           
Why Linux?
Glad you asked! Linux
is commonly known as a server operating system or an operating system
for advanced users. Can a non-pro use it, and why should he or she do
so?
While Linux did begin
its life as a server operating system and an
operating system for advanced users, Linux has made significant progress
in a most key area: its graphical user interface.
Linux now has a very
easy to use interface for both the Windows and Mac crowd. The desktop
looks, acts and feels incredibly familiar, as do applications such word
processors, spreadsheets and photo editors.
Here are a few reasons
to use Linux:
FUNCTIONALITY
Linux comes with many tools you normally must buy separately if you run
Windows or Mac, including a full featured office suite (amazingly similar
to Microsoft Office) and a complete software development kit that is comparable
to Visual C++.
STABILITY
Linux is a very stable operating system. Linux systems don't crash often,
and don't need to be rebooted for anything other than upgrading the operating
system itself.
(ALMOST) NO VIRUSES
Linux is not prone to viruses. Because of how Linux handles data, a virus
cannot overwrite system files or append itself to applications unless
you are working as the "root" user. Linux has no registry or
DLL files, so Windows viruses have no effect on Linux at all.
PRICE
Linux is available for download for free. You have the option of buying
Linux CD sets at a very low price. But the two or three core disks, with
thousands of applications and tools, are there for the taking. And these
are "crippled" versions. They have the same files as the CDs
in the store box.
OPEN SOURCE
Linux is completely Open Source, meaning programmers around the world
have access to its "source code", which is code programmers
can read and modify. While this may not affect you as an end user directly,
it affects you indirectly because this means that Linux and its tools
and apps are under continuous, shared development. And updates to the
operating system and all the other software is a snap.
INDEPENDENCE
If the maintainers of traditional proprietary software (such as Windows
or Microsoft Office) stop working on it, or choose to ignore your problems,
you're on your own. Nobody can help you. DOS users remember a great program
called Q&A. Once the company that developed Q&A went out of business,
another company bought this marvelous app and then let it die. If someone
stops maintaining a Linux software application, someone steps in and continues
the work. The software is not "company owned" and controlled,
and so won't become a Q&A.
SPEED of development
Due to the its open source nature, many programmers from all around the
world work on Linux, causing it to develop and mature much faster than
other software.
FLEXIBILITY
If you need a feature in an application (or the operating system itself),
you don't need to turn to the maker of the application to get it in -
any
programmer can do it for you!
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Linux
News and Notes
News
and views about Linux from around the world, right here, for you. We update
this section frequently, so please check back often!
June
16, 2003
Why
Spammers Won't Die
This thorough Q&A
explains why reigning in spam and, more specifically, catching and halting
spammers will never work. It should be noted that, as this is being written,
Congress is considering legislation that will (a) negate all existing
state anti-spam legislation and (b) outlaw those who fake e-mail header
addresses and engage in illegal or false interstate and intrastate commerce.
The legislation will not seek to halt the
ability to send spam that is legal, uses real header addresses and does
not seek to bilk people with obviously phony scams. The reason the law
stops where it does is that advertising is legal, but false advertising
is not. You shoot the messenger, not the means of conveying the message.
Read the article.
The SCO
Unix/Linux Controversy
The market may soon be
defined by the ability to litigate rather than the ability to develop.
Rob Enderle, Forrester Research
Perhaps you've read about this. SCO, who owns the rights to Unix, has
made it known that it considers Linux to be in violation of its Unix intellectual
property rights. To wit, of the hundreds of thousands of lines of code
in Linux, SCO is openly griping about fewer than 100 lines of that code.
Of course, there is Unix code throughout Linux, as Linus Torvalds created
it legally thus more than a decade ago.
SCO has
threatened any company using Linux that it could be considered part of
the legal entanglement...one way to try to harm competition. The old saying,
if you can't innovate and do well, find some way to sue your competition
out of existence. Unix costs a comparative fortune while Linux is free.
Linux servers are flying off shelves, while SCO is having a hard time
selling Unix. Then, magically, Microsoft appears and invests in SCO. Hmmm.
Meanwhile, a lawsuit finds SCO in violation of the GNU/Linux GPL (General
Public License).
Read on.
The
SCO/Linux Controversy We lead off with perhaps the best summation
of the long odds against SCO. The article demonstrates the questionable
nature of what SCO is trying to do. Read the
article.
The
SCO/Linux Controversy e-Week offers an excellent editiorial. Read
the story.
The
SCO/Linux Controversy TechWeb asks if SCO is bluffing. Read
the story.
The
SCO/Linux Controversy NewsFactor says that one analyst finds SCO's
claims hard to verify conclusively. Read the
story.
The
SCO/Linux Controversy NewsFactor reports that SCO is slapped with
an injunction. Read the story.
The
Linux News and Notes Archive
What down
market? Linux server sales soar. Read the story.
The Microsoft,
Open Source desktop fight. Read the story.
Microsoft
CEO sends wake-up call to staff. Read the story.
City of
Munich opts for Linux over Windows. Read the
story.
Former
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman and Presidential staff counsel named to
Red Hat Board of Directors; News signals new Linux push in the influential
public sector. Read the story.
Novell
is making a big push to Linux. Read the story.
The Department
of Homeland Security has adopted Oracle/Linux server technology and has
abandoned Windows 2000 and SQL. Read the story.
Morgan
Stanley adopts Linux. Read the story.
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