Michael Dunkirk

English IV CP
Angela Wilson
Monday, May 2, 2016
What Makes Linux a Better Choice?
While Windows is the most familiar operating system, Linux can offer a great deal more
freedom, speed, flexibility, and security. However, to say that any one thing is better than another is
foolish, because how good something is will always be a subjective matter. Rather, it is crucial that
one is given the facts of an argument or situation, so that they may form their own opinion and
choose as they wish. Windows may work best for one, but for another, Linux may be preferable.
The ubiquity of Windows has caused the mainstream user to form certain expectations
regarding their operating system. When a user purchases a new computer, there is an outstanding
chance that it will already have Windows installed and ready to go. Due to the familiar look and feel
of Windows, should a version of Linux be installed on said computer instead, the user would most
likely be confused and perhaps even return the computer in exchange for one that has Windows
installed. The average user has become accustomed to using a simplified desktop environment,
where all one must do is click on an icon in order to perform an action or launch a program. While
the Linux environment has changed dramatically over the past years, it is apparent that Windows is
far more familiar. The biggest obstacle the mainstream user faces when using Linux is usually the
use of a terminal, known in a Windows environment as the command prompt. When using Linux,
there will in many cases eventually be a point where the user is required to enter commands into a
terminal, which may be quite daunting to someone who has never used one before. In Windows,
however, it is very unlikely that during one user's session there will be any initial problems that
force them to correct the situation using nothing but a black screen with text on it. The terminal is

an area where rather than simply pointing and clicking on something to make it do something, one
must type a command or series of commands. This is off-putting for the mainstream user, because it
is not often very user-friendly. While there are usually many people willing to offer advice for both,
Windows does not generally require much tinkering to make it work as expected. Many users do not
have the patience or time to prepare Linux for use, as depending on the choices made, one may
spend anywhere between a mere ten minutes to a whole day or even a week before it is fully ready
to be used. Windows offers a simple solution to this dilemma, which is to have almost everything
taken care of for its users. It offers a simplified interface, and while it does not offer the benefits
Linux can, it will not require very much time spent configuring it to make it function. For example,
a well-supported distribution, such as Linux Mint, will likely take no more than five or ten minutes
to install, depending on the computer, and will most likely function without very much configuring.
In this case, it is designed to work as-is and without making many changes (About Us). On the
contrary, a lightweight version of Debian may not come with the necessary components to make
certain key features of some computers work, such as a laptop's built-in Wi-Fi or a computer's
specific network card. Windows tends to take care of most hardware problems without interference,
often without asking for permission. Despite this, it will not grant the user much control over what
their computer is doing. When it comes to handling software, Windows does not do a very good job
of removing and installing software. There are also many components of Windows that typical users
generally do not know exist, because they do not apply to the user. Often, parts of certain programs
are left on the computer even when the user thinks they have been uninstalled completely.
One of the key features of Linux is the amount of security offered versus Windows. Often,
users in Windows are given sufficient privilege to do anything requiring administrator, or superuser,
privileges. This means that, should a malicious piece of software be executed, it will inherit all of
those privileges granted to the user, thus allowing it to do what it pleases. While this is technically a
user error, it also has to do with the operating system providing easy access to the necessary
privileges without providing much warning. In Linux, it is a general rule to only allow having

superuser privileges when administering software or doing something related to the core of the
system. When the user is finished performing whatever tasks they must, they will log out and return
to their normal account. This way, even if the user is taken advantage of by a virus of some sort, the
virus cannot cause much more damage than personal files, rendering the system still usable. This is
mostly due to the fact that Linux has an open-source model, which follows a concept directly
opposing the closed-source model used by Windows. According to Linus's law, Given enough
eyeballs, all bugs are shallow (Raymond). This model depicts that the more people are watching
the code for the program, the faster a bug can be spotted and therefore corrected, offering far
superior security. The latter is a tried-and-true method that has proven itself more useful, whereas
the former, Security by obscurity, has resulted in many more issues. Far more often are exploits
discovered and taken advantage of in Windows than in Linux. For example, the infamous Love
Letter worm spread itself across millions of computers back in May of 2000, which was estimated
to have caused anywhere between five and nine billion dollars worth of damage worldwide. In
addition, the Code Red worm took advantage of a buffer overflow to spread itself across
approximately 360,000 host computers in July of 2001. The concept of security by obscurity is
simply that if the attacker cannot read the code, it will take them much longer to find a flaw in it, if
not impossible. It should not be ignored that every method works best in some situations, and not so
well in others. More specifically, security by obscurity only works well when there are not many
individuals interested in the target object, which in this case is the operating system. This directly
opposes the current position of Windows, which as of March 2016 takes up approximately eightyeight percent of the operating system market ("Operating System Market Share"). To add insult to
injury, Windows does not natively know how to install or uninstall software. Software installation
and removal is completely up to the developer of the program, which means it is common for files
to still be left lying around. A third party program is often necessary to completely remove software,
which can pose a security hazard (Brown). When enough files are left lying around, it tends to slow
the operating system down.

There is a specific variant of Linux known as Gentoo, the name based on the gentoo
penguin, that is designed to perform the most efficiently of all Linux distributions. It can
accomplish this by not including redundant parts of the operating system that are meant for
compatibility with hardware. However, in contrast to the efficiency improvements, it must be
compiled prior to use (Stieben). This is to improve the efficiency of the distribution, so that it
performs as best as it possibly can on the target system. Compilation of the operating system may
take a long time depending on the system's hardware. It also requires heavy expertise with Linux,
which means it is not very useful to the mainstream user. In the case of the average user, the speed
of Linux depends heavily upon the choices made. For example, a full installation of Linux Mint will
not perform as well as a full installation of Lubuntu due to the differences in included software
(About us). Lubuntu is designed to be very lightweight, which makes it good for making old and
outmoded computers function more efficiently. Linux Mint, on the other hand, is a much larger
collection of software that tends to run more slowly, with the benefit of being more user-friendly.
Another variant of Linux, known as Puppy Linux, is designed to run entirely within your computer's
memory (Kauler). Because all of its components are loaded when it boots, all programs that come
with it load extremely quickly. However, Puppy Linux does not include very complex software,
which is expressly why it can work entirely from computer memory.
There is generally a different version of Linux for every situation that it was necessary to
make a unique variant of Linux. If there is not one for a particular purpose, it can be created,
because everyone has access to the source code, which is free to use for any non-commercial
purpose according to the General Public License, originally written by Richard Stallman. The vast
majority of the servers that make the Internet run are not using Windows for an operating system,
but are using some version of Linux (Netcraft), and run software that works under it. Windows has
not been used for many things besides a standard computer, whereas Linux-based operating systems
have been used for a variety of things, ranging from cell phones (Life at Your Fingertips) to
satellites (Nestor). It helps make Linux more versatile than Windows. However, it is likely that one

does not wish to have to choose between the many very different versions of Linux.
There is usually no risk involved in trying any version of Linux. While there are
recommended practices for installing Linux for the first time, it is easily possible to remove Linux if
it is not liked by the user when installed. Linux distributions tend to be very small as well, the entire
operating system itself not usually requiring more than a few gibibytes of space to exist (Hunt).
This means there's a lot more space for documents and other files to be placed in the same location.
Linux distributions also generally include tools to be compatible with Windows file systems.
Windows uses three main types of file systems: NTFS, or New Technology File System, FAT16, or
File Allocation Table, and FAT32. However, these are not the only types of file systems. Linux has a
wide variety of different file systems that can be used, each of which has advantages and
disadvantages. Yet, Windows can only read NTFS, FAT16 and FAT32 by default. Linux is be able to
read files within Windows without any modification, but Windows cannot read the files used in
Linux. Installing Linux to any system usually works well, because the communities surrounding it
have made it easy to install. Generally, this involved the user-friendliness of Linux now compared
to Linux when it first started. Many communities exist to get help from if necessary.
In conclusion, the age-old argument of Linux versus Windows can be summed up like this:
Windows is to Lincoln Logs as Linux is to Legos. Linux offers freedom, customization, and
usability in more than one environment, with a near infinite number of possible outcomes. On the
contrary, while Windows does offer the ability to customize it to a degree, it is difficult to
personalize it so that it can meet the needs of every individual that uses it. It is still useful if the end
user lacks the time or patience to set up Linux, but it will never be able to perform as well at its
core.

Works Cited
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Stieben, Dannie. "Gentoo: A Linux Distribution Where You Compile Your Own Optimized
Software." MakeUseOf. MakeUseOf, 10 Jan. 2013. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
Wallen, Jack. "10 Things Linux Does Better than Windows." TechRepublic. TechRepublic, 17 Sept.
2008. Web. 28 Apr. 2016.
If you can see this text, you found the hidden message that's increasing the size by so much. Please
see this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WipM3SAYqK4 (couldn't give it hyperlink
format, LibreOffice would show it anyways). Here's another cool thing that I made:
http://pastebin.com/jYRrdBWn