Linux
Linux systems excel in many areas, ranging from end-user concerns such as stability, speed, and ease of use, to serious concerns such as development and networking. Nowadays, Linux even offers a wide variety of free and commercial productivity packages such as the OpenOffice suite which can import and export files from other platforms, including Windows and MacOS.
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Linux has long been praised for its stability–Linux boxes are known for running months or even years at a time without crashing, freezing, or having to be rebooted. Linux users sometimes poke fun at other, less stable operating systems, by way of screensavers like BSOD (Blue Screen of Death, which displays crash screens from various other platforms).
Linux is extremely secure compared to other platforms. Viruses and Trojan Horse programs are practically non-existent. Linux servers practically run the World Wide Web, so one cannot argue that there are so few malicious programs for Linux because it represents an insignificant number of target machines.Virus information also described below. Mostly Linux machines are known to be extremely fast, because the operating system is very efficient at managing resources such as memory, CPU power, and disk space. NASA, Sandia, Fermilabs and many others have built very powerful yet inexpensive supercomputers by creating clusters of Linux boxes running in parallel. Clusters of Linux systems have been responsible for rendering the graphics for movies like Shrek, Titanic, and many others.
Many high-profile organizations have adopted Linux. For example, visit the NOAA (the National Weather Service at www.srh.noaa.gov) and you can thank Linux for the weather reports you will see online.Also ISRO (Indian space research organization) plan to Launch geo-stationary satellite using linux.
The most popular complete desktop environments at present are KDE (the K Desktop Environment) and GNOME (the GNU Network Object Model Environment). which run on top of Xorg, a free implementation of the X Window System. These offer the point-and-click, drag-and-drop functionality associated with other user-friendly environments (for example, Macintosh). Both can be configured to look and feel like other environments such as Windows or Mac, and KDE is remarkably extensible. Even complex tasks like system administration, package installation, upgrading, and network configuration can be done easily through graphical programs. Almost all programs that work with one window manager work with all the others, so you don’t need to feel like you must pick your favorite desktop environment based on your favorite applications.
Xorg now supports 3-D windowing environments such as Beryl and Compiz for amazing visual effects, and most people won’t have to upgrade their computers in order to take advantage of these enhancements. Cilck here for seeing the video of compiz desktop effect. Mostly now a days gis and java based application are devloped using opensource. Linux also make the braod technolgy in VOIP based application like aterics etc. Programmers often find that the Linux development environment is second to none–a good thing for end users who depend on these software developers to provide free software. Nearly all development software for Linux is free and covered under the GNU Public License, which guarantees that it will always remain free. Linux systems come standard with C and C++ compilers and an assembler, and usually include Pascal, FORTRAN, compiled Java, Perl, Python, ajax, django and BASIC implementations as well. In addition, modern languages like Ruby and classic languages like LISP are all available, fully functional and completely free. Linux runs two of the most popular development environments, Jboss,Eclipse and KDevelop, and you can use these environments to with just about any programming language available. These two development tools support web application development, but there are additional free/open source highly sophisticated development tools dedicated to building web applications. In addition, the source code for nearly any Linux program is freely available (and often included by default). This not only means that bugs are discovered and corrected almost immediately, but development of software proceeds at a much faster pace than one finds even at extremely successful commercial software houses. This phenomenon is called Open Source and is the subject of much discussion and amazement in the business world, the computer world, and the press. The Open Source nature of Linux also makes it ideal for embedded and specialized systems (routers, cell phones, multimedia entertainment centers, point-of-sale systems), because there’s no limit to what you can do to customize Linux for your special needs.
By default, Linux does not grant its users root privilege. Users who are installing applications or making amendment to the filesystem need to provide the root password, of which failure to do so will render the installation process useless. Similarly, for a virus to create havoc and cause a system-wide destruction, it needs to has root privilege, which can only be granted by the user. As long as the user is careful about what he or she installs and do not grant executable permission to untrusted program from unverified sources, there is little risk of getting infected by virus. Without root permission, the best the virus could do is to infect the Home folder and wipe out all the data in it. Your system won’t hurt a bit
Do I still need anti-virus software? You will definitely need an anti-virus software if you are setting up a file server with your machine. In situation where you are running Samba or NFS servers, there is a possibility that the virus residing on your machine can infect the Windows PC in your network. In cases where you might have documents in undocumented, vulnerable Microsoft formats, such as Word and Excel, that contain viruses, you definitely want to eradicate them before you share the documents with your counterparts that are running Windows. Having an anti-virus software at check can definitely reduce the chance of your Linux machine becoming a virus propagator. While Linux provides you with a pretty secure environment, it can only do so much. You still have to play your part to filter out the bad from the good and make sure that none of the viruses get into your system. With due diligence, I am sure that you can have a peaceful night without any virus scare. |
