Advantages of Linux
Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2015 9:38 pmLinux is free. Like UNIX, it is very powerful and is a real operating system. Also, it is fairly small compared to other UNIX operating systems, although to be honest, some versions of BSD UNIX, such as OpenBSD, can be shoehorned onto a 60MB filesystem. Many commercial UNIX operating systems require 500MB or more, whereas some versions of Linux, such as the embedded uCLinux, can be run on as little as 2MB of file space and 2MB of RAM.
Full multitasking— Multiple tasks can be run in the background, and multiple devices, such as a modem, printer, and hard drive, can be accessed at the same time.
Virtual memory— Linux safely uses a portion of your hard drive as virtual memory, which increases the efficiency of your system by keeping active processes in RAM and placing less frequently used or inactive portions of memory on disk. Virtual memory also utilizes all your system's memory and doesn't allow memory segmentation to occur.
Hardware support— Linux, especially Intel-based versions, supports nearly all hardware architectures and devices, with the best support for legacy hardware. This is an advantage in that new versions of the operating system will not make your older hardware obsolete.
The X Window System— The X Window System is a graphics system for UNIX machines. This powerful interface supports many applications and is the standard interface for the industry.
Built-in networking support— Linux uses standard TCP/IP protocols, including Network File System (NFS), Network Information Service (NIS, formerly known as YP), Session Message Block (SMB), and others.
Shared libraries— Because each command shares a common library of subroutines it can call at runtime, Linux helps saves memory and hard drive space.
Compatibility with the IEEE POSIX.1 standard— Because of this compatibility, Linux supports many of the standards set forth for all UNIX systems.
Open Source code— The Linux kernel uses no code from AT&T or any other proprietary source. This allows other organizations, the GNU project, hackers, and programmers from all over the world to develop and contribute software for Linux.
Documentation— Nearly every Linux distribution comes with more than 12,000 pages of documentation in the form of manual pages, info documents, or guides.Find extra technical documentation for software packages under the /usr/share/doc directory. Unlike operating systems offered by the monopolistic software industry, Linux is fully documented—one problem might be that there is too much information!
GNU software support— Linux can run a wide range of free software available through the GNU project. This software includes everything from programming tools, such as compilers, assemblers, linkers, and loaders, to system administration utilities, such as stream editors, the venerable emacs editor, and even games.
Full multitasking— Multiple tasks can be run in the background, and multiple devices, such as a modem, printer, and hard drive, can be accessed at the same time.
Virtual memory— Linux safely uses a portion of your hard drive as virtual memory, which increases the efficiency of your system by keeping active processes in RAM and placing less frequently used or inactive portions of memory on disk. Virtual memory also utilizes all your system's memory and doesn't allow memory segmentation to occur.
Hardware support— Linux, especially Intel-based versions, supports nearly all hardware architectures and devices, with the best support for legacy hardware. This is an advantage in that new versions of the operating system will not make your older hardware obsolete.
The X Window System— The X Window System is a graphics system for UNIX machines. This powerful interface supports many applications and is the standard interface for the industry.
Built-in networking support— Linux uses standard TCP/IP protocols, including Network File System (NFS), Network Information Service (NIS, formerly known as YP), Session Message Block (SMB), and others.
Shared libraries— Because each command shares a common library of subroutines it can call at runtime, Linux helps saves memory and hard drive space.
Compatibility with the IEEE POSIX.1 standard— Because of this compatibility, Linux supports many of the standards set forth for all UNIX systems.
Open Source code— The Linux kernel uses no code from AT&T or any other proprietary source. This allows other organizations, the GNU project, hackers, and programmers from all over the world to develop and contribute software for Linux.
Documentation— Nearly every Linux distribution comes with more than 12,000 pages of documentation in the form of manual pages, info documents, or guides.Find extra technical documentation for software packages under the /usr/share/doc directory. Unlike operating systems offered by the monopolistic software industry, Linux is fully documented—one problem might be that there is too much information!
GNU software support— Linux can run a wide range of free software available through the GNU project. This software includes everything from programming tools, such as compilers, assemblers, linkers, and loaders, to system administration utilities, such as stream editors, the venerable emacs editor, and even games.