Do you really want a OS that is dictated by a EULA that tells you what you can and cannot do. MS even wants to dictate when you should upgrade.
--- George Geller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello Everyone: > > As many of you know, I've been taking Joe McGerald's > course on Web Server Maintenance and security. You > can learn more about that class at my website: > http://wsms.wikiplanet.com. Since the course started > in September, I've had the chance to see Windows and > Linux computers running similar software on > identical hardware side by side. I've become > absolutely convinced that Windows is the superior > solution in functionality, ease-of-use, and overall > cost. > > Let's look at the server side, where Linux is > supposed to be better than Windows. Even the client > versions of Windows like XP and Vista include IIS > web server, which is the functional equivalent of > Apache. Windows 2003 Server comes with servers for > FTP, the WEB, etc. IIS even includes Sharepoint > which is a file server/CMS/Wiki. > > Want to do software development on Windows? Just get > Visual Studio and you're off. You mean just pay MS for pay for VS and your off writing code. Alternatively speaking Eclipse http://www.eclipse.org )is a free OSS very robust developement environment and competes very well with VS. Eclipse supports all major languages including C#. On Linux, you get to > start by learning bash, vi (or emacs), make, gdb, > etc., etc., etc. Or you could choose an IDE that > will only do about 90% of the job and then learn > bash, vi (or emacs), make, gdb, etc., etc., etc. > Windows is kind of free until you decide to upgrade or until the version is end of life'd and you are forced to upgrade. With Vista you are forced to upgrade your hardware as well. Linux on the otherhand scales biderectionally. > Cost is another another area where Linux is supposed > to be ahead of Windows. When was the last time you > bought a computer without Windows pre-installed? So, > Windows is effectively free. I concede that you can > download numerous Linux variants. Notice the words > "numerous" and "variants". That is a big part of the > problem with Linux. Which distribution do you start > with? And which options do you install? Which > desktop manager do you select - gnome, KDE, or one > of the lesser ones? > > If your time is worth anything at all, you will find > the "savings" on the initial price of the software > are quickly overwhelmed by the amount of time you > have to spend hassling with installation and > configuration. With Windows, you always have one > good choice -- for the operating system, user > interface, application suite, servers and so on. All > the configuration and installation is done via > Wizards, control panels, Microsoft Management > Console and regedit. On Linux you have to have root > privileges (whatever that means!) and learn how to > use yum, or is it apt? (good grief). Oh yeah, you > better be comfortable with the command line, because > that fancy schmancy gui tool that the schmucks at > RedHat gave you is only going to to about 90% of the > job! > Sorry with Windows the security problems are on architectural level. So long as Microsoft's uses procedural attachments (mixing of data with code) their security problems will continue(http://news.com.com/2010-1071-831385.html ). I don't believe I have heard of a Linux virus scanner, because there has been no need for one. > Many people say that Windows systems are prone to > attacks by viruses and other malicious software. I > beg to differ. If you use virus scanners, many of > which can be gotten at no charge, and if you keep > you system up to date you shouldn't have problems. > The bad rap on Windows security comes from two > factors: lazy and sloppy users and the fact that > Windows is a big target. It's kinda like banks. > People rob 'em cuz that's where the money is. > > George G. Geller, Ph.D. > San Diego, California > April 1, 2007 > > > > -- > [email protected] > http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list > -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
