Linux vs. Windows

by Riaan Nolan

The debate around Linux vs. Windows is as old as the hills themselves; everyone has their own reasons for using Windows or Linux, and that is fine with me… what ever does the job I suppose. But that is not what this post is about; it's about why I am using Linux, call it getting the facts, right from the horse’s mouth!

Why I run Linux on my Server:

I have a website, 3am psytrance, and it's by far the busiest website I have ever worked on, using on average between 40 and 60 Gig of bandwidth, between 500000 and 900000 page views and between 1500000 and 2000000 hits monthly. So as far as using system resources it's pretty darn intense, but wait until you hear the hardware specs...

Being a trancekop and almost always low on cash ;) I'm renting the Server from Sevenl Networks in Canada, here are the specs:
RAM:     247120 kB or 256MB
CPU:     Intel(R) Celeron(R) CPU 2.53GHz
HDD1: 36G SCSI Seagate Hard drive (Raid1 – Mirroring)
HDD2: 36G SCSI Seagate Hard drive (Raid1 - Mirroring)

So basically, we've got a machine with 256MB RAM with a 2.5GHz CPU, nothing special, I'm sure you'll agree - but check this, it's been up for 246 days, running a SMTP Server (Postfix for sending email), a Firewall, a Database Server (MySQL), a Web Server (Apache2) and an Operating System (Gentoo Linux). That is pretty darn stable! I can also upgrade any part of the Operating system, at any time and I never, ever have to re-install. If you have ever dealt with OEM licenses, you'll know that reinstalling can cost you a lot of money.

For example, my laptop was installed on Mar 11, 2005 12:10:04 – I will never have to reinstall the Operating System, the funny thing is that Linux is so modular, that I can keep all aspects of the system up to date, without having to reinstall the whole thing!

Open Source software has had some real financial benefits for me too as I only have to deal with the costs of the server rental, not tons of cash for an Operating System, an anti virus package, and or firewall.

Why I run Linux on my Desktop (laptop in this case):

It’s fully customisable and looks great (no really, check the screenshots below)! It also uses Xorg-X11 same as MAC OS for drawing windows, so as far as graphics are concerned, it's king! As Linux has so many variations, I'm really spoiled for choice, I can run Gnome (same desktop as default Ubuntu, which is being used by Google by the way) or KDE, or Windowmaker or Fluxbox, or ,or, or ... the list goes on and on ...

This is how my current desktop looks:

I never have to worry about getting viruses! As in Never! I also don't have to deal with Spyware! These are all Windows problems ... which can take up a lot of your time, and money.

I can export directly to PDF (Excel, Word, even Web pages), using Open Office, share files with my Windows counterparts, print to windows printers, use wireless networks and blue tooth. Basically the point I'm trying to make is that I'm no worse off using Linux.

The only problem that I find I have is with applications like Flash, or Autocad not being available for Linux. As a result I run Windows though with Vmware-Workstation. Once this is no longer a problem, and everyone can switch freely between operating systems, Windows will have a tough time keeping its client base.

Here we have Vmware running Windows XP Professional and gimp:

With Novell acquiring Suse Linux, they have taken a different approach to this portability issue; basically they had an online survey, where you could vote for the application that you'd like to see ported to Linux. You can have a look at the survey here:

And here are some of the results,

Top 10 Applications
1.         Quickbooks
2.         Autocad
3.         Photoshop
4.         Itunes
5.         Dreamweaver
6.         Visio
7.         Lotus Notes
8.         Quicken
9.         Macromedia Studio
10.     Act!

Top 10 Countries
1.         United States
2.         United Kingdom
3.         Germany
4.         Canada
5.       Australia
6.       Czech Republic
7.         Netherlands
8.       Hungary
9.       Sweden
10.     India

So, please do yourself a favour, just go and cut yourself a Linux cd FOR FREE, at any Freedom Toaster (sponsored by the Shuttleworth Foundation) and just boot your pc with it, you don't even have to format, or install anything, just boot your system with it and have a look. They are all around South Africa, locate one here.

You can't knock it until you've tried it!!

2006/10/23 | permalink | comments (2) | trackbacks (0)

Comments

RSS to Email

Get our latest blog posts delivered straight to your inbox.

eMarketing News

Subscribe to our fortnightly newsletter which is packed with interesting eMarketing news, views and other quirky titbits.

January

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

« Dec

Feb »

Recent Comments

Kat on Engaging as a Company

I agree with you. There are some things that should ideally not be discussed by an employee in the public sphere.
Would a communications policy have stopped the said journo from speaking out? He/she must have known a huge risk was being taken? I suppose it's also an incredibly difficult thing to predict. The lack of control can be alarming.
I'm definitely interested in seeing a more specific list, so if you find it do share.
Thank you for your comments :). Here's hoping there's a good coffee shop close to you..
vincent on Engaging as a Company

I guess the mark of a well crafted brand starts at HR policy for new recruits - ensuring that they fit the brand's/corporate's persona. So in that sense yes you could argue that left to their own devices employees would, regardless of an online communications policy, communicate in a style the sponsor would approve of. Not sure if that's always the case but I'm inclined to agree with this generalization.
I think what is also important is that the individual writing within the bounds of a sponsor's site does so in a restricted locale. You can police your own domain if you're a corporate, you can't necessarily control the individuals mouth outside of it. For instance on twitter, personal blogs and forums. Owing to the nature of niche stardom you could argue that the employee comes to represent the brand, more so than that personifies the brand in organic conversation with consumers and would carry significant weight both within corporate sites and externally. Making some individuals very wary to write for their companies at all.
For instance in our not too distant past a prominent journo got the boot for publishing his gripes with his employers and their professional ability - he was promptly fired...He would no doubt have been policed on a company blog but owing to the fact that he chose to represent the company elsewhere he took his brand and the papers brand with him - dragging both through the mud as traipsed on towards epic-failuredom...
So to come back to a point, there is definitely a sense that the policies as listed above are quite ambiguous. Even you yourself suggest that requisite legalese is absent, and I have to assume that such legalese would include a fairly long list of do's and dont's. I have a list somewhere laying about which dictates in a very bland corporate fashion how to represent the brand in public - if I find it I will share it with you.
Perhaps its worthwhile to enforce points like "don't tell secrets" and my own favourite, "for the love of god don't gripe about the boss who you've publicly named online"...
That's my mental-riff for the day, I'm afraid I veered rather uncharitably off course but such is the nature of thought.
Now if only the company I worked for had some decent coffee!!
Kat on Engaging as a Company

Transparency is a key issue - as is allowing people to carve their own niche.
My thinking is that people engage with a personality - an individual personality - in conversation more than with a collective. It's just easier. A company personality surely reflects the people who work there as well as a crafted (constructed?) image that the stakeholders choose to present. While you want engagement it's not the same as speaking to an individual.
There are definite risks involved - but I would lean towards allowing people to carve a niche.
vincent on Engaging as a Company

Couldn't have said it better. Nice post, it is most certainly something corporates are going to struggle with. How much transparency is too much? Who should be allowed to represent a brand and to what extent should the individual be given the opportunity to carve their own niche rather than extol the virtues of the mother - brand?
Who knows. We shall soon see as this year pans out and we find out how the big media players tackle the rise of the cost effective digital media channel.
Kat on Engaging as a Company

It is a tough issue, and I can understand why you've never published. I would encourage you to do so though - you probably have a feeling for when your writing reflects your voice and when it doesn't - and the rewards are worth it.
Thanks for reading Wendy. :)

More photos of the QuirkStars At Play

Name:
Friends of Quirk
Websites:
www.quirk.biz

Skribit: Social Suggestions

Name:
E-mail:
Url:
Comments:
Markup guide: makes text bold // makes text italic // -- creates a link -- (two dashes, no http://)
Remember personal info?
Notify me of follow-up comments?
SPAMCHECK:
Captcha:

Linux vs. Windows

by Riaan Nolan

Comments

Subscribe

RSS to Email

eMarketing News

January

Archives

Categories

Recent Posts

Recent Comments