Practical and real reasons for why we have been using nothing but

Linux for the last 20 yearsfor everything. Yes everything.

By : Khawar Nehal8 Nov 2013

http://atrc.net.pkhttp://dubai-computer-services.com

Technical vs Normal

Technical people use Linux vs Normal people.This is like the Ferrari vs Toyota.Most people just want a low cost car for the basics.So is Linux like a ferrari ?Yes it is. You want performance, efficiency, security, and the most out of your computers, you need Linux. Look at google servers and android smart phones and tablets. They both run Linux. Even you TV set top box has it.

Cheaper vs Expensive

It is more cost effective than the alternatives if some company like ATRC, google, samsung, canonical, or redhat hacks it into it and provides you with a version suited to your use.Note they shall be providing applications along with less modifications to the OS.

Software installations

The common softwares have been made easy to install as a single click and it has been working for over 5 years perfectly.If you want more specific software then it just requires some investment in following the documented steps or asking someone else to support you in this.Some complex to install softwares have been automated and are available as cloud based servers.

Software installationsThere is some computer science involved and efforts to. If you are expecting an ERP, CRM or SCM to be installable and usable in a single click, then you can get a cloud solution. But seriously, expecting to not invest more than that in training corporation wide just won't make such large applications practically useful. Find mature, working and easy to use apps and actually invest in using them. Forget easy to install. You need to learn that only once.You shall be glad you invested time in them.

Live CDs

Live CDs allow you to run a different distribution from a CD without installation. To get an idea of how it looks and the general design of the integrators. Do not expect to use it without installing. You can install to USB and forget your laptop in case you are short of space.You can also keep all you passwords encrypted into a separate partition in your Live USB.This shall provide you a lot of peace of mind and very high security.

Security

Encrypt only the partition for password data. Not everything else. Backup the password data into encrypted files on the unencrypted data/work partitions. No headaches of exports of encryption technologies.Want NSA/CIA proof encryption, talk to ATRC.

Rapid development

Most common and important software are debugged and updated regularly. So the feature requests and reliability of softwares is excellent.You can concentrate on your work after selecting a reliable software instead of constantly worrying about the possibility of crashes.

Changable

If you have a very special requirement. Like google wanted to make a smart phone OS so they took linux and modified it a little and called their distribution android. Similarly a whole ERP, CRM or SCM software cannot be just configured or scripted in their specific language, you can even change every line of code to suit your requirements from the ground up.

Power for technical users

Shells usage is optional. The lame users who do not want to see “DOS” like functionality are like IPAD users who do not want to use a paper and pen or pencil. They are restricting themselves.Most of the important work and applications are based on scripts or work without any screen. All programs offering services in servers do not need a GUI. What they need is efficiency, security and reliability.

Multiple desktops

A very simple feature, still not available in other competing systems. For those who use it.

Multiple distributors

Other than one company selecting what to package in a box. You have google making the android. Samsung changing it to meet their hardware. Ubuntu selecting the mac style with gnome. PCLinuxOS with the more traditional KDE and “PC” style. If do not want too many choices, you can get companies like ATRC to make you a desktop for your company's tastes.

More hardware supportThere is a greater than 99.999% chance that a hardware shall have a driver for Linux within 1 year of being created.There is a 95% chance that a driver shall be available upon introduction.Just plug the hardware into a Linux machine to see if it is supported. Or google it before buying just to be sure and then you shall be having hardware which is 100% supported.Do not go for the cheapest hardware, it is not worth your time.

More hardware support

If you go for the cheapest hardware you may have to wait for someone to make the driver or worse be told to make it yourself.So then you can request the manufacturer to get it made. Do you really expect such manufacturers to bother about software quality or availability ?You may still be surprised at how fast drivers for such hardware become available automatically.

Multiplatform

It can run from digital watches (literally). They are called android watches. To the world's largest super computers.The largest one now according to top500 (June 2013 report) is Tianhe-2 with 3,120,000 CPUs and 1024 Terabytes of RAM. It uses 17.8 Megawatts of power.Yes it can run on your laptop also.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldHvcjfXjQg

No launch deadlines

Commercial software needs to deliver on deadlines to meet marketing requirements.Linux distributions deliver a more reliable experience out of the box with thoroughly tested software. You can get both releases for almost all softwares. The stable one called production. Then the latest one that works, called stable.And if you really want the edge, you can take the latest code called a “nightly build”. For reliability, take the production version.

Interoperability

Since most of the users using Linux have to interact with other computers like running your presentation on another computer. Many software are able to write to different file formats and communicate with other protocols. So much that in many cases, people used to request opening files and partitions via Linux in cases where they were having trouble with the original softwares designed to work on those proprietary files.

InteroperabilitySo if you want to be able to do the most in an environment filled with IPADS, android phones, USBs, WIFI based projectors, MACs, and other hetrogeneous computing systems, Linux can help you access the largest variety of files, disks and networks. So much is accessible that some inept companies shall not allow a Linux machine to be connected to their systems because their lame security policy depends on the inability of proprietary systems's inability to access certain formats or network protocols to deny access.

InteroperabilityIt is like allowing a person fluent in multiple languages into a company dependent on having multiple cultural backgrounds and security dependent on using different languages to relay messages not directly to others. Like we can use Urdu in Dubai to relay a message to people who understand only Urdu in a group. While others understand only English. Assuming they do not understand Urdu. So Linux looks like a computer able to speak too many languages in such an environment.

Support

You can get commercial support. Just because people do not mention it does not mean it is not available. The quality is a lot better than what you could get from paid commercial proprietary vendors or third party because everyone can look and work under the hood in Linux systems.For proprietary systems, you need to pay a lot more to an apple store or a tech support to even get started because the hood is welded shut.

You choice

You can get your own selection of software packed into a distribution for your company.Configure or even change the software to your specific requirements before deploying.

Security

Security is higher. Look around to ask for a person who knows the name of a Linux virus.Just the name, not experienced a virus.This shall tell a Lay man what security is and is supposed to be like. If you want to know how this works, call ATRC for details and we shall be happy to train you.

Contact

Want to know more or get training ?http://atrc.net.pkhttp://dubai-computer-services.comVoice : 971-55-639-8386Email : linux-support@atrc.net.pk