The Lagoon TechMy little blog in Cyberspace.

This is a response (Part 3) 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.

Click here for Part 4!

Click here for Part 2!

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21) You can also share the software with your friends and its completely legal to do so. Didn’t your teacher tell you in kindergarten that you should share things with your friends? Linux and Open Source actually encourage that while if you do that in Windows its not only considered illegal but they will call you a pirate!

With all due respect, how is this supposed to show Linux as being better than Windows?

22) Linux costs less, cause not only the OS is free but the applications are also free. Plus since Linux doesn’t have a virus problem, you also save on the recurring cost of Anti-Virus software. Note: You may still have to pay for support/training but the over all running cost is low.

Not all applications are going to be free for Linux (e.g. cPanel – a very popular web hosting control panel software).

It’s a common misconception that Linux is completely immune to malware and viruses. In reality, Linux systems can still be vulnerable to malware, and users should take necessary precautions to protect their systems, just like with any other operating system.

23) Both Linux and Windows has shell environment Windows (know as command prompt). The shell environments in Linux (such as bash) are more powerful and you can write entire programs using the scripting language. This is extremely useful to automate repetitive tasks such as backup.

Windows has PowerShell, which is a very powerful command line interface.

Quoting Wikipedia: “Windows PowerShell is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language built on the .NET Framework. PowerShell provides full access to COM and WMI, enabling administrators to perform administrative tasks on both local and remote Windows systems as well as WS-Management and CIM enabling management of remote Linux systems and network devices.”   — Source (as of 08-30-2014): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_PowerShell

24) Linux can run from a CD or can be installed on the hard drive. Windows by default doesn’t have any such option. Using live CDs such as Ubuntu/Knoppix, users can try out Linux by booting from the CD, without the need to install the operating system.

While not exactly a “Live CD”, Microsoft Windows 8 / 8.1 (Enterprise Edition only) and Windows 10 has a feature called Windows to Go. This allows you to run Windows off of a mass storage device, such as a USB flash drive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_To_Go

25) Linux is also extremely portable, it can also run off usb pen drives/portable hardrives/thumb drives and more.

[See the answer above (#24).]

26) Did you know that in Windows, there is built in back-door entry so US government can see you data as and when they like? Yes the US NSA has the key build into every copy of Windows. In Linux there is no such thing possible as the operating system is open source and can easily be detected and disabled. Read how this was done.

There is no convicting proof of this. Until good proof surfaces, this is just speculation. Also, it is interesting that Linux has a kernel add-on called SELinux. SELinux was originally written by the NSA themselves. Even my Android phone has SELinux in a “enforcing” state.

Yes, SELinux is open source, but that does not automatically make it squeaky clean of back-doors. I suspect most people who use SELinux have never even looked at its source code. They just assume that it is OK just because it is “open source”. Being open source does not automatically make a project “secure” and “reliable”.

Linux users are quick to bash Windows, without even thinking about their own operating system having possible back-doors inserted inside them.

Not to mention a lot of Linux users I have come across (not all, of course) act like they are experts on both Windows and Linux. However, from the comments they make, it is obvious that is not the case.

Until a Linux user can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Windows is “filled with back-doors”, they should just (respectfully) stop talking about Windows’ “inherent insecurity”.  I am not saying that there is not any back-doors in Windows, but just saying there is does not automatically make it so.  I think you get what I am saying to you.

27) Linux has built in virtualization(XEN/KVM/VirtualBox/etc.) so you can run multiple copies of Linux or Windows simultaneously.

Microsoft Windows has a built-in visualization hypervisor called Hyper-V.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyper-V

28) The Linux kernel comes shipped with large number of hardware drivers. 3000 Printers, 1000 Digital Cameras and 200 webcams were supported by Ubuntu. On Windows, a lot of hardware doesn’t work until you install the driver, this problem is worse with Vista as Microsoft doesn’t allow drivers to be installed which are not supported/certified by Microsoft. On Linux, a huge percentage of today’s common hardware works perfectly out-of-the-box.

I assume you mean the 64-bit version of Windows Vista. No hardware will work without drivers. You can install unsigned drivers in Windows Vista. Just follow these instructions from Microsoft: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/ff547565(v=vs.85).aspx

All my current desktop hardware works out of the box on Windows 10.

I had one wireless card that would absolutely not work with Linux out of the box, and printers usually do not work for me out-of-the-box on Linux either. Also, I would recommend using the manufacturer’s Linux drivers (if they have any for your device) in place of the drivers that came with the Linux distribution and/or updates.

29) Vendor independence: With proprietary operating system, you are dependent on the vendor who developed the operating system. With Linux you have a choice of vendors, so even if the vendor fails to give you support, you can always move to another vendor. Choice of vendors also means more competition, which means better value for money for the customer.

Unless you know how to modify Linux yourself (most average computer users will not know how), you (and they) are at the mercy of the “Linux vendors” just as much as people and companies are with Microsoft and even Apple.

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.

30) It won’t die or get killed like what happened with other fantastic but proprietary operating system such as OS/2, BeOS. Reason being, its open source and someone will maintain it and today there are many big companies behind and have bet huge money on Linux.

The idea that Linux will never die is just an assumption (same goes for Windows). However, if it were not for people (and businesses) with lots of money, Linux would not be where it is today. It takes money and time (“time is money”) to develop Linux. Linux is not truly 100% free.

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Well this is the end of Part 3!  Click here for Part 4!

Click here for 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.

Click here for Part 1!

Click here for Part 3!

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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 preinstalled 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.

That statement is incorrect. Windows is capable of reading from various file systems, not just its native ones. (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!

Click here for Part 1!

This is a response (Part 1) 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.

Click here for Part 2!

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1) It works  Its not a vaporware and is available today.

Windows is also not vaporware and is most certainly available today as well.

2) Linux doesn’t have the virus problems: Even Microsoft’s CEO Steve Balmer couldn’t clean Windows Viruses. Still not convinced? Read more on Why Linux isn’t affected by Viruses. Its not that there aren’t any viruses for Linux but Linux is more secure and less virus prone.

While Linux is often perceived as being immune to malware, it’s not entirely true. Malware can exist on Linux, but it’s relatively rare. Similarly, a properly configured Windows computer can also be resistant to malware. The likelihood of getting malware on either platform largely depends on user behavior. By exercising common sense, users can significantly reduce the risk of malware infection, with over 97% of malware threats being avoidable.

It’s also worth noting that simply being connected to the internet does not significantly increase the risk of catching a virus, regardless of whether you’re using Windows or Linux.

3) No Spyware: Not just spyware but none of those funny applications that keep doing things in the background.

This is definitely false. Look here: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/ubuntu-spyware-what-to-do

4) Linux Doesn’t need defragging: The Linux file systems work very efficiently such that it arranges data in a way that it doesn’t require defragging. to know more, read earlier post.

It’s a common misconception that a file system can be completely free of fragmentation. In reality, every file system, regardless of its type (such as NTFS, ext4, or FAT32), is susceptible to fragmentation. This occurs when files are deleted, leaving behind gaps in the file system that are later filled by other files. As a result, files can become scattered throughout the file system, forcing the computer to search through multiple locations on the drive.

5) Linux doesn’t crash without any apparent reasons. In Linux the core operating system (kernel) is separate from the GUl (X-Window) from the applications (OpenOffice.org, etc). So even if the application crashes, the core operating system is not affected. In Windows (Microsoft prefers to call this tight integration) if the Browser crashes, it can take down the entire operating system.

The Windows and Linux kernels operate independently of the primary applications and processes that run on top of them, such as explorer.exe on Windows or the X11 windowing system on Linux.

6) Linux doesn’t crash if you accidentally pulled out your USB key/pen drive. Try this a 100 times if you don’t believe me  but don’t blame me if your pen drive data gets corrupt.

Who pulls in and out their USB stick 100 times anyway? Also, I doubt that will cause Windows to crash.

7) Linux doesn’t require frequent re-installation: In Windows if the OS crashes, there is no easy way to recover this. Many IT support staff don’t know what to do and all they can do is re-install Windows. Which means that users applications and preferences are lost, and needs to be installed again. I haven’t seen anyone using Linux, requiring to re-install unless there is a hard drive failure. Most things in Linux can be fixed without requiring re-installation.

Just because a Windows system crashes, it doesn’t necessarily mean that recovery is impossible. In fact, it’s often possible to recover from a crash without having to reinstall the entire operating system.

The fact that you may not have heard of Linux users reinstalling their operating system doesn’t mean it never happens. If you were to ask on a popular Linux forum, you would likely find that some users have indeed had to reinstall their Linux OS at some point.

8) You can keep your operating system from your data, its designed to actually do that very easily. The benefit of this is all the users preferences can be preserved even if the OS needs to be re-installed. This can be handled by creating a separate partition for the home directory, read more.

While it’s impossible to completely isolate an operating system from user data, both Windows and Linux offer various methods to achieve a high level of separation, effectively minimizing the OS’s access to sensitive information.

On Windows 7, you can move user profiles (their account data) to another drive (Look here: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/124198-user-profiles-create-move-during-windows-7-installation.html).

9) Linux also doesn’t require rebooting when a new hardware device is added configured.

Unless you have a computer that supports hot-swapable hardware, you would have to shut down your computer to add the new hardware anyway. Configuring new devices on Windows usually do not require restarts anymore.

10) Linux doesn’t require rebooting when you change any setting or re-configure your Network.

The only times I can recall having to reboot Windows from making a network change is when either I  1) changed the work-group the computer is in   and   2) When I add a static IPv6 address to a network device. Not really a big deal.

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Well this is the end of Part 1!  Click here for Part 2!