Just a simple question....i think it's simple:

Just a simple question....i think it\'s simple:

I'm not much of a computer geek anymore, and i know nothing about UNIX other than its a free, user customised, operating system. But what were the benifits to switching to the UNIX server platform? If there was a discussion on this i probably missed it.

Thanks!

-Laurence

Re: Just a simple question....i think it\'s simple:

I don't know of any free UNIX. I think you mean LINUX.
It's more powerful and you can customize it more but it's not as user friendly as your newer Windows OS's.

Re: Just a simple question....i think it\'s simple:

Linux is a good OS, and you can build a huge software library for somewhere between "free" and pretty inexpensively, but unless you really like to work on your computer, you might be better off sticking with Windows or Mac OS-

Linux is harder to set up, doesn't offer support for a lot of the fancier devices (USB memory card readers, firewire stuff, video cards with fancy "extras" etc.) without 3rd party "hacks" and drivers (if you can even find them).

Once you get it set up is is usually more stable than Windows, and you can do more powerful networking stuff than with Win 95-98.

If you are into Games, Linux doesn't have many of the really complex ones available. Multimedia stuff is also kind of scarce.

I'm probably going to be using Linux more and more personally; It was really useful when I set up the "Darksbane Forum" last week. However, it has a pretty steep "learning curve", and is much less "intuitive" than Windows.

Re: Just a simple question....i think it\'s simple:

You guys almost forgot...Unix is stable, also it's stable, and oh yeah...it's stable. Another benefit of Unix is the fact that it's stable and that it's stable.

Get the stable, er I mean picture?

Did I mention that it's stable??

Re: Just a simple question....i think it\'s simple:

I am a die-hard Linux fan. I've been using it since RedHat 4.1 and have never turned back. Where else can you set up your own SMTP/IMAP/POP email server, firewall, Windows networking server and build a fully-database-driven webfront for free? And one the same machine too. You practically just pay for hardware and the online time you spend downloading all the tarballs/RPMs.

Its free, yes - but that's not the point. Saaby is absolutely right about the stable part. I've had my servers run for MONTHS on end with zero maintenance or reboots. In fact, the only time I had to tend to the servers is when a NIC breaks down, or when adding/removing parts (like RAM).

I'd say using Linux has been a pain and a joy. No complaints for its use a server, but on the desktop, its somewhat infuriating at times if you are thinking games, multimedia and some design work. Its fine for documents, spreadsheets and surfing, but I'd stick with Win/XP for games and design stuff (like when I'm using Flash or Freehand).

As an email station, Linux will laugh at most if not all email-born viruses and worms.

As for stability, Windows often dies because of one misbehaving app. And its always asking you to reboot when you this or that. So, even though its 'multi-tasking', you better be careful about what you are doing. For Linux, I can be recompiling Apache or a new kernel-build whilst still doing something goofy under X and not worry about a mishap bringing down the compile process along with it.

I've done some Solaris, AIX and HP-UX but that was a long time ago. All I remember about them is that they were *expensive* and restrictive.

Linux rocks!

Re: Just a simple question....i think it\'s simple:

Played around with Linux and Unix a little bit at my old job where it was in use. Just curious though, I thought it was really supposed to take off and get enormously popular but I don't think it really has at least not to the expectations and predictions I have read a few years ago that they thought it would be at this point. Any reasons why or it has and I'm just ignorant on the subject?

Re: Just a simple question....i think it\'s simple:

Linux has grown more popular, to the point where it is now Microsoft's No.1 enemy. But where is it? On servers everywhere. But not on Dad's desktop.

Microsoft has been in the market for so long with so many products in so many places that they've entrenched themselves in many of the ways we work and even think. How many folks even remember Lotus 123? Excel just seems like *the* thing for spreadsheets. Microsoft hit it right when they went beyond the OS and started selling and integrating MS-Office. What use is an OS without apps? So, now when you bought Windows, you could buy stuff to make Windows and your PC do something useful. Something useful for the average person, at home or in the office.

Linux, BSD and many Unices or Unix-like OSs have always been almost cultist and sub-culture geek items. So, after gaining credibility, they fight for commercial acceptance. Market share is the next goal, but its very difficult to extricate an 800-pound gorilla after its made home in your house. For many folks, Microsoft is already under their skin and shifting to a new OS platform would be akin to moving to a new country.

Of course, Windows has been improving in many ways over time as well, so its making it even harder to displace on the desktop. But Windows servers still crash all the time. And they're still expensive. That's why geeks still prefer anything but for their mission-critical machines.

So, Linux et al *are* popular - just not visibly. I like to think of it as in the same class of reliable everyday items that you don't notice all the time - like the brand of your bathroom plumbing..etc.

Just my humble observations

Re: Just a simple question....i think it\'s simple:

Yup. I have tried Linux and had bad with it, thats just me though and it's just because I don't have a sacrificial computer for it at the moment.

Windows is getting better, I can run windows 2000 for days without a reboot, but I don't...

I think we're stuck with Windows for the simple reason of what Compaq or IBM or Dell home computer can you get with Red Hat pre-installed??