Windows vs. Linux (was: Re: [GLLUG] cheap cd-rw drives)

Edward Glowacki glowack2 at msu.edu
Thu Jul 1 10:41:24 EDT 2004


On Thu, 2004-07-01 at 09:27, Scott Harrison wrote:
> I'm trying to decide between windows and linux.
> Any ideas or suggestions out there?

<humor>
"I'm trying to buy a sharp object, any suggestions?"

"Well, we sell chainsaws and scalpels.  If you're a lumberjack, then I
recommend a nice chainsaw."

"What if I'm a brain surgeon?"

"Um, well then I sure as hell ain't gonna sell you a chainsaw!"
</humor>

<serious>
Some questions to ponder:

1. What are you going to use it for?
2. How well can you administer each of the OS's?  Or how quickly can you
learn?
3. What's your budget?
4. What's your hardware?


My thoughts:

1. What are you going to use it for?

Server: Linux or BSD, unless you specifically need to run something
Microsoft (Active Directory, MS SQL, IIS, etc.).  You have a better shot
of being able to remotely administer Unix than Windows, and the core
free server software applications (apache, samba, etc.) are all rock
solid.  With a little bit of work, you can tighten Unix down and then
just let it run indefinitely, aside from occasional critical upgrades to
fix security holes.
  
General home desktop: Windows.  Despite making great headway, the free
desktops really struggle to compete with Windows in terms of consistency
and polish.  Plus there's a better assortment of time wasters (games)
available. =)
   
Web development: Windows, because you have to run IE to test your site. 
If you have another machine (even a slow one or one you only have
periodic access to) that runs Windows, then you might go with Linux or
BSD here so you can have all the relevant server apps running on your
own machine for development/testing.  (You can get apache/mysql/php for
Windows by the way, there's a package out there that has everything you
need.  Look at
http://www.hotscripts.com/PHP/Software_and_Servers/Installation_Kits/)

2. How well can you administer each of the OS's?  Or how quickly can you
learn?

Whichever you can competently administer to keep up-to-date.  Both
Linux/BSD and Windows will give you plenty of rope to hang yourself
with, so keep an eye out and keep your system patched.

3. What's your budget?

Windows is obviously going to cost more.  At the very least, there's the
OS, and you should also make sure to get a virus scanner.  Plus a higher
percentage of the Windows software available costs money, shareware
included.  The good news is that a lot of the biggies (Mozilla, Open
Office, apache/mysql/php, etc.) are cross-platform, so you can get most
of your core functionality on either OS.

4. What's your hardware?

If you've got modern hardware that can run Win XP, then either that or
Linux/BSD is fine.  The older the hardware, the more I'd lean toward
Linux/BSD, and I wouldn't recommend running any version of Windows other
that XP (or maybe 2003 server or whatever it is... avoid 95/98/Me/2000
at this point).

</serious>


-- 
Edward Glowacki				glowack2 at msu.edu
GLLUG Peon  				http://www.gllug.org
Imagination is the one weapon in the war against reality.
                -- Jules de Gaultier


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