casey fraites wrote:
> Thank you guys for your responces how flexiable is
> it to network with linux what are the advantages vs
> windows?
The biggest advantage is stability. I have been using Linux on multiple
machines for 9+ years, and it NEVER crashes (unless your underlying
hardware fails (RAM, Hard Drive, Power Supply, etc.)). There is no Blue
Screen of Death. There is no sudden, "Beep-Beep I'm rebooting now,
surprise!". Other benefits include:
* Cost: Up-front costs can be free (if you want to use a free distro
like Debian (but it is harder for a newbie to use)). Even if you choose
one of the non-free distros, they cost less than Windows and you can
install them on as many computers as you own without paying more. The
"Total Cost of Ownership" of running a business on Linux is also lower
(this includes administration, maintenance, tech support costs, license
management and accounting, etc.)
* Speed: Linux is usually faster than Windows on any given computer.
One real advantage of this is that you aren't required to upgrade your
hardware very often. A four year old computer won't even run Windows
XP, is fast enough to run Linux quite nicely.
* Security: Linux is more secure (against outside crackers) than
Windows has proven to be. At least until now, there is no problem with
viruses for Linux. Partly this is because Linux is less popular, so the
virus writers are not rushing to write Linux viruses. However, the
multi-user architecture of Linux is also resistant to viruses. Only the
root user can erase important system files, so a normal user cannot run
a virus and damage the system. If you accidently run a virus as a
normal user, the virus can only erase your personal files. Under
Windows, a virus can easily make your system unbootable (requiring a
full install from scratch).
* Other: There are many other advantages that accrue to the industry
and software developers, that users never see. The politics of Open
Source software impact the end users by delivering higher quality, fair
licensing restrictions, long-term availability of solutions, the freedom
to choose between many different vendors, transparency in bug reporting
and tracking, etc.
*** NOTE: Most of these advantages in stability, speed, and security are
common to UNIX in general, not just Linux. That is because all of these
measures are expressed in relative terms: fastER, safER, MORE stable;
the real problem is that among all of the Operating Systems in the
world, Microsoft software is garbage.
--ronan
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