| The term I used for the type of operating system is 'Linux'.
However there are a number of what's called 'distributions'
from rival companies which gives the uniqueness to the operating
system.
A short list of the more popular distributions are Mandrake,
Red Hat Fedora, Suse and Debian. These are all seen as rival
competitors with Microsoft Windows in the PC market.
My personal favourite is Fedora, they have made their tools
and installation so simple that it rivals the latest Microsoft
operating system for easy of use.
The only thing that puts Linux behind Windows is the fear
of the unknown, as very few people have used it. Companies
are reluctant to view it as a suitable alternative as it reduces
the variety of employees that will know how to use it, something
Microsoft doesn't have to worry about.
As Linux has grown and evolved, it has taken many of the
characteristics that we have come to expect from a Microsoft
Windows product. The recycle bin, task bar, start menu etc,
however these features may well be labelled differently.
With an ever increasing set of graphical configuration tools,
it is becoming an operating system which is usable by a wider
audience of people less familar with Unix systems. This compliments
the operating system allowing the more technical individual
a higher level of control over their environment, more so than
with Windows.
Linux is not the type of operating system you would want
to use if you are a complete beginner, however it offers many
features that will surpass the equivalent features in other
operating systems. (if they are present at all).
Installing Linux when Windows is already installed offers
the capability of having a dual boot system, ie both operating
systems installed and fully functional on the same PC. Except
Windows will not 'see' the Linux file system. The choice is
made of which operating system to boot into at the beginning
of the boot sequence, and only one operating system can run
at any one time.
Linux is what is refered to as 'Open Source', which means
the source code used by the operating system is freely distributable,
usable and editable. Windows is not open source, therefore
only Microsoft developers have access to the programming code
of the operating system.
What is the advantage of Open Souce? it means that anyone
can contribute to the development of the operating system
and features. This means a large variety of useful tools,
utilities and applications available with every release.
|
