advantages of running linux..

[Geoff Shang]

Hi:

Wow. Hard question, in that it has so many answers.  ummmm.  I guess it
depends what you want to do with your computer.  But here's some reasons
why linux is good to run.

Lots of text-based programs that are pretty easy to use.  Unlike windows
versus DOS, there is really no performance advantage to writing stuff in
Xwindows, in fact you could probably argue the other way, so consequently
there's lots more text-based stuff about.

Linux, unlike windows which merely pretends, actually is a multi-user,
multi-tasking operating system.  You can have lots and lots of processes
running quite happily in the background and not even be aware of it (I'm
still not quite sure what's running by default on this box, mainly because
I've not bothered to check them all out).  Linux makes it easy to customise
its use for various users, as it is designed for multiple users.  You can
even do cool things like log in 8 times and have 8 different applications
open and switch between them by the press of a key.

Linux is robust.  If a program crashes, it usually doesn't take linux down
with it.  You'll often just see an error and get the prompt back.  If it's
more serious and you can't break out of it, there's still many ways to
avoid a reboot.  I can only remember a couple of instances of when I was
forced to reboot my linux box.

Security.  Because linux is designed for numerous users, you can
rigidly control access to files and what users can do what.  Linux has full
firewall capabilities, allowing you even more control over your own
security.

Efficiency.  Linux is designed to run applications without getting in the
way too often.  Linux is known to out perform windows in just about every
respect, particularly in the areas of multitasking and network throughput.

Networking.  Linux has full network support, with built-in support for
dial-up and LAN-based networks.  It will even allow you to supply a whole
local network with internet access via a single dial-up account.  Linux
will interface with a number of LAN types, and will also communicate quite
happily on windows file and printer sharing networks, in both directions.

Fully configurable.  Linux programs are generally designed with
configurability and flexability in mind.  Most configuration is done with
text files, allowing one to tweek just about anything to one's liking.  And
if you can't do what you want that way, you can usually just go grab the
source code, make the necessary modifications and simply recompile and run.

And of course, there's:

The price.  Linux is free, as in freedom.  You are free to just go grab it
off the net and start playing with it.  Most of the software for linux is
free too, making it a very cheap investment.  Even if you get a
distribution on CD, you'll often get thousands of programs and installation
files for a matter of dollars.

I'm sure I've left lots out, but that's a start.  Did you have any
particular use in mind?  LLinux won't do some things well yet, so maybe we
should be sure that you don't want to do any of those before we start.

Geoff.