Linux vs Windows and others My work and hobbies are a mixture of tech support, tech documentation, creative and political opinion writing. Though I started out in tech in the 80s' on a Unix System V at PCC Sylvania and my first internship and initial employment was in a Unix engineering environment, I migrated to Windows/386 for the GUI. For years I was a loyal adherent to NT 4.0 then Windows 2000, easily the most stable of their kind at that time. Unix at that time seemed so clumsy and overly complex for desktop work. It was only after XP and Vista started exhibiting video and driver issues and an unacceptable level of security vulnerability that I tried Linux/Ubuntu 7.10 'Gutsy Gibbon'.,
It too had a few driver issues (Nvidia) but Ubuntu seemed to be going in the opposite direction from Windows, i.e, improving. No more infernally intrusive MS anti-piracy routines that made system hardware upgrades a nightmare. Linux wasn't on a Microsoft-style crusade to make every piece of hardware I owned obsolete by refusing to supply drivers for legacy equipment. Two releases later, Intrepid Ibex just worked! Everything! All the time! Even my old Adaptec scsi card and the 10 year old HP scanner it fed. Flash forward to 2012, after all the changes and moves to a new desktop interface paradigm, I can't even imagine going back to Microsoft. For the very very few devices that only offer a Windows app (mostly automotive tuning and diagnostic stuff for hotrodders) I've got Wine or emulators. No worries hackers will penetrate my online banking or investment accounts or peek at my personal data. No fighting with the Microsoft gestapo when I change drives or CPU. Unlimited interface customization with a plethora of desktop managers themes and apps. Is Linux perfect? Nothing is. Does Linux meet the varied needs described above and then some? Beyond my wildest dreams. Would I use Linux if it cost $250 per 4-user license and Windows was free? Probably; it's that good. Oh and one more thing. I've introduced a few newbie users to Linux who either balked at Windows' price or just didn't know anything about software. For such newbies I've pointed them at either Xubuntu (XFCE) Lubuntu (LXDE) or Mepis (KDE) because they seem the most similar to traditional Windows. Haven't had one complaint yet, even from senior citizens. Linux must be doing something right. On 03/23/2012 09:20 AM, Mike Connors wrote: >>> A flip of Kirk's recent rant. > Although I have some CS studies and Linux/Unix admin work background, most > of my formal training and career has > been with Cisco& Nortel Network Engineering. > > My first encounters with Unix was with the SUN network management boxes we > used for managing the Nortel Passport > multi-service switches which I later discovered ran on Wind River VXWorks > embedded RTOS. > > I learned just enough about SunOS to navigate around in it and do what I > needed to do to get the net mgmt stations up and working. > > It wasn't 'til a few years later that I started working with Linux based > network management and troubleshooting tools such as > nagios, ethereal, kismet and nmap that I really began to appreciate their > value to my work. > > Since then I've always run Linux at home and have implored companies to > have Linux boxen connected to any network for performance testing, net > mgmt, > and troubleshooting. Although my current skill level as a Linux Admin is at > best at the intermediate level, being able to apply my understanding > of DNS, NTP, SMTP, Net Mgmt. and networking tools has made my work easier > and me more valuable. > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > _______________________________________________ PLUG mailing list [email protected] http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug
