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Unsurpassed computing power, portability, and flexibility.
A Linux cluster recently (April 1999) beat a Cray supercomputer
in a standard benchmark. Linux is most popular on Intel-based
PCs (price of the hardware), but it runs very well on numerous
other hardware platforms, from toy-like to mainframes. One
distribution (Debian) expresses the idea like this: "Linux,
The Universal Operating System." Linux can be customized
to perform almost any computing task.
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Advanced graphical user interface. Linux uses a standard,
network-transparent X-windowing system with a "window
manager" (typically KDE or GNOME).
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Dozens of excellent, free, general-interest desktop applications.
This include a range of web browsers, email programs, word
processors, spreadsheets, bitmap and vector graphics programs,
file managers, audio players, CD writers, some games, etc.
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Thousands of free applets, tools, and smaller programs.
"Small is beautiful" goes well with Linux philosophy.
The small Linux tools and applets often work in tandem to
perform more complex tasks.
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Hundreds of specialized applications built by researchers
around the world (astronomy, information technology, chemistry,
physics, engineering, linguistics, biology, ...). In many
fields, Linux seems like "the only" operating
system in existence (try to find out what your friend astronomer
runs on her computer). The software in this category is
typically not very easy to use, but if you want the power,
it is the best software that humanity has in these areas.
Doubtful? Have a look at:
http://SAL.KachinaTech.COM/Z/2/index.shtml for examples.
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Scores of top-of-the line commercial programs including
all the big databases (e.g., Oracle, Sybase, but no Microsoft's).
Many (most?) of these are offered free for developers and
for personal use.
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A truly great learning platform. If you are a parent, you
should be really glad your daughter/son does Linux--s/he
will surely learn something of lasting value. If you are
a teacher, you should consider the installation of Linux
at your school. "It is indeed a strange world when
educators need to be convinced that sharing information,
as opposed to concealing information, is a good thing"
(http://edge-op.org/grouch/schools.html). You select Linux
if you care to provide education, not training. The better
the university, the greater the chance their computer department
uses Linux in teaching. For example, under Linux, you can
immediately begin modifying and compiling for yourself a
spreadsheet application which is in every bit as advanced
and capable as MS Excel. Linux puts you right on the cutting
edge (in technology, project management, QA, methodology
of science). Many teachers won't use Linux in schools because
they are lacking in computer education themselves (at least
that's what I see).
- Excellent
networking capability built into your operating system.
You think you don't need a network? Once you try home
networking, you will never be able to live without it! How
about connecting the two or more computers that you have
at home and sharing your hard drives, CDROM(s), sound card(s),
modem, printer(s), etc.? How about browsing the net on two
or more machines at the same time using a single Internet
connection? How about playing a game with your son over
your home network? Even your old 386 with Win3.11 may become
useful again when connected to your Linux Pentium server
and when it is able to use your network resources. All necessary
networking software comes with standard Linux, free, just
setup is required. And it is not second-rate shareware--it
is exactly the same software that runs most of the Internet
(the Apache software runs more than 50% of all Internet
web servers and Sendmail touches some 70% of all e-mail).
The pleasure of home networking is something I was able
to discover only owing to Linux.
- Connectivity
to Microsoft, Novel, and Apple proprietary networking. Reading/writing
to your DOS/MS Windows and other disk formats. This includes
"transparent" use of data stored on the MS Windows
partition of your hard drive(s).
Linux Newbie Guide by Stan, Peter and Marie Klimas 01/08/2003
- State-of-art
development platform with many best-of-the-kind programming
languages and tools coming free with the operating system.
Access to all the operating system source codes, should
you require it, is also free. The "C" compiler
that comes standard with Linux can compile code for more
platforms than (probably) any other compiler on earth. Perl,
Python, Guile, Tcl, Ruby, powerful "shell" scripting,
and even an assembler also come as standard with Linux.
- Freedom
from viruses, "backdoors" to your computer, software
manufacturer "features," invasion of privacy,
forced upgrades, proprietary file formats, licensing and
marketing schemes, product registration, high software prices,
and pirating. How is this? Linux has no viruses because
it is too secure an operating system for the viruses to
spread with any degree of efficiency. The rest follows from
the open-source and non-commercial nature of Linux: Linux
evolved itself by "bazar-like" mechanisms to encapsulate
the best computing practices, code legibility and correctness,
security, flexibility, usefulness, coolness, performance.
- The
operating platform that is guaranteed "here-to-stay."
Since Linux is not owned, it cannot possibly be put out
of business. The Linux General Public License (GPL) insures
that development/maintanance will be provided as long as
there are Linux users. There is a great number of highly-educated
Linux users and tens of thousands of actively developed
projects.
- A
platform which will technically develop at a rapid pace.
This is insured by the modern, open-software development
model which Linux implements: "build-on-the-back-of-the-previous-developer"
and "peer-review-your-code" (as opposed to the
anachronistic closed-software model: "always-start-from-scratch"
and "nobody-will-see-my-code"). Even if the current
"Linux hype" died out, Linux will develop as it
did before the media hype started. Open source development
does have its peculiarities: the development appears rather
slow (vertically) but it proceeds on a very wide front,
dangerous security bugs are fixed almost upon discovery,
there are typically several alternatives for a program of
similar functionality. Linux depth cannot be overestimated.
If you wanted to learn first-hand about the General Public
License, check these famous GNU documents:
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
http://www.gnu.org/gnu/linux-and-gnu.html
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/categories.html#TheGNUsystem
In a nutshell, the GNU General Public Licence (GPL) allows
anybody to:
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use the software at no charge, without any limitations,
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copy, and distribute or sell unmodified copies of the software
in the source or binary form,
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modify, and distribute or sell a modified version of the
software as long as the source code is included and licenced
under the GPL,
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sell support for the software.
What this license *does not* allow to do is to modify the
software and then distrubute a binary-only version of the
software (without the source code). Speaking plainly, the
GPL licence just forbids stealing somebody else's software
for incorporation into a closed, commercial-only product.
However, you may incorporate GPL software in a propriatory
computer program if you obtain a permission from the author.
Excluded from the use of GPL are persons who have been found
to violate GPL.
The license under which Linux is distributed is probably the
most important part of it. It is designed to perpetuate the
freedom of information. Other important open-source projects
include science and law (hardly a joke). The Linux method
is really nothing
new--it is simply the application of the scientific method
to software: you get information free, you add your ideas
and make your living, and finally, you leave it free. However,
some big corporations and their lawyers seem to be trying
hard to change this, to push us back in time, to the dark
ages, when information was kept "proprietary." Hence,
you see in newspapers some famous Linux-connected persons
involved in all kinds of struggles.
To get a flavour for the value of Linux, here are some prices
for commercial software as listed at www.amazon.com. All prices
are in $USA, as listed on 2001-02-03, with discounts. Roughly
equivalent Linux software is included on almost any Linux
CD (but with no restrictions on the number of clients). In
addition, the hardware for Linux is MUCH cheaper, since Linux
can run all services on a single server:
Microsoft Windows 2000 Server (5-client)--$848.99; Microsoft
Exchange 2000 Server (5-client)--$1,279.99; Microsoft Outlook
2000 (1-client)--$94.99; Systems Management Server 2.0 (10-Cals)--$994.99;
Proxy Server 2.0--$886.99; Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Standard
Edition (5-client)--$1,229.99; Microsoft SQL Server 2000
Standard Edition (1-user License)--$4,443.99; Microsoft
BackOffice Small Business Server 4.5 NT (Add-On 5-CAL)--$264.99;
Windows NT Server Prod Upgrade From BackOffice SBS Small
Bus Server (25-client)--$558.99; Microsoft Windows 2000
Advanced Server Upgrade (25-client)--$3,121.99; Microsoft
FrontPage 2000--$129.99; Microsoft Internet Security and
Acceleration Server --$664.99; Site Server Commerce 3.0
(25-client)--$4,092.99; Visual C++ 6.0 Professional Edition
with Plus Pack--$525.99; Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise
6.0 with Plus Pack--$1,128.99; Microsoft Visual Sourcesafe
6.0 CD--$469.99; Microsoft Office 2000 Standard (1-client)--$384.99;
Adobe Photoshop 6.0--$551.99; Microsoft Plus Game Pack--$19.99.
The word "free" has two quite different meanings
in the English language, and it sometimes leads to misconceptions
about the free nature of Linux. These two meanings follow
the Latin adjective "liber" and the adverb "gratis,"
and they are often illustrated with the phrases "free
speech" and "free (of charge) beer." Most Linux
software is free in both senses, but it is only the first
sense which is essential to Linux.
by Stan, Peter
and Marie Klimas
Credit by unknown
e-mail : juliano_rich@satumail.com
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