319 lines
8.1 KiB
HTML
319 lines
8.1 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
|
|
<HTML
|
|
><HEAD
|
|
><TITLE
|
|
>Properties of Linux</TITLE
|
|
><META
|
|
NAME="GENERATOR"
|
|
CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.7"><LINK
|
|
REL="HOME"
|
|
TITLE="Introduction to Linux"
|
|
HREF="index.html"><LINK
|
|
REL="UP"
|
|
TITLE="What is Linux?"
|
|
HREF="chap_01.html"><LINK
|
|
REL="PREVIOUS"
|
|
TITLE="Does Linux have a future?"
|
|
HREF="sect_01_03.html"><LINK
|
|
REL="NEXT"
|
|
TITLE="Linux Flavors"
|
|
HREF="sect_01_05.html"></HEAD
|
|
><BODY
|
|
CLASS="sect1"
|
|
BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"
|
|
TEXT="#000000"
|
|
LINK="#0000FF"
|
|
VLINK="#840084"
|
|
ALINK="#0000FF"
|
|
><DIV
|
|
CLASS="NAVHEADER"
|
|
><TABLE
|
|
SUMMARY="Header navigation table"
|
|
WIDTH="100%"
|
|
BORDER="0"
|
|
CELLPADDING="0"
|
|
CELLSPACING="0"
|
|
><TR
|
|
><TH
|
|
COLSPAN="3"
|
|
ALIGN="center"
|
|
>Introduction to Linux: </TH
|
|
></TR
|
|
><TR
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="10%"
|
|
ALIGN="left"
|
|
VALIGN="bottom"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="sect_01_03.html"
|
|
ACCESSKEY="P"
|
|
>Prev</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="80%"
|
|
ALIGN="center"
|
|
VALIGN="bottom"
|
|
>Chapter 1. What is Linux?</TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="10%"
|
|
ALIGN="right"
|
|
VALIGN="bottom"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="sect_01_05.html"
|
|
ACCESSKEY="N"
|
|
>Next</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
></TR
|
|
></TABLE
|
|
><HR
|
|
ALIGN="LEFT"
|
|
WIDTH="100%"></DIV
|
|
><DIV
|
|
CLASS="sect1"
|
|
><H1
|
|
CLASS="sect1"
|
|
><A
|
|
NAME="sect_01_04"
|
|
></A
|
|
>1.4. Properties of Linux</H1
|
|
><DIV
|
|
CLASS="sect2"
|
|
><H2
|
|
CLASS="sect2"
|
|
><A
|
|
NAME="sect_01_04_01"
|
|
></A
|
|
>1.4.1. Linux Pros</H2
|
|
><P
|
|
>A lot of the advantages of Linux are a consequence of Linux' origins,
|
|
deeply rooted in UNIX, except for the first advantage, of course:
|
|
</P
|
|
><P
|
|
></P
|
|
><UL
|
|
><LI
|
|
><P
|
|
>Linux is free:</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>As in free beer, they say. If you want to spend absolutely nothing, you
|
|
don't even have to pay the price of a CD. Linux can be downloaded in its
|
|
entirety from the Internet completely for free. No registration fees, no costs
|
|
per user, free updates, and freely available source code in case you want to
|
|
change the behavior of your system.
|
|
</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>Most of all, Linux is free as in free speech:</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>The license commonly used is the GNU Public License (GPL). The license
|
|
says that anybody who may want to do so, has the right to change Linux and
|
|
eventually to redistribute a changed version, on the one condition that the code
|
|
is still available after redistribution. In practice, you are free to grab a
|
|
kernel image, for instance to add support for teletransportation machines or
|
|
time travel and sell your new code, as long as your customers can still have a
|
|
copy of that code.
|
|
</P
|
|
></LI
|
|
><LI
|
|
><P
|
|
>Linux is portable to any hardware platform:</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>A vendor who wants to sell a new type of computer and who doesn't know
|
|
what kind of OS his new machine will run (say the CPU in your car or washing
|
|
machine), can take a Linux kernel and make it work on his hardware, because
|
|
documentation related to this activity is freely available.
|
|
</P
|
|
></LI
|
|
><LI
|
|
><P
|
|
>Linux was made to keep on running:</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>As with UNIX, a Linux system expects to run without rebooting all the
|
|
time. That is why a lot of tasks are being executed at night or scheduled
|
|
automatically for other calm moments, resulting in higher availability during
|
|
busier periods and a more balanced use of the hardware. This property allows
|
|
for Linux to be applicable also in environments where people don't have the time
|
|
or the possibility to control their systems night and day.
|
|
</P
|
|
></LI
|
|
><LI
|
|
><P
|
|
>Linux is secure and versatile:</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>The security model used in Linux is based on the UNIX idea of security,
|
|
which is known to be robust and of proven quality. But Linux is not only fit
|
|
for use as a fort against enemy attacks from the Internet: it will adapt
|
|
equally to other situations, utilizing the same high standards for security.
|
|
Your development machine or control station will be as secure as your firewall.
|
|
</P
|
|
></LI
|
|
><LI
|
|
><P
|
|
>Linux is scalable:</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>From a Palmtop with 2 MB of memory to a petabyte storage cluster with
|
|
hundreds of nodes: add or remove the appropriate packages and Linux fits all.
|
|
You don't need a supercomputer anymore, because you can use Linux to do big
|
|
things using the building blocks provided with the system. If you want to do
|
|
little things, such as making an operating system for an embedded processor or
|
|
just recycling your old 486, Linux will do that as well.
|
|
</P
|
|
></LI
|
|
><LI
|
|
><P
|
|
>The Linux OS and most Linux applications have very short debug-times:
|
|
</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>Because Linux has been developed and tested by thousands of people, both
|
|
errors and people to fix them are usually found rather quickly. It sometimes happens that
|
|
there are only a couple of hours between discovery and fixing of a bug.
|
|
</P
|
|
></LI
|
|
></UL
|
|
></DIV
|
|
><DIV
|
|
CLASS="sect2"
|
|
><H2
|
|
CLASS="sect2"
|
|
><A
|
|
NAME="sect_01_04_02"
|
|
></A
|
|
>1.4.2. Linux Cons</H2
|
|
><P
|
|
></P
|
|
><UL
|
|
><LI
|
|
><P
|
|
>There are far too many different distributions:</P
|
|
><P
|
|
><SPAN
|
|
CLASS="QUOTE"
|
|
>"Quot capites, tot rationes"</SPAN
|
|
>, as the Romans already said: the more
|
|
people, the more opinions. At first glance, the amount of Linux distributions
|
|
can be frightening, or ridiculous, depending on your point of view. But it also
|
|
means that everyone will find what he or she needs. You don't need to be an
|
|
expert to find a suitable release.
|
|
</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>When asked, generally every Linux user will say that the best distribution
|
|
is the specific version he is using. So which one should you choose? Don't
|
|
worry too much about that: all releases contain more or less the same set of
|
|
basic packages. On top of the basics, special third party software is added
|
|
making, for example, TurboLinux more suitable for the small and medium
|
|
enterprise, RedHat for servers and SuSE for workstations. However, the
|
|
differences are likely to be very superficial. The best strategy is to test a
|
|
couple of distributions; unfortunately not everybody has the time for this.
|
|
Luckily, there is plenty of advice on the subject of choosing your Linux.
|
|
A quick search on <A
|
|
HREF="http://www.google.com/linux"
|
|
TARGET="_top"
|
|
>Google</A
|
|
>, using the keywords <SPAN
|
|
CLASS="QUOTE"
|
|
>"choosing your distribution"</SPAN
|
|
> brings up tens of
|
|
links to good advise.
|
|
The <A
|
|
HREF="http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Installation-HOWTO/"
|
|
TARGET="_top"
|
|
> Installation HOWTO</A
|
|
> also discusses choosing your distribution.
|
|
</P
|
|
></LI
|
|
><LI
|
|
><P
|
|
>Linux is not very user friendly and confusing for beginners:
|
|
</P
|
|
><P
|
|
> It must be said that Linux, at least the core system, is less userfriendly to use than MS Windows and certainly more difficult than MacOS, but...
|
|
In light of its popularity, considerable effort has been made to make Linux
|
|
even easier to use, especially for new users. More information is being released
|
|
daily, such as this guide, to help fill the gap for documentation available to
|
|
users at all levels.
|
|
</P
|
|
></LI
|
|
><LI
|
|
><P
|
|
>Is an Open Source product trustworthy?</P
|
|
><P
|
|
>How can something that is free also be reliable? Linux users have the
|
|
choice whether to use Linux or not, which gives them an enormous advantage
|
|
compared to users of proprietary software, who don't have that kind of freedom.
|
|
After long periods of testing, most Linux users come to the conclusion that
|
|
Linux is not only as good, but in many cases better and faster that the
|
|
traditional solutions. If Linux were not trustworthy, it would have been long
|
|
gone, never knowing the popularity it has now, with millions of users. Now
|
|
users can influence their systems and share their remarks with the community,
|
|
so the system gets better and better every day. It is a project that is never
|
|
finished, that is true, but in an ever changing environment, Linux is also a
|
|
project that continues to strive for perfection.
|
|
</P
|
|
></LI
|
|
></UL
|
|
></DIV
|
|
></DIV
|
|
><DIV
|
|
CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
|
|
><HR
|
|
ALIGN="LEFT"
|
|
WIDTH="100%"><TABLE
|
|
SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
|
|
WIDTH="100%"
|
|
BORDER="0"
|
|
CELLPADDING="0"
|
|
CELLSPACING="0"
|
|
><TR
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="33%"
|
|
ALIGN="left"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="sect_01_03.html"
|
|
ACCESSKEY="P"
|
|
>Prev</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="34%"
|
|
ALIGN="center"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="index.html"
|
|
ACCESSKEY="H"
|
|
>Home</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="33%"
|
|
ALIGN="right"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="sect_01_05.html"
|
|
ACCESSKEY="N"
|
|
>Next</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
></TR
|
|
><TR
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="33%"
|
|
ALIGN="left"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
>Does Linux have a future?</TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="34%"
|
|
ALIGN="center"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
><A
|
|
HREF="chap_01.html"
|
|
ACCESSKEY="U"
|
|
>Up</A
|
|
></TD
|
|
><TD
|
|
WIDTH="33%"
|
|
ALIGN="right"
|
|
VALIGN="top"
|
|
>Linux Flavors</TD
|
|
></TR
|
|
></TABLE
|
|
></DIV
|
|
></BODY
|
|
></HTML
|
|
> |