An Introduction To Linux For Windows Users

allheart55 Cindy E · February 19, 2015

By David Robinson on February 18, 2015 in Top Story

Linux might not have found a comfortable home on the desktop, but for backend services, it’s everywhere.

Here’s a guide to Linux, showing why intermediate and advanced Windows users might want to take a look at this open-source operating system.

site) released a version that was acceptable to an average personal-computer user. But even then, its enhancements were well behind Apple’s rapidly developing OS X.

While Microsoft struggled with antitrust issues, security concerns, engineering delays, and product flops through the 2000s, Apple positioned itself as the safe and stylish anti-Microsoft. With innovations such as the iPod and iPhone, Apple’s market capitalization surpassed Microsoft’s in 2010. Brilliant advertising campaigns defined consumer choices as being exclusively Windows versus Mac. And though Microsoft continued to dominate business computing, Apple clearly won the pop-culture battle. Google eventually made Linux — aka Android — the leader in the mobile market, but there was no deep-pocket champion for Linux on the desktop.

Equally decisive was Microsoft’s aggressive marketing strategy against free and open-source software — especially Linux. During Microsoft’s bad old days, when many in the computing industry viewed it as an abusive monopoly, the folks in Redmond had good reason to fear Linux’s zero-cost licensing and early dominance on Web servers. Linux threatened Microsoft’s enterprise-software strategy, which envisioned tightly integrated Microsoft products on every computer, from servers to the desktop.

Microsoft responded with a so-called “fear, uncertainty, and doubt” campaign (see Wikipedia page) targeting businesses that might be tempted by lower-cost Linux options. Microsoft was accused of buying off a major UNIX vendor, as recounted by Eric Raymond on his site.

As reported in another Wikipedia article, Microsoft quietly backed UNIX vendor SCO in its intellectual-property battles against several Linux distributors and customers. Although SCO eventually went into bankruptcy, the disputes cast a very public shadow over the legal status of free and open-source software for much of the 2000s.

Meanwhile, the fight for the enterprise market was accompanied by a lot of intemperate language. As reported in a July 31, 2000, The Register article, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer equated Linux with “communism” and was quoted in a June 1, 2001, article, declaring that “Linux is a cancer.”

Ostensibly, those terms might translate into:

Communism: Linux and other free software are developed outside normal business models by volunteer developer communities.
Cancer: Open-source code, if incorporated into any Microsoft product, would transform it into an open-source product as well — a possibility counter to Microsoft’s business model.

These characterizations simply aren’t true. Much of the development work on the Linux kernel was — and still is — carried out by for-profit businesses such as Microsoft’s old nemesis, IBM. The view of Linux as a “cancer” is based on disputed interpretations of the operating system’s license. But that concern is mostly unfounded, according to a SitePoint article. (Under less restrictive licenses, Microsoft could incorporate open-source code into its products and still maintain its closed-source intellectual-property rights.)

Ultimately, much of the invective against Linux disappeared with advances in server virtualization, which brought much-needed flexibility to IT operations. To be taken seriously in the enterprise, Microsoft’s own Hyper-V virtualization technology (more info) had to support alternative operating systems and open technical standards.

The concept of locking in businesses to one technology vendor, famously espoused by IBM, is now a pipe dream — especially with the recent rise of cloud computing. Microsoft must now compete in a platform-independent market. Today, you can deploy a Linux system on Microsoft’s Azure cloud in minutes and never give a thought to Microsoft’s own server products.

more info). The GPL requires the source code to be available to all users; allows modification, redistribution, and sale of the code or compiled versions; allows private use of modified code and compiled versions without restriction; and requires public release of modified code (also under the GPL) if modified and compiled versions are sold or given to the public.

Linux itself is only a kernel — the core OS component that controls memory and other computer hardware functions. To be usable, it’s generally packaged together with the GNU (site) system libraries and utilities. It’s also combined with the X Window System (site), which provides a graphical environment similar to that of Windows or Mac OS X.

Ready-to-use Linux packages are called distributions or “distros.” These are developed, maintained, and marketed by for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Some of the best-known distributions are Red Hat, Debian, and Ubuntu. Though Linux carries no licensing fees, for-profit Linux companies make money by selling support services, primarily to business customers.

While Windows reigns as the business PC of choice and Apple still claims the hearts of many writers, artists, and musicians, Linux is now the favored desktop system for programmers, IT professionals, and others who have very specialized requirements for their computers. Some of their priorities might overlap with yours. Here are some examples:

Price: Yes, Linux can be acquired for free. A popular Linux-community saying is “Free as in freedom” or “Free as in beer.” Linux is both. That means you can download a Linux distribution and modify it as you like. Also, Linux distribution sites let you download it free of charge, burn it to a CD-ROM, install it on as many computers as you like, and make copies for friends. (The situation is somewhat different for enterprise users, who will in many cases also purchase a support contract.)

Look and feel: Just as Windows and OS X appear and operate somewhat differently (they’re more alike than not), so do Linux distributions. Although each flavor of Linux has its own default user interface, most distributions also let you choose freely among alternative desktop designs. Depending on your personal-computing skills and tastes, this is either confusing or liberating.

To greatly oversimplify, there are three broad approaches to look and feel in the Linux world.

Microsoft/Apple clones: Macintosh begat Windows (arguably), and Windows begat desktop frameworks GNOME (site) and KDE (site) — plus dozens of other interfaces riding on them. Essentially, they all resemble what we thought of as Windows before Windows 8 came along.
The native UNIX design tradition: Before Linux, this group of interfaces was used by UNIX-server admins and rarely seen in public. Stuffed with widgets, they offered useful ideas (such as virtual desktops, my favorite) that Microsoft and Apple have mostly deemed too confusing for their users.
Mobile-inspired, touch-ready, cross-platform desktops: That was the mantra of Windows 8, but Linux got there first. (Apple is probably headed there, too.)

You can see an example of each in the following screenshots.

Figure 1. Linux Mint: For those who dislike Windows 8, the Cinnamon desktop updates the classic Windows look.

Figure 2. Bodhi Linux: The Enlightenment menu option offers Unix specialties such as application docks and virtual desktops.

Figure 3. Ubuntu Linux: Like Windows 8, the clean, blocky, touch-ready Unity desktop reflects the impact of mobile devices on interface design.

Versatility: Linux is much more modular than Windows; you can install only those components of interest to you. You don’t have to accept a mass of unneeded software that takes up disk space, slows the system down, and opens security vulnerabilities. You also won’t have to contend with much-hated, preloaded, commercial “crapware” (all those trial versions of programs that pop up and nag you but which won’t truly work until you pay a license fee).

Linux also runs happily on older hardware. If you have a working Windows XP computer that you want to update to something modern, chances are that a newer Windows version will run poorly — if at all. Linux will run just fine. Using older hardware also avoids one of the Linux limitations: possible lack of support for the latest cutting-edge hardware.

Applications: The sketchy selection of popular consumer applications is still an issue for Linux. Web browsing isn’t a problem because Firefox and Chrome are fully supported. Email support has improved, in part due to the wide adoption of Web-based mail managers such as Gmail. But in most other application categories — graphics programs, word processors, spreadsheets, audio/video applications, and many others — familiar programs are missing.

Fortunately, most of those apps can be replaced by satisfactory — often excellent — free/open software. Many have all the functions you’re expecting, but the severity of the learning curve will depend on your specific software needs and skills. (If you’re interested in programming, Linux’s tools are second to none.)

Linux Mint