Hello List Lurkers!
I have been asked to co-author a newspaper column in the Valley News
comparing Linux and Windows using the following categories:
* Bang for your buck
* Learning Curve
* Compatibility
* Software Availability
* Help Availability
* Security
I'm supposed to write a paragraph about each, and the other author will
do the same, then I get a 1 sentence rebuttal to each of his paragraphs
and vice versa. I'm asking for feedback on my rough draft paragraphs
(attached). Any feedback would be great.
Jacob
The Win Vs. The Lin
Peter Crosby & Jacob Torrey
Linux:
Bang for the buck:
GNU/Linux has the advantage of being a truely free operating system in two
respects. First, GNU/Linux costs nothing,
it is free to download, install, and share. Ubuntu (a very common flavor of
GNU/Linux) will even ship you install CDs
for free. You can optionally purchase commercial support or management
utilities from companies like Red Hat or Novell.
GNU/Linux is also free in terms of licensing, there is no restrictions on
how you can use it, or how many computers you
can install it on. This freedom makes it especially valuable to schools and
companies looking to reduce IT costs.
Learning Curves:
Traditionally, Linux has gotten a bad rap for being hard to use, and
difficult to install. However, it has come a long
way in the last few years, and is now very user-friendly. The reason that a
learning curve exists is simply because it
is different from Windows. Admittedly sometimes getting a Linux computer to
initially reckonize perhiphials can take
a bit of effort. GNU/Linux lets you configure your system to get it exactly
as you want it, and since it's so customizable,
it can take a while to find all the settings to get things as you want them.
Compatibility:
This is another area where GNU/Linux has gotten bad marks, however,
recently Linux took the lead in supporting the most
hardware of any operating system. I can add a printer to my computer by
simply plugging in the USB cable, or add a network
printer by selecting the name of the printer, it will automatically find
the best drivers to use. As far as compatibility
with other computers go, Linux is at the front of the pack. Since it has a
smaller market share than both Mac and Windows,
the developers of GNU/Linux have made sure to be fully compatible with both
in terms of networking and files. My computer
can access a shared folder on a Windows machine just as easily as is can a
Mac. I have no problem opening and saving images,
documents and media files that will work on other operating systems.
Software Availability:
Since GNU/Linux is truely free, the software that comes with it is mostly
free of restrictions also; Ubuntu comes with the
OpenOffice suite as a Microsoft Office replacement, F-Spot and the GIMP for
cataloging and editing photos, Firefox and Evolution
or Thunderbird for email and Pidgin for chat and IM. Almost all commercial
applications have an open-source counter-part, for
those that do not, there are tools such as WINE or VirtualBox that let you
run Windows programs (or even an entire Windows
environment) in Linux.
Help Availability:
Since the Linux community has been around for a while, and it is mostly a
volunteer community, the help is very good, but
requires using different channels to aquire that help. Generally a simple
Google search will return many solutions to your
problem, if not, there are forums and chat rooms where you can receive free
help. If you want something more reliable, there
a a number of companies that provide commercial support for GNU/Linux.
Security:
This is really where GNU/Linux has always shined. Since it's actively
developed by thousands of people all around the world,
it has an inherent peer-review system built-in. Also, unlike Microsoft,
which has deadlines to meet, GNU/Linux only releases
new versions when there are enough new features, there is much less rush,
and less chance of cutting corners in terms of security.
Generally, whenever a security problem is fixed, there is a world-wide
network of developers that are working to fix it within
24 hours. Also, the overall design of Linux is designed to limit exposure
incase of an exploit, because of this, there are almost
no viruses for Linux.
