the computer for in the first place. No wonder it takes more power to run Windows than it did to get the first man on the moon.
- Now, Windows does "just work" a lot of the time. But then, after a while, it "just doesn't work." With Linux, you may have to actually invest some time up front to get stuff to play nicely, but once you do, it works forever. In the long run, Linux is way more stable. Linux machines rarely need rebooting, and can stay up for as long as many months or even years. Windows still measures uptime in milliseconds.
2. Ratio of money spent versus quality of software - How about $200 for an OS with the aforementioned gaping security holes versus the cost of bandwidth to download Linux? Linux being a stable operating system versus Windows, a hacked-together marketing scheme. I'm sure that actually started out as some kind of April Fool's joke that got wildly out of hand. Anyway, for the hardcore platform that it is, I'll take Linux.
- Let's see, how much does IIS cost? And how about Apache? Again, if you want a better representation of quality, they should swap purchase prices. You get what you pay for, except when compared to open source. Then, the best things in life are free.
- My point: you can spend thousands of dollars on Windows software or get superior quality industry-strength software on Linux for free.
3. Configurability and control - You don't generally have to hunt down drivers for the hardware. Most of the time, the hardware manufacturers don't even make a driver for the hardware (yes, I know that nVidia and ATI do, as well as a handful of others. I'm talking about most of the time). Because of that, third parties have made the drivers themselves and included them right in the distribution.
- You have direct access to the whole system, even the kernel. You can compile the code that runs your hardware right into the very kernel of your system. Yes, Windows has a kernel, too, for those of you that didn't know that.
- Whether it is installing hardware or performing tasks, Windows either does it the Microsoft way or it doesn't do it at all. Linux users get to choose between methods of doing it. You like GUI? Great, do it this way. You like the console? Sweet, here are seven other ways to do it in the console.
- One of the prime reasons that I hate using Windows is because it hijacks your experience, forcing you to do things the way Microsoft thinks most users should do them.
4. Ease of installation of software - There is minimal hunting for software. Most of it is available right from some gui interface or the commandline. For example, you can run YAST as a gui application. However, you can also run apt and YAST as command-line applications for when you need to install things remotely through SSH. What, you can't do that on Windows? Oh, and another thing: you pretty much never have to leave your seat to install Linux software. With Windows, you may have to head off to CompUSA or some other place to see if they even have your software. With Linux, you know right then whether you can get it right from your distribution or whether you need to get it from rpmseek.com. Either way, it's right there for you, free for the taking. Most times, you just tell the system what software you want installed, press a button, and it installs onto your machine. In many cases, it's just as easy to uninstall these applications.
5. Excitement in industry/momentum of Linux movement - There are already thousands of applications written for Linux. As more independent software vendors catch the vision of Linux, more and more new software becomes available. Linux is very quickly catching on, especially in the desktop market.
- Everyone knows how to do Windows. What's a little harder to find is a competent Linux administrator. By law of supply and demand, it would seem that you are more likely to earn more from your employment as a Linux admin rather than as Yet Another Windows User.
- Don't believe me? Why are state and national governments worldwide switching to Linux? They are switching at such an incredible rate that I have lost count, myself. Need proof? Here's a quick glimpse for you here.
6. Built as a networking platform and is adapting to the desktop, not the other way around, as Windows was. - What do I need to say about this? Linux gives you the power to reach out into cyberspace, almost giving you added senses. It speaks all of the common standard protocols of the day, including SAMBA. Its interoperability with other platforms is spectacular.
7. A wealth of online help and documentation available - If you need help with Linux, all you need is an Internet connection and the ability to read (perhaps it's this latter requirement that keeps so many people on Windows). The documentation, as well as the software is open and everyone shares. They provide the software and many methods of getting help with it. Because of the very nature of the operating system, there are less tutorials and resources online for most Windows applications. Whereas with Linux, there are hundreds of forums, mailing lists, tutorials, howtos, wikis, and other forms of documentation and help online. There is a wealth of information available to you if you take a few minutes and actually research your problem.
- A huge issue is that most Windows users can't handle this approach. They just want the answer and they want it now. They want tech support to hold their hand through the painstaking process of setting up their mousepad because they just can't handle the stress. Believe me, I worked tech support. This is their attitude.
8. Running Linux is very enabling and educational. - With Linux, there are all of these online resources available to those who know how to use them. As you do your research about how to compile your kernel, do remote X sessions, and set up virtual hosts in Apache, you build up a wealth of knowledge about your operating system. Knowledge is power. You gain the knowledge, and Linux provides you the power.
9. Linux is unbelievably versatile. - Per Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols's article, Windows Vista probably won't even run on anything that wasn't purchased in 2006. On the other hand, you can read about 100 Mhz laptops still in use because Linux can still run that hardware.
- Runs innumerable devices, spacecraft and vehicles.
10. Using Linux makes you l33t. If you don't agree, then you are wrong. STFU n00b.
This article was originally posted on Scott Morris's blog, and has been reproduced by DesktopLinux.com with his permission.
 About the author: Scott M. Morris describes himself as a resident Linux geek at Novell and is site editor of the company's CoolSolutions website.
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