Response to “101 reasons why Linux is better than Windows” – Part 2
This is a response (Part 2) to the web blog entitled “101 reasons why Linux is better than Windows”(http://cityblogger.com/archives/2007/01/24/101-reasons-why-linux-is-better-than-windows/)”. The author tries to discredit Windows by giving many reasons why Linux is “better”.
I will do my best to show how this is not the case. Operating systems are just tools. If you try to make one OS look “better” than another, you could possibly lead people into the wrong direction. Please note that the author has not written all 101 reasons on his blog. It appears he stopped writing it a while back. I will respond to everything he has currently written.
Direct quotes from the author are in red and my responses are in black. Please note that I mean no disrespect to the author in anything I say.
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11) Linux also doesn’t require rebooting when you install a new application.
Around 99% of all the Windows software I use, I can install without having to reboot Windows. In other words, Windows and Linux are about the same in this area.
12) Linux doesn’t require frequent rebooting. Linux runs extremely stable, even if an application crashes, there is no need to reboot the whole system, just restart that application or service.
The same applies to a correctly setup Windows install.
13) Most importantly Linux doesn’t reboot on its own! I have had a situation where Windows updated the system and then rebooted on its own, without my knowledge. And worst, this was when I was updating my digital camera firmware.
Then just turn off your automatic Windows updates. This is not a problem with Windows. This is a problem with the way the user has configured Windows.
14) No licensing headaches: Yes Linux is free and you don’t know need to bother about the complexing licensing of per user/per PC/per server/etc. Note: Some Linux distributions charge a yearly subscription to get the updates and patches, however this is still more simpler than the proprietary world.
A person who goes to the store and buys a laptop (or desktop) will already have Windows pre-installed and activated.
Companies who use Windows (desktop and server editions) should already have people who are familiar with licensing Windows and act accordingly to the company’s needs.
15) Linux can read over a 100 different types of file systems. Windows is limited to its own two file systems. Well most general users may not care about this but its extremely useful is you are working in a mixed environment or you need to extract some data from a hard drive formatted on another computer.
Wow! This is wrong on so many levels. Windows can read from other file-systems. (Look here: Ext2Fsd and here: http://www.paragon-software.com/home/extfs-windows/)
You just need a driver to allow you to read another file-system on Windows (same applies to Linux). Windows is not limited to just two file-systems.
16) You have access to the source code and the right to modify or fix things if you are a programmer. Many end users think this is not necessary but they will realize how important this is when their application vendor decides to discontinue support on a older version to promote a newer one.
Most average computer users will not know how (nor care) to modify source code. Linux is only ‘freedom’ to people who know how to modify it and use it (e.g., computer programmers). If you are a casual computer user, Linux would not really give you any more freedom than Windows would.
17) Linux can install in logical partition or a second (slave hard drive as well)Windows can only be installed in a primary partition. Read this on some suggestions for partitioning.
You can install Windows on a separate partition from the “primary” one.
18) Linux is scalable right from the PDA/Cellphones to super computers.
Windows works on cell phones (called: Windows Phone). Windows is used in supercomputers, but it has a very small usage share. Linux is chosen over Windows for supercomputers due to being free and due to companies being able to modify its source code.
19) Linux is running mission critical applications including powering an Aircraft.
So does Windows. There are hospitals that use Windows (Look here: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windows-embedded/archive/2013/04/30/windows-embedded-8-is-great-for-healthcare.aspx)
20) Linux has less bugs than commercial software, this is one of the main reasons for its stability. Read more.
How do you know? You didn’t give any proof for your claim.
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Well this is the end of Part 2! Click here for Part 3!
Posted in Internet and Servers, Operating Systems