When you first buy a new computer, you're pretty locked in to one of two choices to run the basic system: OS X (Apple) or Windows.
Well, that's not quite true. If you're willing to put in a little time and effort, there is another choice. Actually, there are a hundred choices out there, but it boils down to one family of OSes: *nix. You'll usually hear them all referred to one of the more popular branches, Linux.
You can look up the history of Linux (and the difference between it and BSD, and all the other OS options) if you're interested, but suffice to say, the basic impetus is that of all innovations at college: perceived necessity, available time, and relative poverty.
FLOSS Regularly
Free/Libre Open Source Software is a movement within the software industry away from proprietary software. Basically, it's a move to make computer science more of a pure science than an applied science: more like astronomic research and less like pharmaceutical research. The basis of FLOSS is the dissemination of knowledge; so that what one person knows, everyone can know. In software, the basic knowledge is the "source code", the behind-the-scenes programming that tells the computer's processor what to do. Share the source code - the building blocks of the program - and let people use it to build on your ideas. The upside to this mindset is that you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time you want to build a wheelbarrow. The downside is that such dessemination makes it much harder to make money off of the initial work.
With the tax season just around the corner, we're provided with a rather prominent example of how this works. The IRS distributes a set of static (unchanging) calculations, and instructions on how to work the calculations. And that information is available freely; anyone can go down to the local library or to http://www.irs.gov/ and pick up a copy of the calculations and instructions and do their taxes themselves. Or, they can go to a vendor who specializes in doing taxes (an accountant), give them the information to plug into the calculations, and no-muss, no-fuss the taxes are done. It's the basic premise of open source software. {OSS is slightly different than FLOSS, if taxes were "Free as in Libre", you would be able to change the underlying calculations in order to get it to work better for you. Try that with your taxes and you're looking at an audit.} The same situation with closed-source - or proprietary - software would be analogous to the IRS setting up kiosks, making you enter the information at a kiosk, and then printing out a bill or check. Yes, it gets the job done; but not disclosing the underlying methods prevents the taxpayer from being able to question or confirm that the calculations were made correctly.
Now, the next observations and comments I make solely on my own experiences with Linux. And a little effort and a little time was exactly what it took for me to get up and running.
A Little Effort
No matter what we're talking about, learning a new system takes some work. And a computer running Linux isn't running Windows, and it isn't a Mac. It's Linux, which is probably a system that's new to you, and so will require a little effort on your part to learn. And probably a little more than the first time running Windows.
Why? Well, the biggest reason is that you can change nearly everything. Which is why the mantra of back up anything you change should be running through your head constantly. Of course, the same is true when you are tweaking the workings (like the registry) of Windows.
A Little Time
Everything you do will take a little more time the first time through. Because customization is so prevalent in the Linux mindset, you can spend a more time getting things to work exactly like you want; and, well, that's just the way things are. The flipside of the coin is that because things are so customizable, once you have things set up how you want them, you're golden.
The second "time" factor comes into play when you buy accessories or upgrades. Now, in my less than humble opinion, the purchase of computer accessories and upgrades should never, ever be undertaken without first researching the part and confirming that it will work with your current computer. You wouldn't buy a program without first making sure your computer could run it; likewise, you shouldn't buy a camera, a printer, a new video card or a DVD burner without at the very least googling it to see what kind of problems you should expect and that you're going to have to deal with.
For Linux users, the step goes from optional, but recommended to absolutely necessary. It should be understood; as far as most hardware manufacturers are concerned, providing support and drivers for Linux take a distant second to making sure their product plays nice with Windows. {Drivers are the code/programming that lets the computer 'talk' to the new device.} Some manufacturers provide their own drivers for Linux; others offer nothing except well wishes. Still others will provide the specs to the Linux community and let them write their own drivers.
A Little (less) Cost
Even something that purports itself as "free" isn't. There really is no such thing as a free lunch. So what (other than time and effort) is the cost of installing Linux? Well, let's take the distro (version of Linux) that I installed, Ubuntu.
You can get Ubuntu Linux in a variety of ways. The first is to download a disc image from http://www.ubuntu.com/ and burn it to a disc yourself. If you're using Windows, you'll need a program like Nero or ImgBurn -- Windows XP doesn't handle ISO files natively -- and a CD to burn it to. You can get the download in two different install modes (LiveCD, a bootable CD that lets you try Linux without removing your existing Windows installation; and the Alternate install CD, which works on older computers, those with less memory, and select computers like HP/Compaqs that really don't want you to remove Windows) and two releases (the current 7.10 and the Long Term Support version 6.6).
The second is to actually buy the CD or DVD. Various retailers, including Amazon.com for the US, sell the DVDs. The difference between the CD and DVD is the amount of "extra" programs that are included. Of course, if you don't mind waiting 6-10 weeks, you can get single discs shipped free of charge from Canonical (the company that distributes Ubuntu); or packs of 20 for around $34 per pack.
Which is where I should probably let you in on the secret how companies expect to make money off of it. It's the same way an accountant does. The rules and regulations, the policies and everything else are out there for everyone to use if they want. Canonical - and Debian, Fedora, and all the other Distro vendors - put it together in an easy-to-use package, and are making their money by showing people how to use what's there, and providing support for companies who can't justify a full-time staff to fix things. For around $900 per desktop and $2750 per server (or $4000 for a thin client and cluster setup) per year, Canonical will provide 24/7 phone and email tech support. Compare that to anywhere from $70K-$130K/year for a senior systems administrator (Careerbuilder.com, for Dallas, TX area), and you can see why there's a market for it.
So, should you switch to Linux? Maybe, maybe not. The choice of which operating system to use is a personal one, and if you don't have a problem running Windows, there's no real reason to switch. I would suggest, though, that you at least try a LiveCD version of one of the popular Linux distros. Yes, an OS running strictly from CD will be a bit slower because you don't have access to a swap partition/virtual memory (an area of the hard disc used as/mimicing additional RAM) and because you're limited by the optical drive's capabilities (which are going to be considerably slower than your HDD). You may find that you like it better and - more importantly - can get more use out of your computer when it's running Linux.
No comments:
Post a Comment