Linux......Come of age!!!!!

Robin_T_Cox

What people forget is that when companies run Linux, particularly large companies they tend to be running versions like Red Hat and paying for support rather than just installing the latest distro from the web. As be_alright says this does tend to narrow or remove the difference in costs between proprietary software and Open Source.

Not quite. The IT support costs for Linux are considerably less, since Linux machines do not need defragging, scanning for and removal of viruses and/or spyware etc. And installations are both faster and easier since Linux already contains most if not all drivers required.

[Deleted User]

Robin_T_Cox wrote: »

Not quite. The IT support costs for Linux are considerably less, since Linux machines do not need defragging, scanning for and removal of viruses and/or spyware etc. And installations are both faster and easier since Linux already contains most if not all drivers required.

A suitably locked down Windows Machine should not be a victim of Virus/Spyware and with user profiles not being local to the machine if set up right, the workstation shouldn't fragment at any noticeable rate.

Conor_3

fgaughan wrote: »

Good point how ever go to your local PC world and ask if you cant buy the PC without windows installed they wouldn't be allowed to sell it.

Rubbish. They don't sell them because people don't want them and retail sales is all about selling stuff that sells. Linux doesn't with the exception of the Eee PC.

TonyLisaP

I have never purchased an off the shelf PC as I much prefer building my own. I tell my wife that I have had the same PC for 15 years now though of course the components and case have been changed 100's times since, if I was to buy an off the shelf PC I would not accept the licence agreement and reclaim the cost of the operating system then install my own. I currently run several operating systems in conjunction with each other and use each one for different things. It is purely horses for courses. There are issues with Windows machines and the internet no matter how well protected you are, someone always does something they shouldn't and new viruses, malware and adware are being written everyday so I use Ubuntu for browsing. For media I use Vista as Media Player 11 is superb and for gaming I use Win2K, games always run faster on this OS than any other. All this bickering is really rather pointless IMO but a good thread for a laugh.
:rotfl:

devizes18193

on the whole i Love Linux and have umbuthu duel booting on my lap top , I was wondering this , is there a killer Linux application , that you can not get on windows . As sure its free and secure but it seems that you can browse in windows with fire fox etc just as well in windows , same with burning

BillScarab

Robin_T_Cox wrote: »

Not quite. The IT support costs for Linux are considerably less, since Linux machines do not need defragging, scanning for and removal of viruses and/or spyware etc. And installations are both faster and easier since Linux already contains most if not all drivers required.

I'm sorry but I work in a team supports Windows, Linux, Solaris, HP and AIX servers. There's no real difference in the install times between them as in our environment all of our hardware is standardized and we have standard referrence builds for all of the OS'es. If I want to build a Windows system I just pop in the reference disc answer a few questions anbout the IP address, netmask, hostname and domain etc. and it builds it. All drivers are included just as they are with any other OS. The standard security tools are installed and the jobs done, all that's left is installing the applications.

I really can't remember the last time we actually defragged a server. I suppose we might if we were experiencing particular problems but it's not something we do regularly.

There's a massive difference between a commercial Windows Server environment and runnign a PC at home.

cowbutt

devizes18193 wrote: »

on the whole i Love Linux and have umbuthu duel booting on my lap top , I was wondering this , is there a killer Linux application , that you can not get on windows.

A lot of stuff with its roots in academia tends to end up on UNIX platforms first - clever audio/graphical/text/video processing algorithms that won't show up in off-the-shelf commercial applications for a good few years.

The other thing that UNIX does well is that it provides a nice environment for the user who can program; because of the philosophy of UNIX applications doing one thing and doing it well, combined with the standard mechanism of using standard input/output, it's very easy to combine tools together to solve any given problem very quickly. With Windows and MacOS, it's very often necessary to buy a bit of $10 shareware (at least) in order to achieve the same goal, unless one feels like hacking through the OS API documentation.

tomsolomon

Conor wrote: »

Rubbish. They don't sell them because people don't want them

People don't want Linux because of all the bad press. Some how they seem to think they need a degree in rocket science to use it.
If they actually take the time to look at it properly, they would see that in fact it is a much easier OS to use and install.
Typically when I install Windows, I have to wait for the OS to be installed, then I have to insert 10 or so driver and utility disks just to get the thing up and running.
Linux is way way different.
I install the OS, I set up my WEP and I'm on the internet within a few click's. Its as easy as that.
All the programs you could ever wish for are a click away, from burners to video editing and office applications, you don't have to go searching for anything its all there.
Who could ask for anything easier.
So before you put any more people off trying, (in many peoples opinion,) a cracking good OS, Why don't you do a bit of home work......

[Deleted User]

What's the difference between a religious nut and a Linux fanatic?

The religious nut can play decent games on his home computer

superscaper

tomsolomon wrote: »

I install the OS, I set up my WEP and I'm on the internet within a few click's. Its as easy as that.

I really really wish it was as easy as that. But it doesn't seem to be a universal experience for all setups. Win98 doesn't work with everything I've got and neither does XP but at least between them I can get everything working. But with Linux, so far doesn't matter which distro or version I try, if there aren't the drivers then there aren't the drivers to get everything working smoothly. I've got no idea if it's 50% compatible or 99.9999% compatible with all the hardware out there, but from my own personal experience there needs to be a lot more support put into the drivers, maybe that's mostly the manufacturers' fault for dismissing Linux outright but from an end user point of view it still means I get a non working OS and although the installation IMHO is easier than Windows the overall setup doesn't seem to be any easier.