Celtic Alliance Clan » Forums

Aug 07, 2009

I was originally going to review separate distributions of Linux but decided that I would not have been able to go into enough depth about each distributions and there are some very good reviews out there anyway. So I decided to go over the general advantages/disadvantages of running Linux over other Operating Systems.

It's free!
One of the biggest advantages to using Linux is that it is free! On top of this all the software for it is also free, most of it is available from your distributions repository which makes installing software a lot easier. For those of you unfamiliar the repository is just like a huge database with software stored on it, to install it you just have to type the command to get the software (apt-get, yum install, etc) and the name of the software. Eg. On Fedora to get "Firefox" I just open the terminal and type "yum install Firefox" and that's it done.

Stability
Linux is a lot more stable than other Operating Systems, it doesn't slow down or freeze up over time due to memory leaks and continuous up-times of hundreds of days (up to a year or more) are not uncommon.

Performance
Linux is able to run on machines with low hardware specifications (able to run on phone hardware...what you think Android is?) and can handle large numbers of users simultaneously. It also continues to work well even when the HDD is almost full, and is designed to handle multitasking better than alternate Operating Systems.

Networking
Linux was developed by a group of programmers over the Internet and has therefore strong support for network functionality; client and server systems can be easily set up on any computer running Linux. It can perform tasks such as network backups faster and more reliably than alternative systems.

Flexibly
Linux can be used for high performance server applications, desktop applications, and embedded systems (Android again). You can save disk space by only installing the components needed for a particular use. You can restrict the use of specific computers by installing for example only selected office applications instead of the whole suite.

Choice
The large number of Linux distributions gives you a choice. Each distribution is developed and supported by a different organization. You can pick the one you like best; the core functionalities are the same; most software runs on most distributions. Personally I like using Fedora out of all the distributions that I have tried so far as I just find that things work easier on it and have got used to certain things on it that are missing from other distributions.

Security
Linux is one of the most secure operating systems. “Walls” and flexible file access permission systems prevent access by unwanted visitors or viruses. Linux users have to option to select and safely download software, free of charge, from online repositories containing thousands of high quality packages. No purchase transactions requiring credit card numbers or other sensitive personal information are necessary. Also no anti-virus is needed as the majority of viruses are designed to work on Windows machines!

Open Source
If you develop software that requires knowledge or modification of the operating system code, Linux’s source code is at your fingertips. Most Linux applications are Open Source as well.

Any more questions feel free to ask.

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