Linux - the other operating system

Most people have used some form of either a Windows or Macintosh operating system (OS) to run their computers, but what's the open alternative all about?

Some people may have never heard of Linux - and who could blame them? It can be a bit difficult to digest, with the technical jargon and relative obscurity compared to the two big systems.

In terms of worldwide usage, it's small fry: according to December 2009 statistics, about 92 per cent of computers use Windows, 5 per cent use Mac OS and 1 per cent use Linux (source).

But those who do use it swear by it for a number of reasons.

I wanted to find out more about Linux, and to explain the main points in terms we can all understand (my explanations will look like this).

To help me see some of the details, I asked my friend Dave Moskovitz, a long-time Linux user and enthusiast, to answer a few questions about it.

Dave holds a BA (Hons) in Computer Science and Linguistics from the University of California Berkeley, where a lot of the original Linux research was done.

Where did Linux come from?

Linux was created by a Finnish student by the name of Linus Torvalds at the University of Helsinki, who began in 1991 and released a stable version (1.0) in 1994.

The current version is 2.6, which was released in 2003 (source).

Torvalds modelled his software on an OS called Unix (one of the earliest computer operating systems), but more specifically a version of that system called Minix, which he wanted to improve upon.

Dave installed his first Linux system in 1997, a version called Red Hat.

"Back then, we used Linux mainly as a server," says Dave.

"Running web servers, databases, applications using lots of Perl (a computer programming language used for network administration, among other things) and Samba (a suite of programs for Unix/Linux which increases its compatibility with Windows systems).

"Nowadays it still does all that, chugging away silently and costlessly in the background, but does an excellent job on the desktop as well.

"I stopped running Windows about four years ago, and now use Linux for everything."

Wait, so how many versions of Linux are there?

There are literally hundreds of versions of software which uses what is called the Linux "Kernel".

The Kernel is the foundation for all Linux software, and has received contributions from thousands of programmers, with hundreds of companies and private individuals using and modifying it for their own needs.

Several packaged versions have been released for consumer use, but the latest operating system releases, and possibly the most user-friendly to date, is Ubuntu 10.04, codenamed "Lucid Lynx".

Ubuntu 10.04's desktop isn't too far removed from a Windows or Mac desktop - it looks like this:

Who is using Linux?

Though it's small as a percentage, Dave says the real number of people and organisations using Linux is nothing to scoff at - somewhere in the tens of millions.

"There are all sorts of people running Linux in every country in the world, from company directors like myself to grannies," he says.

"It's used by large enterprise deployments like Nasa, entire governments such as Mexico City, and lots of software developers.

"If there are over a billion desktop computers in the world, 20 million of them are running Linux."

"The server market is a different story - a large number of websites are running Apache (a web-server version of Linux which is used to run over half of the world's websites, as of February 2010 - source).

"Linux owns the infrastructure end of the market - Why? It's much easier to manage farms of Linux servers, and they're much more reliable."

What are the good things about Linux?

You could be forgiven for being sceptical about putting aside your trusty and probably quite functional operating system and giving Linux a try.

Dave says it's worth it due to a combination of cost, reliability and an abundance of free applications.

"Linux is amazingly reliable," he says.

"We used to have to reboot our Windows servers every week, whereas our Linux servers would run for many months between reboots.

"It's free software, both 'free as in beer' and 'free as in speech' and you can run the most sophisticated software around without having to pay for it.

"Running Samba file servers has saved the companies I work for thousands of dollars a year in unnecessary software licences, and OpenOffice (a free and open source alternative to Microsoft Excel, Word, Powerpoint etc.) is just as good as MS Office and doesn't cost a cent.

"There are huge numbers of free applications available - my package manager on my laptop lists over 30,000 free packages that I can install nearly instantly.

"Everything from games to programming systems to video editors, music software, cloud computing management software (for using tools such as Google maps, calendar, documents etc) - there's a free package to do just about anything you can imagine.

"Windows sucks because of its inherently insecure architecture, and Microsoft's duplicitous embrace-extend-extinguish philosophy for pseudo-interoperability."

Wait... hold on a sec, what? We might need a translation from uber-geek to English here:

(Windows is more vulnerable to viruses and malicious software, and the company is deliberately deceptive in the way it releases software which it knows will be obsolete in a few years, and pretends it will be compatible with other versions forever.)

Just thought we should clear that up.

"MacOS isn't so bad, as it's based on BSD (another version of Unix, created by Berkeley researchers with funding from the U.S Government - source), but you are tied into what Apple wants you to do," says Dave.

OK, sounds great, but what are the down sides?

Installing a Linux operating system can be a shock to those who have grown comfortable with a pre-packaged product like Windows or Mac OS.

"The moment you stray out of the mainstream, most commonly used apps, stuff doesn't always work the way you think it ought to," says Dave.

"Documentation (help files and support for when things go wrong) is really terrible most of the time and hardware support for new devices can be pretty bad."

This means that you shouldn't expect your brand new scanner or your digital camera to play nice with Linux; it's not as simple as plugging and playing.

You may find yourself searching for drivers for devices like your sound or webcam which were working fine under Windows or Mac, and maybe even having to learn how to install them manually.

"Bickering within the Open Source community is sometimes unbearable, with people taking stands on seemingly minor issues," explains Dave.

He says he would rather have access to the entire source code of his operating system than accept a close, pre-packaged version handed out by a "corporate giant".

In terms of security, Linux systems are much more secure against viruses than Windows, because the source code can be seen and vulnerabilities fixed, but Linux viruses do exist, as do Mac OS viruses, although in much smaller numbers compared with Windows.

How hard is it to install and use?

With freedom comes responsibility, and some people might be put off by the effort and technical knowledge needed to install and use Linux systems.

"There is a geeky edge to the Linux community, in that it is closely tied to the Open Source community," says Dave.

"If all you're doing is office apps, email and web surfing, it's perfectly suitable (for everyday users).

"Once you get into more complicated apps though, there could be 'some assembly required', but you get that with Windows as well."

Installing Ubuntu 10.04 (a.k.a Lucid Lynx), the latest general-use operating system, involves downloading a "CD image", which is then burnt to a CD that's used to install the software on your machine, or you can install it from a USB drive.

With Lucid, you can choose to install side-by-side with your current operating system, in what is known as "dual-booting", and choose which one you want to run at start-up.

This process has been simplified a lot since the early versions but still takes some technical know-how and some research.

So it's that, or get that Linux-mad geek friend of yours to help you. They'll probably jump at the chance to take another user away from the mainstream providers.

Lucid Lynx looks great and is considered much faster than both Mac OS and Windows. There are many interesting features, which can be seen in action in this YouTube video, or detailed in this list.

What does it cost, and where can you get it?

One of the main drawcards for Linux systems is that it is free and open source.

To get the latest general-purpose operating system, Ubuntu 10.04, you can find the files to download by clicking here, and a number of guides and help files exist, including the official help section here.

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