Linux Community Magazine

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.

The average computer user just doesn't know enough about computers to compare operating systems to determine which will run most efficiently and provide the most security, so our only gauge for what works is simply what everyone else is using. We live in a world where Windows and Macintosh rule, therefore we don't even give Linux a second though. But we should! Linux is free, reliable and it runs extraordinarily well on old computers with little processing power. It just makes sense to use it, particularly if you work for a non-profit which relies on older, donated computers to operate.

Why You Might Want to Consider Using Linux

Linux is an operating system just like Microsoft Windows and MacOS on the Macintosh. Computer experts know it well and most of the Internet's infra-structure is managed by Linux computers. But most desktop computer users have never heard of it. There are a lot of benefits to using Linux:

* It is free. Windows costs money. So do MacOS upgrades. * It is easy to install.It is every bit as easy to install Linux as it is to install other software. Some Linux installers even allow you to run Linux off a CD, so that you can try it out on your computer without affecting anything else on the machine. * It is incredibly secure. Because Linux is open source, even if there were a widespread virus released today, there would be hundreds of patches released tomorrow, either by ordinary people that use the operating system or by the distribution maintainers. With Windows, you have to wait for a patch from a single company all while having to pay extra for virus protection software. * It is extraordinarily reliable. While Windows computers might go a day or even a week before needing to restart, people often have Linux systems running for years without fear of the system crashing. * It is very efficient. Unlike Windows and Macintosh, Linux does not require big disk drive s, huge amounts of RAM, and a super fast processor. What this means is it can run incredibly well even on old, underpowered computers. So, while you may not be able to run the latest version of Windows on those donated computers, Linux will run easily and quickly. In fact, Linux is so efficient that it can pretend to be a Windows server more efficiently than Windows can be a Windows server.

What's Stopping You?

With all of these benefits, it just makes sense to use Linux! Some national governments and lots of universities have standardized on Linux for years, but the general public is a little more hesitant. So, what's stopping people? Here are some of the most common reasons (none of which really hold up):

It is complicated and uses all sorts of weird cryptic commands -- This is true if you install it without a graphical user interface (GUI), but that's completely your choice. Most desktop users would prefer to install Linux with a GUI since it makes it more user-friendly. In fact, you can customize the GUI to look much like Windows and Macintosh computers, so five minutes of orientation is all you will need to be fully productive.

Everyone else uses Windows -- Probably the biggest concern people have is that if they use Linux, they will have trouble sending and receiving emails and files to computers that use Windows because they are different operating systems, but that's simply not the case.

Because Email protocols are standardized, email from any computer (Windows, Macintosh, or Linux) works with email on any other. Files are no problem either, since Linux supports all the standard file formats.

Also, consider the fact that Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, Windows 7 are all different operating systems, all in common use, and far from compatible with each other.

There is no support -- This has never been true. The open source community supports Linux very well and if you need to talk to someone on the phone, you can buy support packages from lots of different companies. The most well-known of these is Red Hat.

Word and Excel don't run on Linux -- This is true, but OpenOffice does. OpenOffice is free and it does everything Microsoft Office does and more. At Sumac Research, although we use Windows, Macintosh, and Linux computers, we use OpenOffice on all of them. It doesn't matter which computer you use, the documents work the same on each. OpenOffice can also open, edit and save Word, PowerPoint, and Excel documents.

Dedicated server hosting is a chief requisite for any on the internet site to be set up and sustained. In an age, exactly where the online has come to be a simple requirement, there are a large quantity of operating systems which have their own web hosting applications. The necessity of a committed web hosting plan can not be undermined in any way. It not only aids in much better management of sites but also, has attributes which make on the web operations a lot more smooth sailing. Linux has its very own dedicated server hosting platform just like other operating systems. This web hosting system can be employed with those systems run on Linux. Linux is an open supply category of operating method which is UNIX based and is compatible with a wide range of hardware support.In basic terms, linux committed server hosting suggests the construction of websites on the pattern of the Linux system. Open source technologies like MySQL are compatible with Linux server hosting. The ch ief strengths of the Linux server hosting are as follows:Firstly, the expenses involved in the Linux web hosting platform are not very high. This dedicated server needs low investment. The hosting price tag is slashed as Linux charges no fees for license. Secondly, the Linux internet hosting offers support for the scripting languages like Perl and PHP. Linux also presents effortless transition or conversion to windows operating program. Thirdly, Linux handles web site load rather nicely. Fourthly, databases like MySQL and mSQL are supported by Linux devoted server method. The high range security and dependability, make the Linux dedicated server process a worthwhile investment. Once a Linux server is accessed, users generally do not switch over to some other operating system internet host. Of late, there have been a big range of internet applications that have infiltrated the net planet. These programs, are, at times not supported by Linux. In order to gain access to such at tributes, some users are switching over to Windows server committed technique. Let us take a fast search into the disavantages of the Linux dedicated sever hosting platform.The principal trouble of the Linux server to comply itself with Windows based application has been its biggest shortcoming. Modules or file extensions do not function with Linux at all. These are functions commonly restricted to Windows server hosting. This renders the Linux web hosting technique to stay inoperative when a windows web site is tried to be converted to the Linux module. Linux hosting has its personal benefits but fail to match up with the effortless to use interface and user friendly design of a windows server hosting platform.ASP scripts do not perform on Linux net hosting systems.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia"GNU/Linux" redirects here. See also GNU/Linux naming controversy.This article is about operating systems that use the Linux kernel. For the kernel itself, see Linux kernel. For other uses, see Linux (disambiguation).Linux Tux.svgTux the penguin, mascot of Linux[1]Company / developer GNU Project, Linus Torvalds and many othersProgrammed in Assembly language, COS family Unix-likeWorking state CurrentSource model Free and open source softwareLatest stable release 2.6.39.1 (3 June 2011; 18 days ago)[2] [+/?]Latest unstable release 3.0-rc4 (21 June 2011; 0 days ago)[3] [+/?]Marketing target Desktops, servers, embedded devicesAvailable language(s) MultilingualAvailable programming languages(s) ManySupported platforms DEC Alpha, ARM, AVR32, Blackfin, ETRAX CRIS, FR-V, H8/300, Itanium, M32R, m68k, Microblaze, MIPS, MN103, PA-RISC, PowerPC, s390, S+core, SuperH, SPARC, TILE64, Unicore32, x86, XtensaKernel type MonolithicUserland GNU and othersD efault user interface Graphical (X Window System) and command-line interfaceLicense Various including GNU General Public License, BSD License, Apache License, MIT License, and others[4]Official website kernel.orgHow Linus Torvalds pronounces LinuxProblems listening to this file? See media help.

Linux (commonly play /?l?n?ks/ lin-?ks in English,[5][6] also pronounced /?l?n?ks/ lin-uuks[7] in Europe) refers to the family of Unix-like computer operating systems using the Linux kernel. Linux can be installed on a wide variety of computer hardware, ranging from mobile phones, tablet computers, routers, and video game consoles, to mainframes and supercomputers.[8][9][10][11] Linux is a leading server operating system, and runs the 10 fastest supercomputers in the world.[12]

The development of Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed, both commercially and non-commercially, by anyone under licenses such as the GNU General Public License. Typically Linux is packaged in a format known as a Linux distribution for desktop and server use. Some popular mainstream Linux distributions include Debian (and its derivatives such as Ubuntu), Fedora and openSUSE. Linux distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting utilities and libraries to fulfill the distribution's intended use.

A distribution oriented toward desktop use may include the X Window System, the GNOME and KDE Plasma desktop environments. Other distributions may include a less resource intensive desktop such as LXDE or Xfce for use on older or less-powerful computers. A distribution intended to run as a server may omit any graphical environment from the standard install and instead include other software such as the Apache HTTP Server and a SSH server like OpenSSH. Because Linux is freely redistributable, it is possible for anyone to create a distribution for any intended use. Commonly used applications with desktop Linux systems include the Mozilla Firefox web browser, the OpenOffice.org or LibreOffice office application suites, and the GIMP image editor.

The name "Linux" comes from the Linux kernel, originally written in 1991 by Linus Torvalds. The main supporting user space system tools and libraries from the GNU Project (announced in 1983 by Richard Stallman) are the basis for the Free Software Foundation's preferred name GNU/Linux.[13][14]

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