The general idea about Linux in India is still that it is for geeks. C’mon change the prejudice, i’m using it. Let me give a small information i think about Linux.
Why Linux?
–Because it’s free. Free Licenses. You say, “so what? we get every software in India for free
“. I say, “Yes, fortunately. But not sure for how long. Linux is evolving. Dont loose the pace. Get introduced to it to stay alive in the race.”
–Almost zero virus threats.
–Stable even for slower granny old systems. Yes, its true.
–No extra costs for other softwares, and hence you are proud user of a legal software.
–Easy installation and updates. I say, easier than Windows. Trust me.
–Use all in one messengers with single program. Awesome Firefox. Inbuilt download managers.
–Workspace concepts to eliminate too many windows problem. Use multiple desktops at a time. Confusing?
–Very good music, DVD and CD player softwares. I have seen same movie both in Windows and Linux using same VLC player. The difference in quality is very visible.
Why Windows?
–If you are using proprietary softwares without which you cant live.
–You are into some work where you want to share it with people who accept only windows applicaiton outputs. Say typically printing works.
–Your hardware is not yet supported.
Myths about Linux:
–Linux is NOT stable and secure: MYTH. I dont have full knowledge on this myth, but have read a lot on this. I wouldnt say that it would never crash. It might crash but very rarely, as far as i have seen.
–Linux has no GUI:MYTH. Read the entire post before even thinking of this myth.
–Graphics in Linux isn’t good:MYTH. Biggest MYTH. I would say, Windows is far behind in rendering good graphics. I dont watch Movies in Windows these days after tasting Linux Graphics. 2D, 3D animation softwares in Linux are as powerful as Maya, Photoshop and are for FREE!!I have installed one such software from here. Its called Blender.
–Linux isn’t user firendly:MYTH. But the fact is that it may be a bit, “a bit” diffrent to Windows. The change is something very similar to using Nokia and switching to Sony Ericsson.
–LINUX doesn’t support all hardwares:partially FACT. You will have to wait for some time if this happens, but it wasnt a problem for any of my hardware components.
–Multimedia softwares in Linux are poor:MYTH. There are better and easier softwares than WinAMP, iTunes, Windowd Media Player.
–Games in Linux arernt upto the mark:MYTH. Though i haven’t played much, but have read a lot on this topic too. You can have Half-Life, AOE and many more. But they might not be free. You have many inbuilt games, like minesweeper, cards, Mario etc.
–Linux doent have softwares like MS-Office:MYTH. You again have better softwares which are very similar to MS Word, PPT, Excel. Infact, you can have 3 Word softwares, 4 Powerpointers, 3 PDF readers bundled in your Linux distribution.
Graphics:
Disney/Pixar, DreamWorks Animation, Sony, ILM and other movie production studios from Hollywood are using Linux to produce their movies. Yes, I know that many of you will say now, “it’s not true”, “it can’t be right” or “I heard they use Mac OS X software”, but it is true and Linux is used to render those CGI Blockbusters you probably saw on theaters, faster than any other operating system. The movie Scooby Doo, for example, was created at the Rhythm and Hues studio and the whole movie was rendered and touched up with the help of custom made software which ran on Linux systems.
Other blockbuster movies like The Matrix, Titanic, Gladiator, Superman Returns, What Dreams May Come, Cats and Dogs, Shrek, The Perfect Storm, Chicken Run, Deep Blue Sea, Star Trek: Insurrection, Fantasia 2000, Men in Black, Hollow Man and many many more, were created with Linux software such as RAYZ, Maya or Shake. Now, don’t think all the software used in movie production is free, because most of the applications cost somewhere between $8,000 and $15,000 or even more, but hey, it’s Hollywood!
February 7, 2007 at 8:40 pm
Interesting but who do you go to if something goes wrong? Better to pay and get after sales service unless you are a software expert.
February 8, 2007 at 9:50 am
Congratulations … you are officially a geek now.
Let me tell you my experience with linux. In my system, (yes the same old) I have installed red hat minimum of 15 times. Including all other versions of it 25 times. I swear in the name of inventor of UNIX, the system collapsed for every other improper shut down.
It was never for a common man. Say your grandpa needs to have a computer to check his mails, yahoo chat with you in evenings. What system would you buy for him XP or linux?
Firefox ? I am typing in firefox and its XP
February 8, 2007 at 9:59 am
@Hiren:”if something goes wrong? who will help me out?”, this is the most common doubt everyone will have. There are 1000s of Linux forums on net, lakhs of people using same softwares as you are. People help you out at every step. there are official Linux distribution forums too which help out their users in any trouble. I had atleast 20-30 doubts and problems when i installed FedoraCore4 aan year ago. I got replies for every question i asked for and they all worked!!
@Bach:As i told you, It is completely different now. It is no more Linux you saw 1-2 year ago. Try Opensuse10.2. Firefox is inbuilt in many linux distros.
February 9, 2007 at 2:10 am
OH so you too are SuSE buff? Me on a SuSE 9.0: old boy, but very reliable.