On Oct 8, 6:30 am, Roy Schestowitz <newsgro...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Why Should You Use Linux?
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | Linux comes in over 350 different flavors. Each of these flavors is a
> | combination of a Linux kernel along with some software to run on it.
> `----
> http://www.raiden.net/?cat=2&aid=312
> http://kerneltrap.org/Linux/Smack_Updates
> http://linux-blog.org/index.php?/archives/186-Why-Having-500+-Distros...
As he has so often does, Roy has provided three excellent references
on a topic which has recently been discussed in this newsgroup.
These articles are a good response to the assertion that "there should
be only one Linux".
Remember that UNIX also comes in a number of different flavors,
including Solaris, HP_UX, AIX, UnixWare, SCO Unix, Interactive Unix,
BSDi, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, and so on.
There are also specialized versions of UNIX for real-time systems such
as Lynx, QNX, and WoRX
Each of these systems maintains a certain degree of compatibility in
the form of common interface libraries such as libc, libstd, libm, and
so on. There are standard libraries for X11, Berkely Sockets, and
numerous other standard toolkits. Nearly all of these are based on
Open Source systems, some of which, such as glibc, are still offered
exclusively as Open Source (LGPL) and others of which can be
repackaged as part of a proprietary system (BSD). Even Microsoft
offers Services For Unix, which provides the most primitive levels of
compatibility with BSD Unix (Shells, libraries, core command line
applications...)
Linux and Unix share a number of these standards. Ironically, many
versions of UNIX are now striving to be "Linux Compatible" by adding
the GPL and LGPL libraries. Even when the original Unix publisher
doesn't provide it, many times users or third party vendors offer the
compatibility libraries. For example, Red Hat offers Cygwin, which
allows Windows users to run applications, compiled from Linux source
code, on Linux. It's not as complete as running Linux on VMWare, but
if you just need to run PERL, X11, or some of the other Linux/Unix
administration tools on a Windows machine, Cygwin makes that possible.
Linux also comes in several versions optimized for embedded and real-
time systems. These versions are used in everything from routers and
WiFi hubs to HDTV and DVR systems. There are many devices that are
based on Linux embedded kernels. Since Linus doesn't insist that the
trademarks and Logo be used whenever the copyrighted code is used,
it's very hard to know how many Linux systems are really out there.
There may be over 1 billion Linux machines out there, not including
ANY of the desktop or virtual machine systems. Since there is no
mandatory registration and Linux doesn't "Phone Home", it's very hard
to get an accurate count.
Fundamentally, there are really only a few "Standard" distribution
frameworks, such as Debian and LSB. The rest of the distribution is
just an anthology of hundreds, even thousands of applications which
range from Open Source applications to distributions which include
commercial products which can be installed on a trial basis, or
upgraded from a "Community Edition" based on the need and priority of
the application. There are hundreds of applications which can be
installed as part of the distribution, and users can purchase
additional support, printed documentation, or supplementary toolkits
or plug-ins. For example, Eclipse is free, but there are some really
good commercial-grade applications that surpass many "Monolithic"
Windows applications, which can be obtained as stand-alone
applications or as plug-ins to eclipse.
Many accountants are now offering accounting packages for Open Office
BASE, along with tax preparation services. It keeps them in
competition with H&R Block and their TurboTax package.
Ironically, a good BASE application can be easier to configure and
customize for a particular business than Quicken or QuickBooks.
Ultimately, this is the fundamental distinction between Windows and
Linux. In the Windows market, everybody is the same, every PC is the
same, every Windows Customer uses the same standard package, and if
you don't like the way things work, that's too bad. You could hire
someone to customize it for you, but even this would be very limited
and very costly.
In reality there are Millions of Linux distributions, because once you
finally get familiar with Linux, you will have one distribution that's
perfect for you, and that's YOURS.
Many corporations now create standard Linux distributions. Most of
the configuration is done automatically, the core security and
management applications are automatically installed, and you may have
access to a corporate YUM server that includes the applications
approved by the company. With 1 megabyte/second Internet access, DVD-
ROMs that can be burned in 10 minutes, and Flash cards or flash-drives
that can store 4 gigabytes, it's not that hard to get Linux onto a PC
anymore. It's not that hard to distribute Linux - without having to
leave an audit trail or "phone home"to the "Mother Ship".
Linux has created a new paradigm in personal computing, which is
actually an old paradigm. Linux has made PERSONAL computing personal
again. Instead of a cookie cutter commodity box that looks exactly
like every other cookie cutter box, Linux allows each user to have a
box that is custom tailored to their personal needs, without having to
worry about the virus from hell coming and trashing the computer that
can never be reliably backed up and recovered.
Great Job Roy.
Rex Ballard
http://www.open4success.com
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