Why use Linux?

[Diesel]

Coolness, speed, feature richness, ease of use, support, upgrade options, low (no) cost, and freedom all eight are said to be the main reasoning to go to Linux.

Coolness:



Or here are some custom designs people have had thanks to Linux:









And what is cooler than the Logo?



SPEED







Excluding gaming, Linux either wins or is just barely edged out on the large (1 GB) file copy benchmark. That said, if you like surfing the web and working on various items of a slightly more productive nature, than Linux wins; but if you're a hard core gamer than Linux really can't compete with MS Windows for the latest and greatest hardcore 3D shooters that require hardware acceleration. That said, there are some good games for Linux that we'll talk about in the next section.

Linux also reduces the need to upgrade or replace hardware when upgrading to newer versions. This is because its code is very efficient and compact, thus allowing it to work effectively on older computers that are not suitable for the newest versions of Microsoft Windows. There are even distributions specifically intended for older hardware. A good example of a version of Linux for use on older hardware is Lubuntu. The hardware requirements for Lubuntu are similiar to Windows 98. An old Pentium II CPU with 64 MB of RAM is enough.


FEATURE RICH

Linux is a fully-featured OS for desktops. Let's look at some screenshots to emphasize the following qualities:

• internet
  
• productivity
  
• multimedia
  
• graphics
  
• and even games
  

internet



In the image above you see a web browser, a file browser that can connect to my server, a web application running in its own window on the desktop, and an email client (respectively Firefox, Nautilus, Prism, and Evolution). These are but a few of the high quality web enabled applications available for Linux. Many of them come pre-installed, and others are just a couple of easy mouse-clicks away to install. Besides what you see above, I also regularly use aMule (a p2p client), Dropbox (file-sharing between desktops made easy), and Epiphany (yet another web browser). Many linux users also tweet, chat, instant message, use voip services, do video conferencing, transfer torrent files, and anything else you would expect someone to do with a web enabled device.

productivity



Documents, spreadsheets, and presentations are probably sufficient to cover the productivity needs for 90% of users and OpenOffice.org (OOo) accomplishes all that. But Linux does not stop there, as you can manipulate databases, do calendering, make use of dictionaries, and even edit PDFs on a Linux box. For even greater convenience, OOo is capable of working with many proprietary formats such as Microsoft's .DOC, .PPT, and .XLS to name a few. I know that I've managed to write and format entire books from my laptop while using Linux.

multimedia



Linux can now provide a complete multimedia solution that offers creation and editing capabilities for both audio and video. In the screenshot you can see a song I've been layering tracks for called parenteral routes, a video about HIPAA, I have Fenster's version of the Free Software Song paused, and it looks like I'm getting ready to record the whole mess as a video. The applications being used in this screenshot include Audacity, Totem, Rhythmbox, and gtk-recordmydesktop.

Linux has a plethora of multimedia applications allowing you to not just watch and listen to videos and music, but to even create music and videos ranging from quick voice captures and screencasts all the way up to feature length animated films.

graphics



Linux is great for viewing, editing, organizing, and creating graphics. I personally tend to use GIMP, Inkscape, and F-Spot to accomplish those tasks, but there are a plethora of options for achieving this.







SUPPORTIVENESS

Yes, support. Thanks to the great Linux community, you can easily get support when you do run into difficulties. In addition to the plethora of on-line forums, both independent and those provided by distributions (like Ubuntu, Fedora, and openSUSE), there is also support offered by many traditional technology names such as Dell, IBM, Novell, HP and others as they have businesses that sell and promote Linux. And finally, for support a little closer to home, most major cities have Linux User Groups (LUGs) that can and do offer help and advice. If you want to find a LUG near you, I recommend checking here as Linux Online lists LUGs located from Albania to Zimbabwe. Help and support IS available and does not usually mean spending hours on hold to speak to someone in a call center on the other side of the planet.

UPDATABILITY

Windows has a nice easy to use update manager that keeps your core operating system up to date with minimal fuss, but... most of your software is not part of the core operating system so you need to track when updates and security patches for your programs become available. If we use Ubuntu as the standard, your package manager is capable of tracking ALL of your software for updates and security patches.

Not only does the package manager handle updates in a more sane fashion, but it can also automagically handle upgrades when a new release comes out. This removes the pain of costly, complicated upgrades and brings us to our next point.

FREE AS IN BEER

I'm not sure exactly whom coined the phrase 'Free as in beer' (Richard Stallman was the first person I heard use it), but it always struck me as an odd sounding phrase since I don't recall ever being given free beer. What this does mean is that most Linux distributions are available for free. Either you or one of your geek buddies can just download a Linux distribution and transfer it to an appropriate medium (such as a CD), and you're set to install it without ever requiring any sort of financial exchange.

Sometimes, I'll here the argument that Windows didn't cost them anything either. I would like to correct that statement and say that technically it did, as the retailer that sold you your PC/laptop/netbook had to pay a licensing fee, and that cost was reflected in the cost of your purchase. So, unless you're pirating Windows most Linux distributions are cheaper and will save the end user money.

FREE AS IN FREEDOM

For many geeks, hippies, and software developers the freedom in which Linux is distributed is more important than the zero cost. The core of the operating system, the Linux kernel, is released under the General Public License (GPL). The GPL grants the end users the right to use, view, modify, and redistribute the software to anyone as long as they also make their changes available to anyone they distribute their modified software to. The GPL is not the only open source license used in most Linux distributions, but most of them achieve the same end goals as the GPL.

This freedom is a huge part of Linux's rapid development as many programmers from around the world have decided to make their own modifications, and then the rest of the Linux community gains form those changes as they get merged.

CONCLUSION - WHY DOESN'T EVERYBODY USE LINUX?

Many people don't know about Linux, or they rely on an application that is only available for Windows or OS X, or they're simply content with the operating system that came pre-installed on their computer. Me personally, all I do on my computer is surf the web, write documents, presentations, spreadsheets, make original artwork, do some hobby web design, make screencasts, record original music, do a little database work, listen to music, watch videos, play a handful of games, sync music with my mp3 player, and generally find ways to keep myself entertained. So far Linux has proven good at all that

For more information please look here.

[josh-emm]

wow this thread is realy HQ i might get it for games it looks good !

[0xE9]

I use FreeBSD mainly, I wish to switch to Linux but still deciding which one.

[Diesel]

wow this thread is realy HQ i might get it for games it looks good !

Thanks, oh the games would win you over ;)

---

I use FreeBSD mainly, I wish to switch to Linux but still deciding which one.

Linux is cool, fast, features richness, has a ease of use, good support, a lot of upgrade options, is low cost(no cost), and offers a lot of freedom

[0xE9]

Linux is cool, fast, features richness, has a ease of use, good support, a lot of upgrade options, is low cost(no cost), and offers a lot of freedom

I know that , I'm just unsure which variant to get.

[WhiteFlame]

Personally I found it takes to long to install things on linux. Though I do have to admit that the driver support far exceeded my expectaitons. Seems to me like there are more things for linux than mac which I wasn't expecting. The 3d GUI was pretty awesome too.

[Diesel]

Personally I found it takes to long to install things on linux. Though I do have to admit that the driver support far exceeded my expectaitons. Seems to me like there are more things for linux than mac which I wasn't expecting. The 3d GUI was pretty awesome too.

I've had Linux on a previous computer, but I didn't have problems.

[Solidus]

Amen.
But I wouldn't list games there, *nix definitely is not for games.
Also, Ubuntu was used for the boot speed test, it gets a whole lot faster.

[Peter L]

Instead of "for more info look here" say Source because it is not more info..it is the same info.

[Diesel]

Instead of "for more info look here" say Source because it is not more info..it is the same info.

Are you laugh from 7s?