On 2/24/07, John Weller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > What are the advantages of Linux over Windows, > particularly in a home or small office environment?
1. Freedom, as in control of your own destiny. Clients running WIndows 95/98 and perfetly happy can relate to realizing they HAVE TO upgrade and that means they HAVE TO buy new computers. Linux offers choice. You can run 10-year-old machine, but you'll need to gain or pay for the expertise to do so. 2. Treated as a customer. Your OS doesn't assume you have stolen it, demand that you register, prove who you are and justify that changing your software wasn't some attempt to "steal" the software. 3. Freedom from licensing, too: if you need to cobble together another machine for a temporary use, you don't need to renegotiate your licensing agreement to use the software. 4. Freedom of choice: there are dozens of choises for databases, programming languages, desktop interfaces, etc. The dirty little secret we all know is that things go better on Microsoft platforms with Microsoft applications. While they tolerate a few token competitors on their platform, with Linux/BSD/FOSS you have real choice. There's a lot more to say, but those are the highlights on the first cup of coffee. > Does it need an anti-virus? That shouldn't be a glib yes/no answer. Someone can probably write an OO macro virus that sends emails, though I don't know of one yet. The answer is more subtle. The fundamental security model of UNIX/Linux makes it more difficult for any one application to wreak as much damage as Windows, and far, far more difficult to take over the machine. > Is it more secure when surfing the net? What about spyware? Oses don't surf the net. Now we're talking about user-space applications. FireFox and the other browsers are more secure than they used to be. THis is a horserase.. > For my own benefit - if AV and anti-spyware are needed which do you > recommend? The vast majority of whats called "anti-virus" is just removing executables from email so that people don't click on them. Do that in your mail server or mail client. Users shouldn't try to run things whose source they don't clearly understand. -- Ted Roche Ted Roche & Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com _______________________________________________ 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.
