By: Sushil Mayengbam *
To begin this perspective, I must say that I’ve intended the readers to be a computer techie.
Linux, as we know is the most successful example of the so called -open source revolution. It is an increasing phenomena that the world is slowly shifting to this open-source evolution.
Microsoft remains Micro$oft and it remains as it is. Most of the bussiness, educational institutions, govermental organizations are turning their gear towards Linux, and most of the softwares also turning thier trend to the so called -free softwares [or open-source ].
This is a fact and you cannot deny it. And even if you intend to defer, the world knows it already. It is like something burning brightly at the sky and we happen to see it very lately. It is gaining popularity among the computer geeks for the last decade or so.
I bet every serious computer programmer may know the ascent of this operating system. If you look closely, you’ll find the reasons behind it. I’m giving some of the reasons.
ONE: Linux is a free software; means you can download from the internet or get along in CD with trivial cost. If you want to see how it’s working inside, you’re given the entire source-code to do so. It is licensed under free-software license means you can modify [according to your suit ], copy it, distribute it. If you go for Micro$oft windows, you’ve to pay atleast US$100 or more without the freedom to modify or distribute or copied.
TWO: Every known utilities like Office tools,desktop utilities, media-players,compilers [c,c++,ada,java,perl,python,Lisp and many others ] are already there. If you go for Micro$oft, you’ve to pay for some of these entities.
THREE: Linux is open to everyone implies that a high quality support [for free on the Internet ] in terms of newsgroup, mailling list, forums are there and anything mishap is likely to resolve as soon as possible.
I bet Symantec [of Norton software ]is investing more dollars on Anti-Virus softwares [for MicroSoft ]. Linux, whereas is a descendant of UNIX architecture and it’s build from the ground-up with security in mind.
FOUR: Making your Linux system a workstation, a web-server, a desktop or a database-server is a simple matter during the Linux installation. You’re given an option [during installation]and you’ve to choose your choice. Making the corresponding configuration will be done by itself on behalf of you.It is as simple as that.
FIVE: Linux is highly portable. It is found to be run on different architectures with an equal ease as it is on its founding architecture, Intel.
SIX: Should a user decide to upgrade to a newer version of Linux, there are no licensing fees or other software costs if the user selects a free distribution (i.e., version). Moreover, the training, program modification/conversion, hardware acquisition and other costs associated with upgrading to a new version are also relatively low due to the compatibility with earlier versions
SEVEN: Linux is highly resistant to system crashes and rarely needs rebooting (i.e., restarting). This can be very important for large organizations for which even a few minutes of down time can result in a substantial cost.
The reason is that Linux has been designed from the ground up to be an extremely stable and robust operating system, incorporating all that has been learned about attaining these goals from the more than 35 years of history of Unix-like operating systems
EIGHT: Linux and other free software uses open format file formats. These are formats for word processing, spreadsheet and other file types that conform to industry-wide standards and which can be used by any developer of software to create compatible programs, in contrast to the closed formats commonly used by some proprietary software.
This eliminates the problem of lock-in to proprietary standards, with the consequent difficulty and expense of switching to other software in the future. It allows the user to have complete control of its data, particularly in the event that at some future date the developer who originally created the software goes out of business or stops supporting its earlier software.
NINE: Very high ethical standards are maintained for Linux and other free software, in large part due to the very openness of their development process and the free availability of the source code. Linux has never been convicted in a Federal court of violation of U.S. antitrust laws or other crimes, nor has it had to pay penalties for the unauthorized copying of technology developed by other companies.
TEN: For governmental agencies, Linux and other free software allows for transparency of data because it stores the data in formats consistent with industry-wide standards.
This is in contrast to the proprietary, closed formats characteristic of commercial software. Such transparency is important for maintaining an effective democracy. Keeping non-secret data in standards-compliant formats allows anyone to access it without having to purchase expensive proprietary software.
Also, storing secret data in standards-compliant formats is widely regarding as being more secure than keeping it in proprietary formats.
There’re many reasons to be cited about here. I think the above ten reasons are still suffice to say/mean the remaining reasons.
Reference: http://www.linux.org
http://www.reallylinux.com –> for beginners
http://www.linuxtoday.com
http://www.linuxjournal.com
http://www.tuxmagazine.com
http://www.gnu.org
Original article posted at e-pao.net
Why the world is shifting to Linux.
