cdwillis
March 10th, 2009, 07:04 PM
Let me start with a little backstory here. My roommate went to have his taxes done at H&R Block a couple weeks ago. They tried to give him a disk with their tax software on it, but of course it was for Windows and Mac OS X. When he told them he was using Linux they had no idea what he was talking about and he tried to explain it to them (I don't think they understood anyway).
This got me thinking about how ignorant people are. No one can use something they don't know exists. I'm not trying to push Linux on people, but I would like people to know that there is an alternative that exists. I've decided to print out some flyers and hang them around town, but I'm still trying to come up with just a single page with good information about Linux. Any input from you guys is greatly appreciated. This is what I have so far:
Do you have a computer? If you do you are probably running a version of Microsoft Windows. Have you ever heard of the Linux operating system? Linux is a free operating system that can run on the latest computers or can be run on older outdated hardware. But if it's free then how good can this operating system be you may ask? As of November 2008, 439 (87.8%) of the top 500 internet servers use Linux. The NSA and NASA run Linux, as does the IBM's Roadrunner super computer which is currently the fastest computer on Earth.
Linux hardly has any viruses. And that's not like "Oh well, not very often, you know". That's like "If you've ever heard of a real Linux virus, please tell me". A Linux virus is not impossible to get, but Linux makes it very hard for this to happen, for several reasons.
Most people use Microsoft Windows, and pirates want to do as much damage (or control) as possible: therefore, they target Windows. But that's not the only reason; the Apache web server (a web server is a program located on a remote computer that sends web pages to your browser when you ask for them), which is open source software, has the biggest market share (against Microsoft's IIS server), but it still suffers from much fewer attacks/flaws than the Microsoft one.
Linux uses smart authorization management. In Windows you (and any program you install) usually have the right to do pretty much anything to the system. Viruses can just go around and delete or modify what they want in the system. Linux doesn't allow that. Every time a program requests to do something that has to do with the system, an administrator password is required.
More eyes make fewer security flaws. Linux is Open source software, which means that any programmer in the world can have a look at the code (the "recipe" of any program), and help out, or just tell other developers "Hey, what if blah blah, isn't this a security flaw?".
Linux doesn't need separate drivers. All the drivers are already included in the Linux kernel, the core of the system, and that comes with every single Linux installation. No need to go searching for the driver disk like you would for Windows.
Unlike Windows, Linux doesn't slow down the longer you use it. With Windows you have to defragment your drive because of poor disk management. Linux takes care of your hard drive more efficiently and you don't need to defragment it routinely just to run at the speed you had when you first installed.
Linux has many different flavors, also called distros or distributions. What this means is if you want a system specialized for music production or to run a media center there is a version out there for you. One of the most popular and user friendly distros is called Ubuntu.
Installing software is much simpler. Linux has what is called a "package manager" which takes care of everything installed on your system, but also every single piece of software your computer has. Each piece of software is contained in its own "package". If you need some new software, just open the package manager, type a few keywords, choose which software you want to install and press "Apply" or "OK". Or you can just browse existing software (that's a lot of choices!) in categories. If you want to keep everything up to date, it's as simple as pressing the Install Updates button.
It's free! Why pay for Windows (or bother to pirate a copy) if you can have a better operating system for nothing?
This got me thinking about how ignorant people are. No one can use something they don't know exists. I'm not trying to push Linux on people, but I would like people to know that there is an alternative that exists. I've decided to print out some flyers and hang them around town, but I'm still trying to come up with just a single page with good information about Linux. Any input from you guys is greatly appreciated. This is what I have so far:
Do you have a computer? If you do you are probably running a version of Microsoft Windows. Have you ever heard of the Linux operating system? Linux is a free operating system that can run on the latest computers or can be run on older outdated hardware. But if it's free then how good can this operating system be you may ask? As of November 2008, 439 (87.8%) of the top 500 internet servers use Linux. The NSA and NASA run Linux, as does the IBM's Roadrunner super computer which is currently the fastest computer on Earth.
Linux hardly has any viruses. And that's not like "Oh well, not very often, you know". That's like "If you've ever heard of a real Linux virus, please tell me". A Linux virus is not impossible to get, but Linux makes it very hard for this to happen, for several reasons.
Most people use Microsoft Windows, and pirates want to do as much damage (or control) as possible: therefore, they target Windows. But that's not the only reason; the Apache web server (a web server is a program located on a remote computer that sends web pages to your browser when you ask for them), which is open source software, has the biggest market share (against Microsoft's IIS server), but it still suffers from much fewer attacks/flaws than the Microsoft one.
Linux uses smart authorization management. In Windows you (and any program you install) usually have the right to do pretty much anything to the system. Viruses can just go around and delete or modify what they want in the system. Linux doesn't allow that. Every time a program requests to do something that has to do with the system, an administrator password is required.
More eyes make fewer security flaws. Linux is Open source software, which means that any programmer in the world can have a look at the code (the "recipe" of any program), and help out, or just tell other developers "Hey, what if blah blah, isn't this a security flaw?".
Linux doesn't need separate drivers. All the drivers are already included in the Linux kernel, the core of the system, and that comes with every single Linux installation. No need to go searching for the driver disk like you would for Windows.
Unlike Windows, Linux doesn't slow down the longer you use it. With Windows you have to defragment your drive because of poor disk management. Linux takes care of your hard drive more efficiently and you don't need to defragment it routinely just to run at the speed you had when you first installed.
Linux has many different flavors, also called distros or distributions. What this means is if you want a system specialized for music production or to run a media center there is a version out there for you. One of the most popular and user friendly distros is called Ubuntu.
Installing software is much simpler. Linux has what is called a "package manager" which takes care of everything installed on your system, but also every single piece of software your computer has. Each piece of software is contained in its own "package". If you need some new software, just open the package manager, type a few keywords, choose which software you want to install and press "Apply" or "OK". Or you can just browse existing software (that's a lot of choices!) in categories. If you want to keep everything up to date, it's as simple as pressing the Install Updates button.
It's free! Why pay for Windows (or bother to pirate a copy) if you can have a better operating system for nothing?