Linux Community Magazine

What is Linux?

Linux is actually a common name for a variety of operating systems. A variety of companies market Linux and you might have heard of a few: Red Hat, Debian, Slackware, etc. Linux is good in that it is compatible with the popular programming language PHP. It is also favored by some web hosters in that in general it has a good security record and tends on average to be a stable operating system. Linux software is free.

What is Unix?

The last version mentioned is very close in comparison to the Linux versions. The main difference is the history of how the two versions came into being. Linux is an offshoot of the Unix operating system, where the Unix-based operating systems are refinements of Unix itself. Linux basically is a cousin to Unix-based operating systems. The main Unix-based operating systems are FreeBSD and OpenBSD. These operating system tend to be very stable once installed. OpenBSD also has the reputation of being very secure in that in the last six years it had only one security hole in the software itself. But OpenBSD does not allow everything; that it you have to sacrifice some flexibility for security. These operating systems are free as well. Generally Unix hosting companies are cheaper than NT (windows) hosting services, this is because the majority of Unix operating systems and software are freeware.

Without a doubt Unix/Linux (nix, **nix) type hosting services are the most popular and if you intend to use perl programs on your site then we strongly recommend Unix, although Perl is available for Windows NT it not naturally supported. Most perl scripts available on the Internet are intended for Unix/Linux and some will include functions that will only work on a Unix/Linux system, such as the use of Sendmail.

Many webmasters would agree that a combination of Perl and MySQL/mSQL on a Unix Server is the best combination for web hosting and database access, it's cheap and can support many con-current threads.

Choosing between a Windows hosting server and Unix/Linux hosts depends on the programs and scripts you want to run for your shopping cart, affiliate program, web site pages, etc. ASP, JSP, PHP, CGI, PL, CSS programs will influence the choice of a server and visa versa.

How I Went From Angry Windows User To Delighted Linux User In Ten Minutes!

About 18 months ago, I had another disastrous crash on my PC that caused me to loose a host of photos, music and documents. Luckily I had a backup of most of my documents on an external disk. So I wasn't too concerned by this. I had experienced many crashes on Windows before and usually I was able to recover most of my documents and restore the system back to normal without too much effort.

This time was different however and to my horror, I discovered that Windows had somehow corrupted my external disk as well. I had lost everything and was pretty angry about it.

I tried a number of data recovery programs but most of the files wore gone. Forever. What a disaster!

At that point I decided that I would look for another alternative to windows and I thought I would give Linux another try.A few years earlier I had experimented with RedHat Linux but had no real success with it as it had problems detecting my usb keyboard and mouse. Which was obviously a bit of a non-starter for me. I knew that big advances were being made in the Linux world so I decided to do a bit of research.

Linux is an operating system that is free. That is, it can be downloaded and copied and distributed without a fee. It is free in a deeper sense too. Most of the software is written under a license called the "GPL" which effectively means that source code is available to everyone for each and every component of the Linux Operating System. If you have access to the source code for a piece of software then you can change the program to fix bugs and make it better. Once you do this you are under obligation to make your new source code available to others.

This has worked extremely well and Linux is being developed by programmers all over the world to make it better and better. The progress is amazing!

In my research I discovered a website: This website keeps a list of the most popular distributions of Linux. A distribution is a collection of Linux software that together makes an operating system. Each distribution contains different software and has a different focus. There are so many to try... Fedora, Mandrake, Puppy, PCLinuxOS, Debian, Knoppix, and the most popular, Ubuntu Linux. I downloaded the ISO of Ubuntu Linux from the Ubuntu website / and burned it to cd (an ISO file is cd image that can be recreated using a cd burning tool such as Nero).I placed the cd in my drive and booted up my computer.

I was astounded!

Within 10 minutes my computer was running Ubuntu Linux without even having to install it! This was a "Live-CD" and it can be used without installing to hard disk - it can be run from a cd without affecting your computer at all.

All my hardware was detected and within minutes I was surfing the web using Firefox and getting my email using Evolution, chatting to friends in messenger and yahoo chat using Gaim, writing documents and opening spreadsheets in Open Office and listening to Internet Radio with RythmBox.

I was delighted with the easy to use and gorgeous looking desktop. I decided to install it straight away and since then I haven't looked back.

There is an abundance of free open source software just waiting for you to experience. The package management system - Synaptic, allows you to search repositories of software and download them. The quality of a lot of the software is incredible.

Linux is written from the ground up to be a secure operating system. This means that you won't have to worry about getting viruses, spyware or any other kind of malware. My system is as stable as a rock. Of course, there are downsides to running Linux. The main one is that there is a learning curve that can be quite steep. It is not windows so If you are trying to get something working, your windows knowledge will not help you.

You might need to troubleshoot problems using the Command Line Interface - similar to windows DOS, but many times more powerful. Fortunately, help is at hand on the incredibly friendly and helpful forums at

I have been running Ubuntu Linux now for 18 months and can't see any reason now to return to windows. Once you get past the mind set of using closed source software a whole new world opens up before you and you realise that amazing things are possible with linux.

I hope you found this article helpful and I hope it inspires you to try out Ubuntu Linux as I did. You won't regret trying it.

Here are some resources:

Distrowatch - News on the latest Linux distributions.

Ubuntu - Download the Ubuntu Linux operating system for your computer

Forums - Go here for help and advice

/wiki/LinuxLinux on Wikipedia

Listed below are the five most common ways to install Linux on your system. If you are a total newbie running a Windows system, you might want to consider option V!

I. Slick and go: You can install it on your hard disk and completely erase the current disk, which will wipe out your Windows install. This isn't recommended unless you are installing Linux on an older computer that isn't critical to your business. Or if you are really ready for a change and are into new and exciting things...

II. Dual-Boot: Another way is to install Linux alongside your current Windows install and then decide which one you want to use at bootup. This is a popular route because you can always go back to Windows if you need something. This is recommended because there will be growing pains when you start to use Linux. Linux can do anything that Windows can do, but it is not Windows. Once you get used to Linux, you'll never go back, but sometimes getting to that point is difficult. Dual-booting can ease the transition and give the new Linux user a safety net.

III. Boot from USB flash drive: You can alternatively install Linux on a USB stick and eliminate the risk of hurting your current Windows setup. This is a nice option because it has all of the advantages to the Dual-Boot option, and you can carry your Linux distro with you whereever you go. Then any computer at work or home or your friend's house is your Linux box.

IV. New HD: Another "safe" way to get into Linux is to either buy a new harddrive, or grab a used one out of your spare computer parts drawer and install Linux on the new HD. (You do have a spare computer parts drawer, right?) Take the old drive out, carefully store it somewhere safe, put the "new" drive in and install Linux. If at any point you want to go back to your Windows system, then just swap out drives. This is a nice way to go because it is safe, and it is easy.

V. Super Easy: The final way to install Linux is the super easy method. Simply use the Wubi installer. Wubi is a Windows program that makes installing Linux very easy. Just download Wubi and it will install Linux on your Windows computer with a few easy clicks. For more about Wubi, go here: /wiki/Wubi_ (Ubuntu_installer).

The great thing about Wubi is that a Windows user can try out Linux without doing a complex install involving partitioning or formatting. Wubi is an easy way to get Linux going but there are a few limitations. Hibernation is not supported. If Windows crashes and the hard drive is unmounted uncleanly, there can be issues. The system may be a little slower compared to normal install methods. But for someone who wants to give Linux a test drive, this is a great way to go.

Ask any website hosting reseller about the platform they use for providing web hosting services and immediately they will respond with the answer Linux. Linux has undoubtedly become the preferred option as an affordable reseller hosting plan and there are no prizes for guessing why. Linux is robust, strong, secure, reliable and absolutely affordable. Since it is open source, the Linux web hosting reseller doesnt need to worry about paying any kind of licensing fee.

Whats more the suite of benefits makes it an attractive deal for anyone venturing into reseller hosting business. After all the job of a reseller website hosting provider is to offer quality and secure web hosting plans to its customers. This type of website hosting providers buys in bulk web hosting space from big hosting companies and further redistributes the space to the other website owners.

Therefore, the utmost important factor in a website hosting resellers mind is not only the cost but also the quality and security of the service provided. Since, Linux is extremely compatible and secure, therefore, most of these Linux website hosting resellers prefer offering Linux web hosting as a service. Besides, being affordable, it is simple and secure and the reseller can easily provide complete technical support for this platform. Some of the benefits due to which resellers choose Linux include:

Open Source and Affordable:

Being open source software, Linux offers immense benefits because anyone can download it and one is not required to pay any kind of a licensing fee. Besides, the advantage that anyone can download Linux Operating System, it also gives the user the option to utilize other applications that are free of cost. Web designers get to download free of cost BSD, Red Hat and Debian with every edition of Linux. There is a host of other desktop and server applications such as DNS Server, File Server, Web Server and FTP that Linux allows free download.

Compatibility:

Compatibility is a major factor when using any kind of operating system, but in case Linux leads the pack because it is extremely compatible with most of the operating systems and software. A website based on Linux can easily be incorporated on other operating system including Windows. Linux is extremely flexible since it gives you the opportunity to easily convert a Linux based website into a Windows website. The Linux web hosting server can also easily incorporate various user requirements.

Stability and Simplicity:

In comparison to other platforms, Linux is known to be more secure and stable. Thats not all, it is also quite simple to use considering the process of setting up the Linux hosting account and uploading is quite easy.

Performance Oriented:

Just as many of us were ready to give up on Windows and migrate over to Mac OS, we become aware that some notebooks are being sold with Linux already installed and we can't help wonder what the benefits would be if we actually learned about and / or tried Linux.

Linux has been in use since its inception in the 60s, but many advances needed to be made before it became what would be considered serious competition for Windows or other hosting servers.

It seems, however, that Linux is indeed offering this competition and offsite Linux web hosting is much more readily available than even a few years ago.

The beauty with Linux is in its flexibility and its ability to work across all platforms. In a way, Linux is to operating systems what.pdf formatting is to document control. Even though Linux for desktop computers and notebooks (or netbooks) is still fairly rare, there are some real tech savvy users out there who learned long ago that Linux eliminates many of the problems that Windows users have complained about for years, and users such as these are promulgating the expansion of Linux across the personal computing front.

However, Linux has become one of the top business standards over the past decades and many businesses have integrated Linux OS into their systems and use Linux servers almost exclusively.

Linux's major attribute is its inherent ability to work across all platforms. When it comes to Linux hosting, a company that offers Linux compatibility has probably at some point migrated from Unix or still incorporates Unix in its offerings. Linux is actually an offshoot of the high performance OS standard that found its footing starting in the 80s.

As with any type of compatibility issue, any organization using Linux will need to source out and reference check a hosting company that is able to provide not only Linux servers, but can provide the necessary Linux technical support and backup that is mandatory in order to fulfill its mission which is true server hosting.

Linux itself may be a more applicable operating system for the masses, but its inherent necessity for a support organization to learn yet one more operating system literally inside and out is a bit precarious at best.

In order to trust your Linux files to an offsite Linux web hosting company make certain their technical support group has been duly certified in the intricacies of Linux's use.