Linux is Poised to Take Over the World

When chatting about my operating system of choice (Ubuntu), I will often hear this question: "Ubuntu? What's That?" When I explain that Ubuntu is a flavor of Linux, I will invariably get one of two responses. 1. "Ew... Linux; I don't know if I'm ready for something that hard," or 2. "Huh? Linux? Wuzzat?"

Unfortunately, fair or not, that is about where most of the computing "world" lives, with regards to Linux. Either a computer user will have no idea what Linux actually is, or else they have an idea of what Linux is (be it ill-formed or not), in which case the reaction is often times one of fear or concern.

In this article, I hope to explain and illustrate that Linux is not as hard as people think it is. Linux is not so different from Mac or Windows that someone who's never tried Linux would be completely lost. Linux is not just for geeks, and - despite the conventional wisdom, Linux probably will be able to interact with most of your peripheral devices, such as monitors, external drives, printers, PDAs and more.

So. In my opinion there are three big reasons why Linux is on the verge of taking over the computing world. Okay, that's undoubtedly a stretch, but "taking over the computing world" sounds a whole lot better than "doubling its market share from 10 percent to 20 percent," so I'll go with a bit of hyperbole on this one. But it's true, in a way, and Linux could be right for you. So prepare yourself for the top three reasons Linux is about to hit it big.

1. Linux Is All About "Free"

For many users, this will be the biggest reason of all to switch from Mac or Windows. Linux is free, in more than one sense. First of all, Linux is (almost always) completely free to acquire. There are a few versions of Linux that cost money to purchase (just like Mac or Windows), while others are intended for the corporate environment, and have high-quality, certified technical support available for purchase. But if you go to the largest source of Linux distribution information - Distrowatch.com - you will find that of the top 10 versions of Linux, nine of them are completely free, and one of them has a free version.

And it isn't just the operating system that's free. It's everything about Linux. Imagine it like this: you've been given a computer, completely free of charge, that has a fresh copy of Mac OS X installed on it. It comes with everything Mac OS X comes with, but nothing else. So, what do you have? You have a web browser, an email program, music and video players, an image viewer, a basic text editor, and a few utilities, such as a dictionary, calculator, screen saver... basic stuff. If you want anything else, such as an office suite, a photo manager, image editor, news reader... any number of things, really... chances are you'll need to pay for them, or else find a free alternative on the web. And there are high quality free programs out there, but you'll need to search for them. With Linux, once you install a fresh copy (of Ubuntu, for example), you already have an office suite, a photo manager, image editor... practically everything you need. And if there's something else you want, simply open up a program called Add/Remove... and you'll be shown a list of thousands of applications you can download with a couple mouse clicks, all completely free. Better yet, when those programs are updated (if your distribution keeps on top of such things), all it takes is another couple clicks and your computer is completely up to date. In fact, sometimes the computer itself tells you when it's time to get updated versions of programs!

Last, for Linux freedom has a different meaning. In addition to being free to acquire, Linux programs (assuming they are open source), are also free to modify and distribute. This means that if you are a programmer, you can take a program, tweak it to suit your own needs, and then distribute the program in its altered form. Of course, there are stipulations to a free program like this; often you will (of course), need to give attribution to the original author, and you will need to make available for your users the original source code, as well as your changes. Compare this to Microsoft and Apple (along with other producers of commercial software). You may see an easy way to make one of their programs better, but chances are that even with polite feedback, you may never see the change implemented. Or, if the change is made, it may be made in a new update of the program, available only if purchased. Linux truly gives multiple meanings to the word free.

2. Linux Is All About Longevity

One of the biggest complaints I hear from computer users is how quickly their computers are made obsolete, either by the introduction of new software, demanding faster processors, more memory and better video cards, or else a new version of an operating system, demanding the same things. Linux, because of so many varieties, can be made into a perfect fit for almost any computer, no matter how old. For instance, a quick check of Ubuntu's website shows that the suggested minimum requirements for running Xubuntu (a flavor of Ubuntu with a very lightweight environment) are a paltry 64 megabytes of RAM, although 128 are recommended. Contrast that to Windows, even Windows Vista Home Basic (the most basic version of Vista, which came out a little while before the most recent of Xubuntu), which demands 512 Megabytes of memory, or twice that if you want to run a more complete version of Windows. In addition to memory requirements, Linux in general needs very little hard drive space. A very full installation, including music players, photo editors and office suites, will often take up less than 2 Gigabytes of hard drive space, sometimes considerably less. Again, compare this to Windows Vista Home Basic, which wants a minimum of 15 Gigabytes of free space! The easy argument against this is that Windows Vista is a far "better" operating system, but in what way? It can't be that Windows is "prettier," because Linux can be made to look nearly identical, and in fact has some graphic eye candy that Windows does not. The point, however, is not necessarily to compare barebones versions of either operating system, but simply to say that in order to run Windows on an older computer, a much older version of Windows, such as Windows 98 or Windows 95, must be used. If Linux is preferred, however, a brand new version may be run, even on older hardware, with excellent results. This enables that older computer, that maybe still has some life in it, but isn't capable of running Windows with its enormous system requirements, to still be useful. This saves money, and allows for more productivity (and definitely less aggravation), than having to purchase a new computer just to upgrade operating system, or attempting to run the newest version of Windows on hardware that really can't hack it.

3. Linux Can Read Your Documents

This is certainly a blanket statement, but in most cases it is true. A common fear of people considering the switch from Mac or Windows to Linux is that it won't play their "stuff." That stuff may be word processing documents, presentations, spreadsheets, emails or music and/or video files, among other items. The truth of the matter is that Linux has progressed far enough that there are programs eminently capable of playing/reading/opening almost whatever you have to throw at it. Of course there are always exceptions. Music purchased through a place like the iTunes Store or from Rhapsody will not play, and if using the most recent version of many programs, there may be slight (or sometimes not-so-slight) issues with formatting or features. But the large majority of documents can easily, almost transparently, be read by the Linux equivalent of your Windows or Mac program. In fact, many programs you use daily on Mac or Windows might actually be available for Linux! For instance, the Firefox web browser and Thunderbird email client are both available for Mac and Windows as well as Linux. Opera, another web browser, is likewise a multi-platform program. And while there are no Linux versions of iTunes or Microsoft Office, there are certainly many options available that mimic most of the features (aside from the iTunes Store), that makes iTunes so easy to use, and OpenOffice, while not quite exactly a carbon copy of Microsoft Office, is able to read and write its formats, with a great deal of accuracy.

There are more reasons, of course, that Linux is a great operating system. For instance, I haven't even mentioned how stable Linux is, or the fact that it is free of viruses. In fact, a blogger has come up with a list of 101 Reasons Why Linux is Better Than Windows. Sure, a few of those items are subjective, and it's just as easy to find a list of Why Windows Is Better Than Linux, but I think the point is made.

So why not just make the leap? Go and download a copy of the Ubuntu Live CD, which allows you to use Linux without installing it first. Give it a spin; see if it's for you. I tell you, it's going to take over the world, so why not be ahead of the curve?