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Here are some reasons why Linux could be the best operating
system for you:
A Linux Distribution has thousands of dollars worth of software
for no cost (or a couple of dollars if purchased on CD/DVD)
Linux is a complete operating system that is:
stable - the crash of an application is much less likely to
bring down the operating system under Linux
reliable - Linux servers are often up for hundreds of days
compared with the regular reboots required with a Windows
system
extremely powerful Comes with a complete development environment,
including C, C++, Fortran compilers, toolkits such as Qt and
scripting languages such as Perl, Awk and sed. A C compiler
for Windows alone would set you back hundreds of dollars.
Excellent networking facilities: allowing you to share CPUs,
share modems etc; all of which are not included or available
with Windows 95.
The ideal environment to run servers such as a web server
(e.g. Apache), or an FTP server. A wide variety of commercial
software is available if your needs aren't satisifed by the
free software.
An operating system that is easily upgradeable. After any
length of time a typical installation of Windows and software
gets into a complete mess. Often the only way to clear out
all the debris is to reformat the hard disk and start again.
Linux, however, is much better for maintaining the system.
Supports multiple processors as standard. True multi-tasking;
the ability to run more than one program at the same time.
An excellent window system called X; the equivalent of Windows
but much more flexible.
Of course there are many other reasons to use Linux such as
the full source code is provided and can be modified but 'regular'
application users will unlikely need the source code.
Linux is also being increasingly used in embedded devices;
one of our favorites is the Sharp Zaurus PDA, a small device
showing that Linux is more than a match for Windows CE.
It is possible to set up your system to have more than one
operating system on your computer. If you are contemplating
using Linux this can be very handy; it lets you still keep
Windows 95/98/ME/2000/XP (e.g. if work commitments require
that you use certain software) and use Linux. This will require
creating partitions on your Hard Disk. Documentation that
accompanies most Linux distributions will explain how to create
a 'multi-boot' system
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