Ironically the statement about compatibility reminded that last evening my HP scan jet wouldn't work under Vista, and HP does not support it anymore -- but I fired up Sane (in Ubuntu) and it detected and scanned in my image just fine, and I was able to copy it to my other machine over wireless that Ubuntu detected and installed drivers for automatically.
Linux has come along way since the days when I spent a week trying to get an EISA network adapter to work. Stan On Sun, Dec 21, 2008 at 9:23 AM, Jacob Torrey <[email protected]> wrote: > 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. > > > >
