Tech Smartly

This is a short introduction to Linux, because there just simply aren’t enough people who know about it

Linux is an operating system that originated from a man called Linus Torvald. He based Linux off of UNIX, the same operating system that OSX is based on, except it’s not as bad as OSX. It started in 1991. A commercial operating system called MINIX, based on UNIX, was being sold. Linus wanted to create a similar operating system, but one that was free. This led him to create the Linux kernel, together with everything from the GNU project. He released GNU/Linux on 17 December 1991. Oddly enough, Linus was working on Linux when he was in a university as well. However, he did not drop out. Now what about Linux would be so great as to merit such a long and boring intro? There are too many reasons, so I will just give a very brief summary.

It is the most secure OS on the market. It has almost no viruses. In fact, there probably is no need for an anti virus. Since people find problems, fix them, and submit the solution, exploits are quickly fixed. Don’t ever use an anti virus on Linux. It simply isn’t worth it. Even when Linux gets more popular, and more people (attempt to) create viruses, Trojans, or worms, there are more people that will also fix all of those exploits. This makes the developers have to do less work, and makes Linux more secure.

Linux also turns out to be one of the most reliable operating systems around. There are some servers that have been up for more than 5 years, and have never been shut down due to crashes. Linux runs programs in a different way, where they aren’t tied to the system. The system is 1 layer, and applications are another. When the application crashes, or something goes wrong, it is much easier to get out of such a situation. I’ve had windows fail to load when a file became corrupt due to turning off the power when my games froze, or some other application. It is possible to recover from almost every situation without leaning over to touch that power button.

Different distributions are what make Linux so much better. Don’t like how red hat handles certain things? Then you might want to check out Slackware. Oh, it doesn’t have a good package management system? Maybe try Ubuntu, or Kubuntu, or maybe Fedora, or even Opensuse. You want something that feels more like windows? Trying to get someone to switch to Linux? Try Linespire, or Freespire! But maybe Mandriva suits your tastes more, especially since it has such an easy way of installing. Now what if you’re stuck with windows? Use DSL, a distribution of Linux that is only 49.5 mB. It is possible to run Linux inside of windows using only a pen drive.

Lastly, Linux is completely free. No money has to be exchanged. You don’t need to buy a separate copy for every computer. Even software can all be free. For Photoshop you have gimp. For Microsoft office there is OpenOffice. A lot of money could be saved if we didn’t spend so much on commercial products when there are just as good products that you can get for free. I never believed in the saying “you get what you pay for”.

Linux is used everywhere. It’s just too hard to pretend it doesn’t exist. Phones are using it. Big businesses, as well as small ones. Computer used for work, gaming, or surfing. More and more schools are using it. It’s not a fad, an inferior OS, or just a little piece of dirt on the sidelines. It’s something much better than windows. That resource hogging Aero that was in Vista was in Linux long before. In fact, Linux can do better things than Aero. In short, Linux is in general, a better operating system.