Books have been written on this subject. <g> What are the advantages of Linux over Windows? Freedom. If you want to upgrade, then you upgrade without product keys, etc. If you DON'T want to upgrade, then don't! Amazing! I'm not coerced to upgrade my OS or FOSS software.
Some will say that Linux is confusing. There are too many distros. But that is freedom! I'm free to choose. I recently tried Puppy Linux (hate the name) on some really old laptops, and it rocks for old hardware! At one time this was a $5000 laptop, current value $50, and now it would sit useless if it wasn't for the choices of small and lightweight distros. Is Linux more secure? I think it is. The security model is better in that, by default, users have limited rights to the OS files, and have all rights to their "home" area. But more than that, Linux doesn't run ActiveX controls. Linux doesn't have IE merged in with the OS. There are other reasons too but it's too much to write up here. Heck, worst case, if you need to reinstall the OS, that only takes 25 minutes with many distros! Not hours with a Windows install. I forgot to mention that my Linux distro comes with a firewall by default and it doesn't get in the way. It just does it's job quietly. The big thing is that Linux # Windows and Windows # Linux. Some things are harder in Linux because ... we have learned Windows over the years and we know the Windows way and have to learn the Linux way of doing things. Its more that it is new(er) and we have to look things up. We're a MEPIS family. My wife uses Linux. My kids use Linux and for the most parts they didn't need any lessons. They surf the web, do OO.o, go to Flash based web sites, and play games, and learn typing by playing Tux Typing. No antivirus, no spyware necessary in the foreseeable future. I can't wait to get my in-laws on Linux now that they are getting DSL. The one main drawback for me, is that there isn't a development tool like Foxpro on Linux ... yet. Dabo/Python and REALbasic are getting closer, month by month. Very exciting stuff! Freedom. There is nothing more important. John Weller wrote: > I have agreed to give a session to our local U3A group on Linux. A question > I'm bound to be asked is - What are the advantages of Linux over Windows, > particularly in a home or small office environment? So - what are they? > > I know the biggest advantage is it is not M$, there are loads of free > utilities such as OO, also it is free - but what about the rest? Does it > need an anti-virus? Is it more secure when surfing the net? What about > spyware? > > For my own benefit - if AV and anti-spyware are needed which do you > recommend? _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
