From The Beginning - An Honest Look At Linux
Submit Date: 08/10/2005 | Views: 22037 | Category: Articles & HowtosA Good Thing Comes Our Way Every So Often.
Recently, an article appeared on CoolTechZone.com entitled: “Is It
Wrong To Love Microsoft?” While we will give the author full credit for
enthusiasm and loyalty to The Microsoft Corporation, his writing was
more an emotional statement than a learning tool. This type of rhetoric
is rampant within the Linux and Microsoft Camps. While not a scientific
or academic work, we at Lobby4Linux would like to make some clear
statements concerning the use of Linux and Microsoft operating systems.
This is not an “answer” to the above-mentioned author. It is simply a
well timed release of an article written over the past few days. “Is It
Wrong To Love Microsoft” was published at an opportune time for us.
The saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”, has
value and truth. However, there is something I want to talk to you
about that defies the above statement. If you use a computer for most
any reason at all, you are probably a Microsoft Windows User. Chances
are, you are a Windows User by circumstance and not by choice. It came
already installed on your computer and you use what you were given. An
extremely lucky break and some brilliant marketing strategies
positioned Microsoft for this blessing, and you simply work with what
is on your computer. That is not a bad thing…until there is trouble.
First things first. I have been accused of being “anti-Microsoft”. I am
not. I am anti-poor quality products. Microsoft is responsible for some
of the most brilliant and useful software in existence. They are also
responsible for some of the most insecure and dangerous software in
existence. Unfortunately, many of these offerings cover both bases. If
you operate a computer with Microsoft Windows on it, you should be
aware of the dangers that lurk…spyware and viruses, keyloggers and
people trying to steal your information and fool you into revealing
your financial data. All of this nonsense was created to be perpetrated
via the Microsoft operating systems. Not by a Microsoft system, but via
one. Make no mistake, I am not saying Microsoft has done anything to
cause this.
I am saying they have inadvertently allowed it and are unable to stop it…and you pay the price for that inability.
Take a moment to open a browser to google and type in “spyware tools.”
You will be inundated with hundreds of thousands of results for that
search term. The majority of those responses will be hits trying to
sell you software to combat the problem or individuals looking for an
answer to their specific spyware problems.
At last check, anti-virus and software to combat spyware was a two
billion dollar a year business. Yes…billion with a “b”. Thousands upon
thousands of people are trying to steal or destroy the data on your
computer each and every day. In 2004, the security software company
Symantec disclosed that 4 billion attempts were made on any given day
to corrupt, destroy or steal computer data via email alone. By 2008,
that number is projected to climb to 9 billion attempts daily. It is
just a matter of time until they succeed with you. I am not attempting
to frighten you, only to inform.
I happen to be one of “their” victims. It cost me dearly to learn facts I am trying to share with you.
I want to start with you at the beginning…we are going to take the time
to explain some crucial aspects of your computing experience. I want to
be as complete and exact as possible. You need to know what your
options are and the majority of you are not aware you have options. I
am happy to tell you that you do.
If it’s free, how can it be any good?
This is where the old saying from above does not apply. This is
important. No one wants you to buy anything here. This is not a pitch
for a membership or in any way an attempt to get you to spend any
money. I do not want your money. What I am going to tell you about is
completely free. I am an advocate of free, safe and secure software.
Now, How can it be any good if it’s free? Let me give you a brief
explanation.
Linux has been around since the early 1990’s. Until recently, and still
in many quarters, Linux has the reputation of being a difficult, quirky
operating system. I promise you, this is no longer the case. In the
event that credentials are important to you, let me share my highest
accomplishment with everyone. I am certified as a CCI on all computers
(Certified Computer Idiot) and I use Linux and the accompanying
software to run a successful business. If I can do it, this should be a
walk in the park for anyone else. I simply decided I was tired of
fighting my computer every day….and eventually losing.
“If this Linux thing is so good, why haven’t I heard about it?”
“If it is not advertised, it must not be a good product.”
The problem with Linux is not within its mechanics. Those are very
good, superb in fact. The problem in advertising Linux lies within the
sheer number of choices you have when deciding upon a particular Linux
System. There is no one company, there is not a “Linux Headquarters” or
Corporate Office.
You see, at the heart of Linux, it is basically the same code,
regardless of which distribution you choose. A distribution is just a
specific package or model of Linux. You have several “models” to choose
from, Debian, Mandrake, Gentoo and Slackware just to name a few. Again,
the mechanics of the system are the same. A Buick and a BMW operate on
the same principle and mechanics, they are simply different cars. With
Linux, the presentation you see on the screen is simply different
between distributions and many times these differences are subtle.
There are other differences too, such as software installation
techniques (package management) and default desktop environments such
as KDE and Gnome.
Which one is right for you? That is a fair question and another problem
Linux faces in persuading you to use it. With Microsoft Windows, the
desktop is presented to you in one single way. You can change it to a
degree, but basically it remains the same. With Linux, you have a
choice of about 3 major environments and about 5 lesser used desktop
environments. The difference is simply the pictures you see on the
screen and the functionality available to you via those pictures. KDE
and Gnome are the two most used environments because they offer the
user the most convenience and aesthetics. If you should decide to
explore Linux, you will be able to experiment with these different
presentations and decide which is best for you. Most all distributions
come with a default desktop environment so you can play around with
that one, then explore the others at your leisure. The choice to change
environments is available to you when you log in.
Linux technology is astounding. I say that not as a Linux User but as a
computer user. I use Windows, Mac and Linux and find that Linux gives
me the most choices at absolutely no cost. Now there are commercial
Linux distributions you must pay for and you have a few choices among
these, but I have found that the Linux distribution I prefer, PCLinuxOS
gives me just as much and I do not have to pay for it. I like not
paying for anything when given the choice…and Linux gives you far more
choices than any other operating system platform.
OK, the question may have already come to mind: “If it is so good, why
is it free?” Many people have shied away from Linux because they
thought if it is free, there is something wrong with it. Nothing could
be further from the truth. Linux is one of the few exceptions to the
rule “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Linux is written and developed by volunteers all around the globe. Tens
of thousands of software developers and packagers maintain Linux and
improve upon it daily. Each distribution has a developer or a
development team. These “DevTeams” improve and develop the specific
distribution. Whereas Microsoft Windows goes anywhere from two to six
years in releasing a new or completely updated system, some Linux
distributions update theirs every six months, sometimes much faster. I
have personally seen my distribution of choice, PCLinuxOS mature in a
matter of months. I am astonished by the growth and improvement of this
system along with its flexibility. Because it is a volunteer-driven
effort, most Linux distributions are free. You may have to learn a
different way of doing some things, but when you get down to it…Linux
is just as easy or easier than Microsoft Windows. You did not
intuitively know Windows when you first sat down at a computer, and so
it will be with Linux. However, I can promise you; learning and using
Linux is fall-out-of-bed easy.
It has been falsely reported that one must “hack” (modify) the code
(kernel) of Linux in order to use it. I am afraid the person who made
this statement either has not used Linux in several years, or chose to
simply not tell the truth. I have children who install and use Linux on
a daily basis.
I spoke of astounding technology. Allow me to introduce you to the Live
CD. Before this modern day miracle, if you wanted to use or try Linux,
you had to install it on your computer. Although Linux makes this a
simple accomplishment, few people want to fool with it, especially if
they have to re-partition the hard drive. This is especially true when
folks don’t really know what they are getting into. Partitioning the
hard drive can be at times, a confusing task. Today, thanks to the Live
CD, all you have to do is put the CD into the CD ROM, reboot the
computer and bingo…you have a fully functional and stunningly beautiful
Linux operating system on your computer. May I add again, without
touching any of the existing data on your machine. You can use it all
day if you like or for weeks at a time, and for anything you wish. You
can even access your Windows data files from the Live CD. Everything is
accessible to you when you use Linux. Do you have files on your
computer you need to access? You can access and use them just as if you
were in your regular Windows environment. When you are done, simply
remove the CD from the CD ROM and reboot back into your normal
computing preference. Amazing.
Without getting too bogged down in the technical aspect, I want to
briefly return to the subject of viruses, spyware, trojans and worms.
You have all heard of these things and you know or have heard that they
adversely effect your computer. Many of you are infected now and do not
know it or at best, may suspect that you are. Many times, spyware and
trojans are loaded onto your computer by simply visiting a malicious
website or opening a seemingly harmless email attachment. These
infections can range from minor annoyances to complete slow-down and
lock-up of your computer. A recent article in the New York Times tells
about a recent phenomenon where people are just throwing their
computers away and buying new ones because of these infections. Not
only is that silly, it is a waste. With a couple hours work, that
computer could have been disinfected and used by an under-privileged
kid or a non-profit organization for years to come.
Because Microsoft Windows is the dominant Operating System world-wide,
hackers and virus writers have targeted it. Not only does Microsoft
have the majority of computer users, the Windows Operating System has
proved to be a fertile and easy environment in which to produce and
execute their unlawful code.
An experiment conducted by University of Texas computer students in
March of 2005 left two connected computers exposed to the Internet
without any protection. One of them was equipped with Windows XP and
the other one was equipped with Linux. It only took the Windows
computer a matter of minutes to be compromised. Hackers were finally
able to gain entry into the Linux machine in a little over three
months. While a “protected” Windows computer was later tested and
comprimised in six hours, the Linux machine remained untouched, once
placed behind a firewall.
When buying a computer, most people think that Windows is “free”
because it comes preloaded. This is not true. Talk to a sales
representative and ask him or her the difference in price between a
computer preloaded with Windows and one with no operating system at
all. When you finally get the answer out of them, it will be about
$300.00. Here is where many of us think you are getting taken to the
cleaners. Even if you think that Windows is free on a new computer, I
want you to start tallying the cost of anti-virus subscriptions and
spyware tools. This does not take into account your time in battling
these nasties and constantly having to update your computer to insure
it is safe. Even SP2, a major upgrade to Windows XP has been beaten. It
turns out not to be the huge security fix Microsoft said it would be.
With a Linux computer, about the only protection you should need is a
good firewall. Either a NAT/router or a software firewall will do
nicely. To be honest, I have not used a software firewall in two years,
nor have I used any anti-virus software. My home and office computers
are on a home network and the router takes care of everything. Now, you
will have to learn some simple port forwarding, but as complex as you
may think that is, it is actually very simple and takes a matter of
minutes. For those who have a stand-alone machine, Linux comes equipped
with a few different yet effective software firewalls and as in
everything on your Linux install, it is free of cost.
I began this article by telling you that I am not anti-Microsoft.
Again, I will assure you that I am not. Here is the problem I do have
with the Microsoft Corporation. They know that their software is
suspect at best. In the spring and summer of 2005, Microsoft spent
millions upon millions of dollars acquiring anti-virus and anti-spyware
software companies. It is reported that Microsoft has plans to begin
marketing their own anti-spyware and anti-virus software to its users.
Why not just fix the problem with the operating system?
Revenue.
If I was a new car dealer and I sold you a car today, and in a month
you called me and told me that the doors had fallen off, what would you
expect of me? You would want me to fix the car obviously. Well, if
Microsoft was a car dealer, they would not do this. They have no
interest in fixing the car. They would tell you to purchase the new
doors and hardware from them and fix it yourself.
What kind of business practice is that?
So I am not anti-Microsoft. I am against this type of business practice
and model regardless of who practices it. If you are going to charge me
extra for the solution to a problem you created, I do not want to do
business with you. Now, take the time and read the EULA that comes with
Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Office. This is the “users agreement”
you click “I accept” to when you first boot your new computer or
newly-installed operating system. Within all the legal-eze, you are
agreeing to allow MS to monitor your computer activity and if they find
it necessary, disable your system if they find you are doing something
they do not agree with. Read it for yourself…it is some of the most
restrictive language ever imposed on any consumer. AND…you do not own
the software, you are leasing it. Yes you own the computer, but the
software is never yours.
That’s like buying a car and being told, “Yes, you own the body of the
car, but the engine is ours and if you use it in a way we disagree
with, we are going to disable it.” Forgive the automotive
analogies…they seem to get the best mileage.
Linux is not subject to the same problems faced by Windows Users. It is
safe and secure by design and the file system used by Linux, coupled
with the user permissions just does not allow for any of this
silliness. Can a Linux Computer be compromised or damaged? Sure, but it
is such a pain to do that most hackers and bad guys don’t even bother.
The Linux community has went about the business of making a secure and
functional operating system for you and I. I might want to mention at
this juncture that it is usually 100% free. I may have omitted that
fact to this point.
Pardon me, subtle humor is not my forte.
If you were to go out and buy Windows XP, you would probably spend
between 80 and 150 dollars, depending on where you purchased it. Now,
here is the important part for many people. Lots of us need and use
Microsoft Office. The Linux equivalent to MS Office is called
OpenOffice. Unless you are a student or an accredited teacher, your
cost for this software is about 300 bucks. OpenOffice is every bit as
functional and costs absolutely nothing…AND it comes bundled with
Linux. Again, it is the global support by thousands of developers who
make this possible. It is an amazing phenomenon.
With the lack of cost, the security of the system and the fact that
Linux actually makes computing fun again, it is hard to understand why
anyone would use anything else. No it’s not. People associate with the
devil they know, not the devil they do not know. Windows has been
around forever and everyone knows it. If you have a problem, everyone
knows “somebody” who can fix it. Linux is slowly turning this around.
The web is packed with help sites and forums. You can get an answer to
a Linux problem or question in a matter of minutes…literally. Not just
the data mind you, but a live, friendly person who will walk you
through until the problem is fixed.
That lead us back to the “free” part of Linux software. See, every
major Linux distribution comes with hundreds and sometimes thousands of
dollars of software bundled with it. All at no cost to you. The various
programs are bundled and packaged by the distribution developers and
they put it together as a distribution.
OK, let’s say I am a software developer by trade or hobby and one day I
open a picture viewer and I notice that there is a cool feature missing
or something isn’t quite right with the software. Because it is
published under the GPL, (the license that most of our software falls
under) I can download the source code, open it up and fix the problem
then re-publish it back to the original site with a new version number
and the list of things I did to improve it. This is how our software
gets to be so good. Another factor to take into consideration is that
there is rarely any shenanigans with GPL or open source software. If I
were to insert some malicious code into the software, in a matter of
minutes or hours, it would be discovered and I would be singled out for
creating the harmful release.
This, as opposed to closed-source, secret code software, is superior
for the above stated reasons. No one but the software engineer and the
company bigwigs have access to the code. Bad software can and often
does, make its way to us without anyone knowing it. We can see that it
is broken or doing things we do not want it to do, but we cannot do
anything about it. No, open source GPL software is the way to go. I
hope I have effectively illustrated this to you.
While telling you about how great Linux is, I have the responsibility
of telling you of the problems Linux Users may face. I do want to make
it known that many of the things I will talk about here are only
applicable to an actual installed distribution. In fact, some of these
are not problems at all but minor inconveniences, easily taken care of
by a simple command. Live CD sessions rarely encounter any problems of
any importance or impact.
Software installation: With Microsoft Windows, you happen upon a piece
of software you want, download it and install it with a couple of
clicks. What could be easier? Given the fact that about 1 out of 20
random software installations do something to crash the Windows system,
it really is not a good bet. However, some of the coolest software ever
written has been written for the Windows system.
With Linux, you have a program within your distribution that takes care
of you software installations for you. Sometimes its called Yast,
sometimes it is Synaptic…other times it is installed at the command
line with apt-get/apt-install. Each of these methods are simple and
straight forward. While not as easy as double clicking and having it
done, package management insures that the software you install on your
Linux system is going to work BEFORE it allows it to operate. On the
rare occasion that a piece of software is incompatible, Linux will stop
the installation and tell you why it cannot install. It will then tell
you what you must do to fix the problem.
How many times have you installed software on windows and when you
rebooted, the computer was broken or did not act right. Myself, it
happened much more than I cared for. So long-time Windows users may
find software installation in Linux a bit cumbersome…but it is safer by
far. Once you do it a couple of times, it will be second nature to you.
With my particular distribution, I have over 7000 software titles from
which to choose and all of them are free. Linux Users are truly blessed.
Hard Drive Installation: Installing Linux to your computer used to be a
tech level-5 event. In other words, if you were not a coder or
programmer, you were not going to be able to to it. The developers of
the Linux distributions today have recognized this and now installing
Linux is actually easier than installing Microsoft Windows. It just
uses a different route to do it. My 12 year old daughter installed
PCLinuxOS on her computer by herself. From the time she began to the
time she logged onto her new system was 35 minutes.
Many of you have not had to install Windows. Since it came
pre-installed on your computer, you simply turned it on and went to to
work. If you should ever have to do so, you would find that it is not a
stroll through the park on a spring day. Windows can be a challenge to
install. Once you install Linux on your computer, you will probably
wonder what the fuss was all about.
Linux is currently available through many vendors as pre-installed
systems. In fact, Walmart sells both desktops and laptops with Linux
pre-installed and at prices that will surprise you. Why are they less
expensive? The manufacturer did not have to pay Microsoft any licensing
fees to include their software and you recognize the savings
immediately. So, if you are in the market for a home or small business
computer and you think that Linux might be something you would like to
work with; you do have this option open to you. But what if you don’t?
Let’s look at another way.
You have the option to “dual boot” two or more operating systems on
your computer and you have a couple of ways in which to do so. I highly
recommend that anyone who considers dual booting actually use a second
hard drive for their Linux Install. It is actually possible to
re-partition your single hard drive to accommodate two systems, but
this is done only under optimum conditions and as stated earlier, can
present some challenges. If you do not have at least 5 gigs of space of
available on the target drive, then I highly recommend the second hard
drive route. Of course, I would make this recommendation regardless of
the operating system you were installing.
Once you have the Linux system installed on the second drive you are
ready to go. When the computer boots and does the memory and bios
check, it will then launch you into a field asking you which system you
wish to boot into. You make your choice with the up or down arrow on
your keypad and highlight the choice, then hit enter. Your computer
will then boot into the system you chose. It is really much easier than
most people think. I list hard drive installation as a possible problem
area only because most people have never installed an entire operating
system onto their computers. Honestly, it is easy. Remember, this is
coming from a computer dummy himself.
Hardware Detection: This is a big deal. When you first start Microsoft
Windows, it goes through an amazing process. If you could actually see
what it was doing you would shake your head in disbelief. So many
things happen in such a short amount of time, only when you realize
what your computer is doing, will you fully understand the miracle that
is these small beige boxes. Much of this miracle is the computer
detecting and assigning drivers to your hardware, then assigning
software interfaces to interact with it. This all happens in
milliseconds. It detects you printer, your monitor, your audio and
video cards or devices…even your usb ports and anything assigned to
them as well. Microsoft has done a superb job in making sure that your
hardware is detected and interfaces with your computer correctly. The
driver base for a Windows XP install is phenomenal.
Linux, until very recently failed miserably at this. As I mentioned
earlier, there is no single research and development entity for Linux.
There is no single computer lab where guys smart enough to frighten me
sit around and figure out how they are going to make this all work.
Instead, Klaus from Denmark writes a driver for a certain device, then
posts it to a website where Anthony in Italy can test it against his
personal 5 computers to see if it works, and if it does not, fixes it
and reposts for the next person to check.
This may sound like a slow tedious process, but it is not. In fact,
when security or software flaws are discovered, it is the norm for
these problems to be fixed within a matter of hours.
If you have a good DevTeam behind your distribution, you can see the
update for your personal computer within 24 hours of the glitch.
Microsoft has security issues that have plagued Windows users for
months now, and these users are told to disable the Active X function
of their browser. Not only is the security breach not fixed, you must
disable an important part of your Internet experience to avoid it.
Simple fix. Use Firefox! Having to disable any functionality that was
written into your program is a terrible choice. You paid for it, why
should you use it if it’s broken. Firefox, available at
http://www.mozilla.org, has proved to not only be more secure, it is
faster and can be customized to fit your specific needs. Just a short
time ago, a security flaw was found in Firefox and an updated and fixed
release was available in a matter of a couple of days. Firefox should
be your default browser regardless of which operating system you
choose. It is available for all major systems.
There is Good News for Linux Users however. The device and driver
support for most of the major distributions has improved dramatically.
Whereas it used to be that you had to go without a printer or 3d
acceleration for your graphics card, these days our developers have
built, tweaked and just plain fixed the driver issues. Does Linux now
have the driver support that Windows does? No, not yet…but it is very
close and most machines I install Linux upon work just fine. The brand
new, cutting edge hardware lags behind a bit until our developers
around the world can get a handle on them and post them to us. It will
not be long before Linux can boast hardware support equal or superior
to Microsoft Windows.
I have covered many topics and did not spend the time on some of them I
should have. This is because I wanted to communicate with you, not
deliver a technical oratory. Is Linux a good replacement for Microsoft
Windows?
No.
It is a good alternative to Microsoft Windows. Debate rages in certain
quarters about the readiness of Linux vs. Microsoft. You think our
nation is divided politically? You should (and probably will if you try
Linux) see some of the exchanges that transpire on various forums and
websites. In the final assessment, the politics of this is not
important. What is important is that you be able to use, work with and
enjoy your computer without worry or strain. My personal business and
all the computers associated with my company use Linux exclusively.
Being as honest with you as I know how, I will tell you this.
Linux is not near as difficult as you have been led to believe. Plus,
you can finally get rid of that annoying anti-virus and spyware
software. Windows spyware and viruses are harmless on Linux machines.
So secure are they that Wall Street, The Pentegon and thousands of
Universities and corporations use Linux to do their business. That
should tell you something in itself.
The following are some helpful links for you. I do not include links
inline because they are a distraction. Should you have any questions,
please feel free to contact me: helios@lobby4linux.com
www.pclinuxonline.com
www.distrowatch.com
www.linuxiso.org
www.lobby4linux.com
www.tuxmagazine.com
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