Well done, George. Bravo!
George Geller wrote:
Hello Everyone:
As many of you know, I've been taking Joe McGerald's course on Web Server
Maintenance and security. You can learn more about that class at my website:
http://wsms.wikiplanet.com. Since the course started in September, I've had the
chance to see Windows and Linux computers running similar software on identical
hardware side by side. I've become absolutely convinced that Windows is the
superior solution in functionality, ease-of-use, and overall cost.
Let's look at the server side, where Linux is supposed to be better than
Windows. Even the client versions of Windows like XP and Vista include IIS web
server, which is the functional equivalent of Apache. Windows 2003 Server comes
with servers for FTP, the WEB, etc. IIS even includes Sharepoint which is a
file server/CMS/Wiki.
Want to do software development on Windows? Just get Visual Studio and you're
off. On Linux, you get to start by learning bash, vi (or emacs), make, gdb,
etc., etc., etc. Or you could choose an IDE that will only do about 90% of the
job and then learn bash, vi (or emacs), make, gdb, etc., etc., etc.
Cost is another another area where Linux is supposed to be ahead of Windows. When was the last time
you bought a computer without Windows pre-installed? So, Windows is effectively free. I concede
that you can download numerous Linux variants. Notice the words "numerous" and
"variants". That is a big part of the problem with Linux. Which distribution do you start
with? And which options do you install? Which desktop manager do you select - gnome, KDE, or one of
the lesser ones?
If your time is worth anything at all, you will find the "savings" on the
initial price of the software are quickly overwhelmed by the amount of time you have to
spend hassling with installation and configuration. With Windows, you always have one
good choice -- for the operating system, user interface, application suite, servers and
so on. All the configuration and installation is done via Wizards, control panels,
Microsoft Management Console and regedit. On Linux you have to have root privileges
(whatever that means!) and learn how to use yum, or is it apt? (good grief). Oh yeah, you
better be comfortable with the command line, because that fancy schmancy gui tool that
the schmucks at RedHat gave you is only going to to about 90% of the job!
Many people say that Windows systems are prone to attacks by viruses and other
malicious software. I beg to differ. If you use virus scanners, many of which
can be gotten at no charge, and if you keep you system up to date you shouldn't
have problems. The bad rap on Windows security comes from two factors: lazy and
sloppy users and the fact that Windows is a big target. It's kinda like banks.
People rob 'em cuz that's where the money is.
George G. Geller, Ph.D.
San Diego, California
April 1, 2007
--
Best Regards,
~DJA.
--
[email protected]
http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
