Using Linux Instead of Windows - Essay Example

Linux or Windows? [Program Section] e] Linux’s traditional stronghold has been onservers and even today, Linux is considered as an ideal choice for many large companies and data centers to run their web-applications, databases and email systems, due to its ability to support a wide range of computing platforms and provide an extremely flexible, capable and fast environment. Even on desktop, Linux has come a long way and in past few years, Linux has made significant improvements in order to become a legitimate desktop choice for both the consumer and corporate users, hence, making Desktop Linux as one of the biggest threats to monopolies of desktop markets, especially Microsoft Windows. Is Linux really the best choice for desktops, just like the way it is considered for servers? Can it replace or become an alternative to existing operating systems, especially Microsoft Windows for desktops? No doubt, Linux is still struggling to catch up with Microsoft on desktop computers, but at the same time, it has made significant progress in many areas which are still not readily apparent to many consumers. This paper aims to highlight those areas of Linux, namely benefits of being open source, low purchase cost, robust security, software availability and customizable features. The conclusion of this paper supports the fact that Linux has redeeming qualities to become a choice for desktops and predicts its domination in the desktop world. Introduction “What Linux is, why some call it the antidote to all things Microsoft, and how to assess whether it’s the right computer operating system for your business.” (Fontana, 2000) Linux is an operating system – a program that allows users to interact with all the software and hardware resources of the computer, either through command-line interface, where the users type text commands and the computer responds according to those commands, or through graphical user interface (GUI) in which the users can interact with the computer through a graphical interface with pictures and buttons by using the mouse and keyboard. Besides Linux, there are many other operating systems available in the market; few examples are Windows, IBM OS/2, MS-DOS, UNIX, Mac OS X and OpenSolaris. Almost every operating system can be classified as either Desktop or Server edition. Desktop version consists of those operating systems, such as Windows 2000 or Windows 98, which are only capable of running on normal desktop computers, while latter are designed specifically for servers – large computers with highly sophisticated hardware, such as Novell’s NetWare, Window NT and UNIX. So why Linux? Linux is “open source” – means that all the underlying code of operating system can be modified, used and distributed by anyone under a legally binding GPL (General Public License), which allows the software to be freely distributed and governs the availability of the source code. As a result of this legal bind, Linux has gained popularity as a “free” operating system that can be freely copied at little or no cost. Linux’s reputation for reliability has forced many corporate customers to see Linux as a secure fit for applications, such as websites, databases and email systems, which run on their servers. This has made Linux an emerging alternative to Windows and many other operating systems in larger companies and data centers. Even on personal computers, Linux has started becoming an ideal alternative to Windows due to its ability to support a wide range of hardware platforms and a variety of applications, such as word processing and spreadsheets. Linux, with its myriad options, represents the pinnacle of the customizable operating system and anything in this operating system can be customized that can be possibly think of. It adds many of the user-friendly features, such as tidy graphical interfaces, printed manuals and automated installers, and provides the users with a wide range of customization options. In the coming pages of this paper, we will carry out an analysis of the above discussed points of Linux with the help of substantiate expert’s comments from different sources to assess that if Linux is a better alternative to existing operating systems, especially Windows? Moreover, the conclusion of this research will prove valuable to justify the thesis statement as mentioned below: “Linux is gaining in popularity, becoming an alternate to Windows due to its robust security, customized features, software availability, purchase cost versus windows and it is made with open source code.” Linux or Windows? The rapid growth of computers and technology in last few years has significantly increased the number of debates and arguments. Some of these debates have been around since the day when computers started becoming popular amongst public sector; questions like, if Linux would be able to break monopoly of Microsoft Windows in the desktop market, or is Linux a better alternative to Windows, have been highly debated for years. This paper debates on this similar issue and for sake of clarity, we put forward the exact question that says: which one is better – Linux or Windows? The answer is sure not simple and straightforward in any manner. To make a precise decision for choosing Linux as an ideal alternate to Windows for both business and personal users, there are many important considerations that are needed to be taken in account. This literature review attempts to explore how Linux can become best substitute of Microsoft Windows, by answering to some core aspects of Linux operating system as mentioned below: A. Benefits of being “Open Source” B. Purchase Cost C. Robust Security D. Software Availability E. Customizable features A. Benefits of being “Open Source” A1. With the design approach of open source, programming flaws in Linux are spotted at the very earlier stages and most of such defects are fixed within hours of their detection as the code is visible to developers who are free to fix the bug and issue an updated version on their own. Therefore, Linux users don’t need to wait for an “official” version and are free to use the unofficial fix. This is totally opposite to closed-source based software, Windows, in which a defect report first needs to be filed and then the vendor determines when or whether to issue an updated release. Therefore, users of Windows are much more at the mercy of the vendor’s internal processes. a. Expert’s comment to support A1: Messmer (2005) indicates that, “High expectations endure for open source (Linux), with proponents arguing that its inherently more secure because a much larger set of developers can read the code, vet it and correct problems.” b. Expert’s comment to support A1: According to Peeling and Satchell (2001), “The market greatly values robustness, and the Open Source model, particularly as practiced by Linux, encourages a large market of early adopters (compared to the size of the early market for commercial products) who actively help debug the software. Consequently much Open Source software becomes highly robust at a surprisingly early stage of its development, and mature Open Source products are setting new industry standards for bulletproofness.” A2. As compared to Windows, Linux provides more flexibility and freedom to its users by allowing them to choose solutions suitable for their needs from any trusted authority, say, distributors of Linux. The purpose of this flexibility is not only to allow users to retain their right for using Linux but also to provide them with the ability to continue to use Linux as their requirements change. Other benefit of this freedom is that the users can modify their software (Linux) without any restriction or limitation that may arise in case of proprietary software (Windows). This proves to be very helpful for those who can’t afford high budgets, such as small businesses with limited resources. a. Expert’s comment to support A2: Fontana (2000) quotes that, “With Linux, youre no longer tied to a commercial companys whims. Its not one persons idea of software; its being written by your peers. Its a new phase of software development.” b. Expert’s comment to support A2: Peeling and Satchell (2001) pointed out that, “Open Source software tends to be free of dependency on related products. Purchasers often perceive that the product works best with other products from the same manufacturer. Open Source software offers its users greater freedom to purchase other products, avoiding lock-in to particular manufacturers.” B. Purchase Cost D1. Cost is the main factor that makes Linux differs from Windows. Linux is either free or very cheap as compared to Windows, both for desktops and servers. Microsoft allows a single copy of Windows to be used on only one computer and they have even started (with Windows XP) using software, Genuine Windows (initially called Windows Product Activation), to enforce this rule. However, in case of Linux, once it has been downloaded or purchased, the users can run it on any number of computers for no additional charges at all. a. Expert’s comment to support B1: According to estimations provided by Horowitz (2008), “As of January 2005, the upgrade edition of Windows XP Home Edition sells for about $100, XP Professional is about $200. The "full" version of XP Home is about $200, the full version of XP Professional is $300. Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition with 10 Client licenses is about $1,100. Because they save $100 or so on, the cost of Windows, Wal-Mart can sell a Linux based computer for $200 (without a monitor) whereas their cheapest Windows XP computer is $300 (as of January 2005).” b. Expert’s comment to support B1: According to Dvorak (2000), “A Windows 2000 Advanced Server with 25 client licenses goes for about $3,299. Linux has essentially no cost and when teamed with server software called Apache, also open sourced at no cost, handles an unlimited number of users. When a companys IT people are planning upgrades, its not hard to see the advantages of the newer OS (Linux).” D2. Linux has proven itself in reducing the cost of not only the ownership but also saves licensing cost as well as cost of applications and software that are either bundled or can be downloaded for free which would be very expensive in case of using Windows. a. Expert’s comment to support B2: According to Dietderich (2003), “Because Linux isnt a commercial product sold or controlled by one company, the majority of applications developed for it are free and built by true believers of Linux for use by anyone. Linux software products that arent free cost far less than those of competitors.” b. Expert’s comment to support B2: Spanbauer (2008) states that “Besides working with thousands of other free applications, most Linux distributions come with a copy of OpenOffice.org. Though it is not a feature-for-feature substitute for Microsoft Office, it does the job, and for $500 less per workstation than Office Professional 2007.” C. Robust Security C1. Many IT professionals believe that since the source code of Linux is available to everyone unlike Windows, therefore, the bugs can be traced out at lot earlier stage by the developers who can fix these flaws on their own in a very short period of time. Also, due to availability of rich collection of applications with many advanced and user-friendly features, Windows is lot easier to be infiltrated form the outside and therefore, is more vulnerable to security risks. a. Expert’s comment to support C1: Lyman (2001) quotes that “The Microsoft platform provides some feature-rich applications, like Microsoft Word with its macro language support, and these powerful tools allow you to do interesting and useful things. But they also allow the bad guy to run code on your machine if the software is not configured properly.” b. Expert’s comment to support C1: Spanbauer (2002) claims that “Linux is arguably far more secure than Windows--something of concern to PC users everywhere. The Linux community regularly releases patches for security issues almost the same day that bugs are reported. Linux users also proudly claim that, to date, not a single virus outbreak has ever targeted this operating system.” C2. Most of us know there are rational design differences between Linux and Windows, but surprisingly, the majority might not be aware of fact that the architectural design is a key player for security of any operating system. a. Expert’s comment to support C2: According to Spanbauer (2008), “Linux isnt somehow magically immune to viruses, worms, and other Internet-based attacks, but the vast majority of threats target Windows and Windows apps. Largely by design — as well as because of its minority status — Linux is simply not subject to most of the Net based malware that threatens PCs.” c. Expert’s comment to support C2: Petreley (2004) identified that for Windows “RPCs (Remote Procedure Call) are potential security risks because they are designed to let other computers somewhere on a network to tell your computer what to do. Whenever someone discovers a flaw in an RPC-enabled program, there is the potential for someone with a network-connected computer to exploit the flaw in order to tell your computer what to do. Unfortunately, Windows users cannot disable RPC because Windows depends upon it, even if your computer is not connected to a network.” D. Software Availability E1. Linux offers a large number of free open source applications. In the modern era, almost every application on Windows has an equivalent application on Linux. Moreover, the total cost of ownership of paid applications on Linux is much lesser than Windows. a. Expert’s comment to support D1: According to Spanbauer (2002), “The world of Linux is filled with free software--some fantastic, some forgettable. Generally speaking, Linux has a reasonably good equivalent to every major Windows package. While a Windows user might edit images in Adobe Photoshop, Linux users turn to The GIMP. Microsofts word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation applications from the Office suite are mimicked quite closely in OpenOffice and StarOffice on the Linux side.” b. Expert’s comment to support D1: Doyle (2006) states that “Openoffice has become the main Linux-based competitor for Microsoft Office and it is included with most packaged Linux desktops. It will display most Microsoft formats and the move to open XML formats as the default for the next version of Microsoft Office will also help interoperability.” E2. Linux even provide the users with lot of alternatives if they don’t find any good equivalent to Windows-based application for their need. a. Expert’s comment to support D2: According to Spanbauer (2002), “If you cant find an application native to Linux that suits your needs, theres always Wine, which ships with almost every version of Linux. Wine can run many common Windows apps natively in Linux.” b. Expert’s comment to support D2: Spanbauer (2008) claims that “Many Windows applications will run at native speed under Linux via the Wine utility that comes with most distributions. For those apps that dont work with Wine, two more options exist: You can install a copy of Windows using one of the available free virtualization utilities, such as KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine, built into the Linux kernel) or VMWare Server, or you can install Linux to dualboot with Windows.” E. Customizable features E1. Linux users are allowed to customize almost everything and the users can carry out the number of potential customizations, most of which are unable to be achieved in Windows. a. Expert’s comment to support E1: Doyle (2006) admires Linux saying that, “Take a look at Linux every six months because it is changing fast. As we get into broadband internet and browser-based, on-demand services such as Salesforce.com or NetSuite, you are no longer tied to a desktop, and that opens up all sorts of possibilities.” b. Expert’s comment to support E1: “If you cant get Windows to work your way, or if you feel like it never will, Linux represents the pinnacle of the customizable operating system. You can change the entire desktop if you dont like the way yours works.” said Spanbauer (2002). “In many ways, Linux is more a set of infinitely rearrangeable operating system building blocks than a unified OS.” E2. Unlike Windows, Linux supports a wide range of hardware platforms as there are no specific system requirements. a. Expert’s comment to support E2: According to Spanbauer (2002), “Linux, in one form or another, will run on everything from a 486 doorstop with 8MB of RAM (try that with Windows XP) to clusters of high-speed servers. It wont be the same version of Linux running the same applications, but Linux is good at fitting in where Microsoft leaves machines behind with Windows ever-increasing minimum system requirements.” b. Expert’s comment to support E2: Kaven (2005) claims that, “One advantage Linux offers is support for a range of computing platforms, including the first versions of Intel and AMD 64-bit architectures. Because of this, we expect to see Linux build on its server base and attract new business customers.” Conclusion Microsoft still dominates the desktop, but the facts that we have discussed above clearly shows the bright future for Linux and it is a prediction by most of IT people that Linux will soon become a favorite choice for desktops, just like the way they are considered for servers. According to research company Gartner Inc, the quantity of server sold around the world increased by 27.1 percent in the first quarter of 2004 to 1.57 million units and most of them are Linux Operating system. Linux based server hardware rose to %57.3 over the period (Legard, 2004, n.p.) The popularity of Linux among server manufacturer is due to the fact that Linux has proven itself a stable operating system in the business environment. Many major companies, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Dell and Novell, supports Linux and recommends Linux platform not only for servers but also for desktop machines and due to this, many businesses has already moved to Linux, few examples of which are UKcorporator.co.uk Pty Ltd (Business Services), Aurora (Software Developers and Computer Consultants), Aerospace Parts International, Inc. (Aerospace) and so many other companies which cannot be listed less than in fifty pages (The comprehensive list is available at http://hitachi-id.com/linux-biz/). All these factors put together builds a strong case for Linux to be preferred over Windows in the next generation computing. While Linux has already captured a large market share on the Server end computing, it still needs to travel a long way in capturing the desktop market share. Desktop level applications like Open Office and Wines are already in the process of building a strong case for global acceptance of Linux at the desktop level. The statistics shown below is clearly demonstrating the gain in popularity of Linux and now, the decision is yours! Figure 1. Widows vs Linux References Dietderich, A. (2003). Linux gaining admirers, users. Crain’s Detroit Business, 19(15), 1. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from Regional Business News database. Doyle, E. (2006). Is Linux ready to challenge MS Vista?. Computer Weekly, 54-56. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from MasterFILE Premier database. Dvorak, P. (2000). Linux gets ready for the engineering desktop. Machine Design, 72(9), 76. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Fontana, J. (2000). GETTING TO KNOW LINUX. ColoradoBiz, 27(7), 36. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from Regional Business News database. Horowitz, M. (2008). LINUX vs. WINDOWS. Retrieved December 8, 2008 from http://www.michaelhorowitz.com/Linux.vs.Windows.html Kaven, O. (2005). WILL 2006 BE LINUX’S YEAR?. PC Magazine, 24(13), 104. Retrieved December 9, 2008, from Academic Search Premier database. Legard, D. (2004). Gartner: Rapid Linux growth boosts server market. Retrieved December 9, 2008 from http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/05/26/HNlinuxgrowth_1.html Lyman, J. (2001). The Great Security Debate: Linux vs. Windows. Retrieved December 8, 2008 from http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/7907.html Messmer, E. (2005). Open source vs. Windows: Security debate rages. Network World, 22(26), 26-27. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from MasterFILE Prermier database. Peeling, N., & Satchell, J. (2001). Analysis of the Impact of Open Source Software. Retrieved December 8, 2008 from http://www.govtalk.gov.uk/documents/QinetiQ_OSS_rep.pdf Petreley, N. (2004). Security Report: Windows vs Linux. Retrieved December 8, 2008, from http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/22/security_report_windows_vs_linux/ Spanbauer, S. (2002). Linux vs. Windows: The Rematch. PC World, 20(11), 97. Retrieved December 8, 2008 from Professional Development Collection database. Spanbauer, S. (2008). Linux: A Least-Cost Alternative to Windows. PC World, 26(10), 49-50. Retrieved December 8, 2008 from Professional Development Collection database. Windows vs Linux [Image] (2008). Retrieved December 9, 2008, from http://techwizardz.blogspot.com/2008/10/windows-or-linuxa-comparison.html Read More