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Why Use Linux?
Date: 3 Feb 2010 / Author: SeanParsons / Views: 5474 / Comments: 9
Often I get the question, "Why should I use Linux?". Obviously this is a very nebulous question that may have as many different reasons as there are
Linux users, but let's try and answer it anyway.
If you are using this article to convince someone to switch to Linux, you may need to
first explain what Linux is. You can find a newbie friendly article on that subject here.
We can make a good
argument for using Linux with eight basic points including coolness, speed, feature richness, ease of use, support, upgrade options, low (no) cost,
and freedom.
COOLNESS
Look at the video below and tell me that Linux isn't cooler looking than MS Windows or Apple's OS
X.
If your browser can't view the video below you should either switch to Firefox 3.5 (or newer) or
watch it on You Tube.
We should
also mention just how flexible the appearance of Linux can be. The following are some screenshots of just how much a Linux user can easily modify the
appearance of their computer. A Linux user can switch desktops and themes very quickly. The following are screenshots of various Linux users'
desktops.
A
customized GNOME desktop from AlexR1.
Linux Mint's default GNOME desktop.
A customized XFCE desktop from me.
A customized KDE
desktop from dralgebra.
Another item I classify under coolness is a comparison of logos between Linux, MS Windows, and Apple's OS
X.
Granted, it might be a matter of taste, but Tux (the
penguin used as the Linux mascot) is much cooler than Apple's apple or Microsoft's wierd flying window.
SPEED
(Cue William Tell
Overature) A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty 'Hi-yo Silver!'...... in other words, Linux is Fast! Linux is
generally faster for a given set of hardware specifications. This is due to greater optimization of the source code, including far less code
bloat.
OK, that last paragraph sounded good, but what does that really mean?
Afterall, people want to be able to quantify things instead
of making broad statements. Instead of recreating the work of others, let's look at some benchmarks already ran by Taranfx.com that compare Microsoft's most recent incantaion of Windows, MS Windows 7, vs. the
most popular version of Linux on the market currently, Ubuntu 9.10.
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.
gaming
Of course everyone has wasted time in Windows playing solitaire, well never fear because Linux can do the same! The above screenshot
includes some of the games I play when I need to waste some time. Let's look at some more impressive games you could play on linux if you were
motivated to do so.
Simple 3D games like foobilliard and Neverball are surprisingly addictive.
For some more intense 3D games TORCS, Flight Gear, and Alien Arena might be more your
style.
Performous provides an open source game
that reminds you of Guitar Hero mixed with karaoke. Be prepared to amaze you friends with your lack of musical talent.
Actually, the most
interesting part to consider is that all the games mentioned thus far aren't just fun, but also free. Free usually makes something more fun for me.
But, if you need to spend money, there are proprietary games for sale for Linux also. If you want to know more about Linux and gaming, you can find a
list of a few hundred Linux games on Wikipedia.
EZ
Ease of use
is a rather subjective term, so let's look at some examples and see how you feel about it.
example 1: clean install
After a
clean install of MS Windows 7 you're ready to install your anti-virus software (we explained above why this is unnecessary in Linux). After a clean
install of Ubuntu Linux, you're ready to surf the web, listen to music, watch videos, organize photos, and burn CDs and DVDs. Personally, I give this
one to Linux.
example 2: multimedia file formats
Let's say someone sends you an FLV file of something cool like the HIPAA
Song video and you haven't used anything to watch FLV videos since you did your clean install in the previous example. Windows is likely to tell
you that it doesn't know what application to use to play it. You'll have to do a quick Google search to find that you need another video player like
FLVPlayer or VLC to watch it. Then you'll have to find the appropriate website to download the player and install it before you can watch the video.
That same scenario in Ubuntu Linux, a video player will launch when you double click the file, it will tell you that you do not have the necessary
codec installed. It will then ask you if you want to install the necessary plugin. You click on yes, and it asks for your password, then it does the
rest and the video plays. This has been my experience with most video formats when comparing the two. I would also give this round to
Linux.
example 3: finding and installing new software
For this next example, let's just say that you, or someone else that
uses your computer needs to practice typing so you want to install a program to help learn, practice, and track progress. In Windows I would probably
do a Google search for 'free typing software' and hunt around a bit to find anything that looks good, and I would have the worry over whether it is
secretly malware or not. In Ubuntu, from my Applications menu, I would launch the Ubuntu Software Center put in the word 'typing' and find good
options like KTouch, Tux Typing, and Klavaro at the top of the list. I would simply double-click the software program I'm interested in, I would be
provided with more information about the program, and I could simply click 'Install' and I would be ready to run my new typing software. Another
round that I would give to Linux.
While I openly admit that I strongly prefer using Linux over other operating systems, I do
think I've made a good argument for Linux's ease of use.
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 preinstalled 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.
If I need to make any
corrections, or you just want to discuss the article, post a comment below.
RSS feed for comments on Why Use Linux?
Comments: 9
1.
| 5 Feb 2010 - 00:01
Very nice post, thank you very much, found it while thinking of why i like linux myself...
ANother question - i really like the firefox theme shown in the internet screenshot, what theme is this - strata?
2. SeanParsons | 5 Feb 2010 - 02:09
Thanks, I'm glad you like the post. The Firefox theme I'm using in the screenshots is Strata.
3. rzei | 5 Feb 2010 - 05:48
Idle RAM usage is a stupid metric; I'm guessing you just looked at how much free memory there was?
Modern OS's have this thing called fs cache. It contains previously read "files". Good example is the following:
1. you start your computer, login, etc. get to desktop
2. you start an application for the first time
3. you close the application
4. you start the same application again, now it starts much faster!
Of course, in Windows land the applications themselves have previously handled this (plus some linking benefits) with different kind of quickstart programs. (Think of IE, Office, OpenOffice, etc.) In latest Linux distros, for example ubuntu uses sreadahead to make the booting process (and perhaps gui loading) faster.
I don't think you can compare Win7 and Linux free memory values at all; best to leave them to Win98 and WinXP comparisons.
I'd be very interested to learn how in earth you got Windows to transfer a big file faster than Linux? This is something I've never seen in real life; please describe the situtation you came up?
Where were the files copied from and where to, in file copying tests? I'd suspect EXT4 getting much better performance over NTFS.
4. Thai Dang Vu | 5 Feb 2010 - 08:14
but the latest Gnome doesn't support RGBA (e.g. in gtkrc, you cannot specify the opacity for a color, even though you can use a transparent image).
5. SeanParsons | 5 Feb 2010 - 11:51
@ rzei
You make a good point with the memory that it shouldn't be compared at all, and as far as the large file transfer, I was surprised as well by the result. As I don't actually have Win 7 installed, I was relying on Taranfx for the numbers. He does provide some detail about the testing conditions at:
http://www.taranfx.com/windows-7-vs-ubuntu
Thanks for the enlightening response
6.
| 7 Feb 2010 - 07:09
I use Ubuntu for my daily use.
As you have mentioned, Linux fails when it comes to playing good games. Infact, I tried using Wine but still cannot start Counterstrike (which is a very minimal resource game).
I think what puts people off is that whatever be the case, the learning curve seems step. And common users should not have to bother to type some cryptic commands on a console. While Ubuntu is one of the best Linux based OS I have seen, when something fails, the online support is ubuntu forums where a common user will find it too tedious to solve their problems.
7. SeanParsons | 8 Feb 2010 - 06:21
@Kevin
I have to disagree on the ease of use issue. For day to day activities like surfing the web, using various social media, and writing a paper Ubuntu Linux is at least as easy, if not easier, than Windows 7. Ubuntu, like most Linux distributions come with a lot of quality software already installed and it is very easy to add additional software. Most users in Linux do not need to use the command line just like most users in Windows do not need to; but power users on either system are going to frequently make use of the command line.
What have you done on Linux in the past six months that could only be done from a command line and a typical computer user would find necessary?
Also on the issue of on-line help in the forums of various distributions I tend to find very good information, but if a newbie needs professional help from a live person they have options. Option 1: Linux has become so prevalent that everyone knows at least one Linux user that they could ask. Option 2: they can take their question to their local LUG. Option 3: if they purchased their computer with Linux preinstalled they can call that place. Option 4: they can actually purchase a support contract. Really, these options aren't all that different from Windows except that Linux users have better forums and local LUGs that will bend over backwards to help.
While I respect your opinions, and do agree that Linux is not the best gaming platform; I also think that Linux has become one of the easiest operating systems to use in recent years.
Peace,
Sean
8.
| 26 Apr 2010 - 20:47
I don't understand a LOT on linux. I am not anywhere near computer literate in any meaningful way. What I think are popular are programs such as yahoo, skype, redkaraoke, which seem to connect me to the world at large with cams and mics. This excites me, but in linux all these things drag behind windows seriously in terms of ease of use and dependable performance. Also I use a magic jack phone and that won't work on linux at all yet. I think these things are always ignored by linux enthusiasts and if they concentrated on them then more ordinary users would use linux with great joy. Many of us are more entranced with communication than we are with cool technical possibilities. Linux is still geek domain stuff, and thats ok, but if they want it to be a great desktop of ordinary folks they need more things to work out of the box. Frankly, many of us would love to pay a small fee to have a linux that was as capable of these things as windows.
I use linux for more idealistic reasons and in order to learn more. But to get others to use it, I would need to be able to at least be able to tweak their installs to do the above mentioned things well.
Thanks for all the information, even if it was way over my head.
9. SeanParsons | 27 Apr 2010 - 05:26
@David Stow,
You make some good points about entrenched applications and that proprietary applications are always updated on MS Windows first. As far as I can tell currently yahoo, skype, and redkaraoke all work (including video support) on Linux. I know that was not always the case, but I think developers are getting better at creating cross-platform applications.
Magic Jack is cool, but once again if someone carefully guards their source code, then we are dependent on them for making ports and keeping it up-to-date. My suggestion is that Linux users whom want Magic Jack should send emails requesting support.
Thanks for the comment.