Windows? Linux? Need to switch?

Talk about a hot button - Linux or Windows.  You have to also ask yourself, we talking desktop or server?  There are some great appliances out there using a custom harden Linux kernel - and they work great.  I know there is a great debate taking place about which operating system is better. Jack Wallen, host of the Linux and Open Source blog, started a lengthy discussion asking the question: Why would you choose Windows over Linux? I thought that was kind of funny, because recently I have been asking myself the opposite question: Who would choose to switch to Linux?  You have Windows at home, kids use it at school, and I have a great productive office suite called MS Office 2010. 

I could go through a litany of complaints I have about Linux. I could complain about the confusing number of distributions. I could complain about the propensity of Linux proponents to cause unnecessary confusion by abbreviating or using acronyms for Linux-only functions. I could complain about the silly confusing names they give applications.  I could go on about the support structure, and the endless "experts" out there.

I could complain about cryptic command lines, nonexistent instructions, obscure references, and septic responses from the “open source community” to novices and their questions. I could reiterate that a multi-step process that takes an hour to work through to get Linux to put music on to my iPod is not EASY. I could point out that I receive security patch notices almost weekly for SUSE Linux, which indicates that as an operating system Linux is not anymore safe than Windows.  We all love to bash Microsoft of the weekly updates or patches - is it really different in the Linux world?

But all of that is not addressing the correct issue, is it?

Digging deeper - The debate about operating systems is a senseless debate about something that, in the long run, makes no difference. An operating system exists only to create an environment for applications; nothing more, nothing less. Most people sit down at a computer and just start using it without worrying about what operating system it is running.  I want to make sure my applications work, that the computer works, and is painless.  Right?

I have no knowledge of the operating system that runs my microwave oven. I don’t have to install the popcorn application — it is already there, and it works just fine. I don’t care who made it, I don’t care if it is open source, and I don’t spend time on PopcornRepublic discussing the merits of one popcorn application over another. It doesn’t matter — what matters is that I get a good bag of popcorn.

What matters in a personal computer is that I can run the applications that I want to run without having to worry about whether I have the correct operating system. You can argue that we are not quite there yet, but I think outside of the information technology industry, at the user and consumer level, they are there already. Consumers buy a personal computer for the applications; they know what they want a computer for. Much of the time, the operating system is Windows, but do you really think they care?

Why Windows? Jack wanted to know why Windows and not Linux. At the base level the answer is simple: Because that is what came with my PC when I bought it and there is ABSOLUTELY NO COMPELLING REASON to go through the trouble of switching operating systems just so I can run applications that are similar (or even identical) to the applications I already have.  Plus, I can point and click and get to what I need.

The whole mythology that Linux is perfectly safe and never crashes is just wishful thinking. I have seen Linux crash — I’ve watched John Sheesley crash Linux over and over again. Viruses and worms exist that take advantage of Linux bugs and security lapses just like Windows. Those kinds of problems are not exclusive to any one operating system.  So did we really benefit from switch to Linux?  You will always have the IT guru wanting something cool, better, new - but for the average user - worth it?  Probably not.

The real security weakness lies with users and their willingness to click on a link, any link, just to see where it leads. The nefarious among us take advantage of this aspect of human behavior — that has nothing to do with the operating system.  Those emails, those text messages - even the phone scams - we have to be on guard at all times. 

Need to switch?  So why Windows — why not? That is what the user knows and, so far, no one has offered any compelling reason for them to change their operating system. For the part of the population not engaged in the raging operating system debate, the question is meaningless — they just want to run applications

I propose to you, that Windows is still a solid operating system, meets the needs, has great applications that perform well on it, and is getting better every year. 

Keep positive!

Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net