Linux For Business: Three Benefits To Using It
I can think of three good reasons why Linux in business is a good idea.
December 2, 2011
Linux for business is secure and stable
There are two computers I use almost daily, and I’ve been quietly testing the viability of Linux for business for a while now. They contain the exact same hardware, and were brand spanking new on the same day. They’re both used about the same amount of time. One runs Windows XP, the other runs Xubuntu. Every so often I drag race, just to see if one gets faster than the other over time. Actually, it’s not quite that anymore, the test now is to see how much slower the XP box has gotten since the last time I ran the race.
Two other XP boxes installed around the same time (again, with identical hardware, but that’s irrelevant) have succumbed to malware. Fixing each instance was a several hour procedure, for a backup, wipe, XP reinstallation, and restoration of apps and data.
Meanwhile, this Linux box used by anyone passing by as a browser, email checker, and (it’s main reason for existence) Point of Sale station, continues to chug away with nary a hiccup.
Linux for business is configurable
What would life be like if you could pick and choose that applications and services that you did NOT want running on your computer? It’s easy in Linux, you just shut them off. The more services your computer is running (listening services, things that are waiting to be told what to do) the more vulnerable to malware you are. Lots of unnecessary services fire up when Windows does. Windows for business is still just Windows. It does what Microsoft says it needs to do. Linux for business, on the other hand, does what YOU tell it to do. When people ask me why I like Linux, my response these last couple years has been “It does what I want, only what I want, and when I tell it to.” When it breaks, it’s my fault. I like being able to take the blame when a PC or a server breaks. That means I can fix it too.
One of the problems I run into is that of applications requiring super privileges to run. You must install and run them as an administrator in Windows. This means that any employee needing to use such an application will ALSO need to be running as an admin. Doing everything, like browsing the web and checking email, as an admin, is dangerous.
Linux for business is less expensive
Most Linux flavors, whether it’s Linux for a home user or Linux for business, are free. They come with software repositories that are full of free applications as well. There are also websites full of other free and open source software (like sourceforge and freshmeat) that you can go to if you need highly specialized apps that might not be located a given Linux distribution’s repositories. The thing is that they’re there, and they’re free. And running Linux on one of your business computers means you won’t have to go buy some overpriced security suite…
But wait, you say, what about Linux distributions like Red Hat or Suse? Those have price tags, indeed. However, is a Red Hat license more or less than a Windows one? Can you call Microsoft if you have a problem, or do you need to speak with your computer’s manufacturer and speak with someone whose primary language is almost certainly not yours?
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