What is linux?
Wow, you've been missing out a lot if you haven't heard about linux, but don't worry, I'll show you all about it in this article!
Wikipedia:
Linux was originally developed as a free operating system for personal computers based on the Intel x86 architecture, but has since been ported to more computer hardware platforms than any other operating system.
Okay but why use linux? Well the bast part about linux is that...
Linux is Open Source
When you hear open source you probably aren't much aware of what it actually entitles
Open Sorce means you can see the source code of the software in question.
Why is this awesome? Well it's awesome because you can modify it to your liking, and make it your own
Private & Customised software to suit your liking!
It also means that a lot of people can add better content to it since they have the source code, and in the end
an open source project ends up being sustained by lots of people which end in a better software product all-together.
An good open source project develops a comunity of people who help make it grow into a better piece of software.
But that's not the best part!
The best part is...
It's free! No $Cash$ needed
How linux has quickly grown over the past years
A lot of people still believe linux is that ugly console terminal.
That is NOT the case, linux now has a lot of beautiful user interfaces that you can choose from, I personally like gnome 3 the most!
Don't believe me? What if I told you that...
Android is linux
yes, Linux has grown so much over these past years that even google decided to make their own operating system based
off Linux and bring it to your phone!
A few statistics from w3schools.com:
Top ten platforms:
- 1 Windows 7 23.72%
- 2 iOS 9 14.16%
- 3 Android 4 12.16%
- 4 Windows 10 12.16%
- 5 Android 5 10.59%
- 6 Windows 8.1 5.10%
- 7 Android 6 4.41%
- 8 Mac OS X 3.82%
- 9 Windows XP 2.83%
- 10 Linux 2.48%
So right now Linux on the computer holds only 2.48% of the market-share yet with android it holds about 29%!
And this is among developers or students interested in in learning web development, businesses which want to check if their website is properly made, and even simple students searching to do their homework!
Linux is slowly taking over the world!
Another cool thing about linux is:
Customization & Distributions
There are a LOT of distributions to choose from, and surely one of them will fit your own needs.
the largest and most versatile distribution in my own humble oppinion is Ubuntu.
But seriously there are a lot of distributions there I mean honestly take a look:
And don't even think that's a lot, if I added a statistic with the distributions in 2016 I'd make you scroll down for an hour!
Ubuntu is definitively out there for people who aren't that tech savvy, you don't even need to type anything into
a terminal anymore. And that is definitively a great accomplishment for linux!
Turn your computer into a full fledged media center using XBMC!
Looks awesome right? Open source Freedom!
It even adds description for movies and subtitles to for them!
Or you can just use the music player, but hey that's also quite neatly developed!
To be quite honest, you can turn your computer into a TV station, check out Kodi!
No more time consuming defragmentation!
One of the reasons Linux is better than Windows it because it never needs to be defragmented.
Yes you've heard me right, no more annoying time consuming defragmentation!
The linux file system is made in such a way that it never fragments, so no more waiting for hours, sometimes having an error, your power failing, etc. Linux doesn't need that.
Updates on linux are NOT annoying!
Yeah you no longer get forced to upgrade when you're playing or are in the middle of work when your computer suddenly turns off
you lose your data and then you are forced to wait even for hours if you don't have a high end pc while windows updates. I'm sure everyone who uses windows knows this feeling.
Linux only upgrades when you enter your password, you can't even click yes by mistake, or you can set it to leave you alone
and you can only update when you wish for it.
Updates on linux bring you free features!
Unlike windows, linux upgrades all installed programs, and adds new features, and don't forget, they're free additions!
Linux Gaming
A very nice thing about linux is that it has a lot of games to play that are free!
Granted most of the free games out of them don't have the very best graphics, the nice part is that you don't
have to pay or pirate every one of them.
However that's all changed ever since steam decided to join linux.
Yes, you've read it right, Steam is on Linux!
You can buy games directly from steam and play them on your free open source operating system, no strings attatched!
What's more awesome than that?
Another chapter I'm going to talk about is...#Steam is on Linux
Privacy
Linux is also great for mentaining your own privacy, as you probably are aware due to scandals on the internet,
Windows 10 knows all of your info, searches, accounts, etc.
So if you're a person who doesn't appreciate being monitored constantly on everything you do,
then linux is definitively the choice for you!
Performance
Windows is so god damn big and cluttered, it's only natural that it performs slower.
Any kind of research done on large supercomputers will probably end up using linux, because it's so damn easy to
adjust to any such needs, why is that? It's small in size, and it's open source!
If you're on an older rig, then install linux on it and you will definitively squeeze more juice out of it and
expand it's lifetime!
You have your grandad's pc and none of the newer distributions work for it?
No problem! Just install a lite linux distribution such as slackware, or damn small linux!
More free stuff:
Distributions such as ubuntu will give you an list of all the thousands of free programs you can install on it.
These apps are free, and there is usually an open source alternative to many programs, such as excel, word, autocad, etc.
Security - No more nasty annoying viruses
Seriously there are so few viruses for this operating system I can count them on my fingers!
Linux's security is definitively not something to be trifled with. Combined with it's performance it's probably
the main reason why most companies choose to host their servers on the Linux operating system!
Security Testing
Linux is undoubtably the best choice in penetration testing, there's even a distribution for it!
Kali Linux no. 1 Penetration testing/ Hacking Distributions
This distribution contains everything a penetration tester could dream of.
Linux is also notorious for being the tool of "hackers" and this distribution only helps promote that even further!
Caution those of you who aren't paying attention!
Anyone wanting to steal his neighbours wifi can google a tutorial for kali linux, and chances are he will succeed!
Think about it, did you really secure your router with the best encryption?
Development
The linux open source comunity has tools for everyone, from architects to programmers, from artists to writers, from 3d Modelers to 3d Animators.
And again everything is completely free of charge!
No more paying thousands of dollars for Photoshop you can definitively use it to ease up your life!
Linux is also useful for educational systems such as schools!
Yes, it's free it doesn't cost much and it's extremely powerful, this makes it a very wise choice for schools.
In combination with the new raspberry pi it can provide a good learning enviroment for students in poor countries who can't really afford all those pcs for student, but with a 25$ computer the size of a credit card, well. They sure could!
In conclusion, whether you're a simple user from a hardcore developer or business man, Linux is definitively something you should consider using, and that's what makes linux awesome!
Please don't forget to upvote & follow if you liked this article and would like to see more content like this!
And hey, if you have anything you'd like me to talk about leave me a message in the comment section below!
Everything I've written here is my own work.
The header is my own work.
List of public domain images:
Linux inside android
Linux Distro 2009 list
Ubuntu screenshot
IBM Super Computer
Giant Tux
Vader tux
LeadWerk
Privacy
Kali Linux
defragment
Edubuntu
freedomchoice
Media Center
Media Info
Music Info
I'll show you how to penguin
I think people should use a live cd or dual boot to just mess around at the least. Nice little article.
I completely agree, it's so easy to use and if you're a hardcore gamer you can use windows to play games and linux for work since you don't have to deal with viruses, that's what I do. I've never had a problem in 8 years!
I just don't know if it is more of the learning curve or because of being open source there is just isn't good enough marketing. Linux needs an app that will only work with Linux.
Well, to be fair, untill recently linux was hard to use. You were forced to be a tech savvy kind of guy until recent developments.
Linux will grow as long as it continues getting easier to use, and eventually there will be no more need for paid operating systems at all, you will indeed only pay for apps.
Maybe I'm wrong but that's where I see it heading, let's honest now android was a very huge deal for Linux and already there are lots of people using it, and it's easy and simple to use.
Nowadays, most Linux Distributions offer tablet like user interfaces and windows is following the same example that linux set, Windows was never the first to bring in that Idea it was linux all along!
Considering slowly we're heading in the direction where personal computers will reach the size of your phone, I believe linux will surely vastly evolve over time.
Why Linux doesn't have more of the market share?
That's because it was late, it was late and it began as an operating system created by developers for developers.
Only later did Linux head to the normal users, and now it's doing it fully, and however little you may think, results are starting to show!
Think about it some more, before the only kind of people who would be able to use linux were geeks and that scared people off it's only natural that a barrier was created back then, and it's only natural that people stayed away from the idea and left it all to computer engineers. That is no longer the case, did you hear there's a chinese project to combine the linux kernel with the windows kernel? Perhaps in the near future we will even see all the apps that windows is able to run on Linux, without emulation!
I know this
But i had to read it again because linux is that good.
Follow, upvote, resteem
Thanks for sharing. What do you think than about Kubuntu? It is not even more easy to use for normal people than Ubuntu?