What is Digg?Warning: The Content in this Article May be Inaccurate
Readers have reported that this story contains information that may not be accurate.Sponsored by Double Your Dating
Scary Quiz - Do you have what it takes to attract women? view!
doubleyourdating.com - Think you know a thing or two about meeting women? Take this quiz and find out...
488 Comments
- lovekudu, on 02/04/2008, -18/+112Great article. There's no point showing people they can do their normal web browsing / photo collection / music stuff with Linux unless you also show them the things unique to Linux that make it great. Sure, you could do a few of these things in Windows or OS X with more time or money, but having them there out of the box on Linux is great.
PS. Ditch the headshot. It adds nothing and makes an otherwise good article look a little ridiculous. - pimpdad82, on 02/04/2008, -6/+87
What is the coolest thing you can do using Linux that you can't do with Windows or on a Mac?
by matthew, Saturday 2 February 2008 at; 17:58 :: Linux / Ubuntu :: #32 :: rss
Someone asked me this recently. I don't have just one answer. I compiled a list of things I thought of and emailed it to my friend...then I thought I would post it here for future reference. Feel free to add to the list! There is also a forums thread on the same topic, that I remembered as I complied my thoughts, so I stole some of the ideas posted there.
1. Upgrade to the newest version legally and without paying money
2. Have the latest version of the operating system run faster than the previous version on the same hardware
3. Easily install and run different graphical interfaces if I don't like the default setup
4. Install twenty programs with one command
5. Have the system automatically update all my installed programs for me.
6. Install the same copy of my OS (Ubuntu) on multiple computers without worrying about license restrictions or activation keys
7. Give away copies of the operating system and other programs that run on it without breaking any laws, governmental or ethical or moral, because it was all intended to be used this way
8. Have full control over my computer hardware and know that there are no secret back doors in my software, put there by malicious software companies or governments
9. Run without using a virus scanner, adware/spyware protection, and not reboot my computer for months, even when I do keep up with all of the latest security updates
10. Run my computer without needing to defragment my hard drive, ever
11. Try out software, decide I don't like it, uninstall it, and know that it didn't leave little bits of stuff in a registry that can build up and slow down my machine
12. Make a major mistake that requires a complete reinstallation and be able to do it in less than an hour, because I put all of my data on a separate partition from the operating system and program files
13. Boot into a desktop with flash and effects as cool as Windows Vista on a three year old computer...in less than 40 seconds, including the time it takes me to type my username and password to login
14. Customize anything I want, legally, including my favorite programs. I can even track down the software developers to ask them questions, contribute ideas, and get involved in the actual design/software writing process if I want to
15. Have 4+ word processor windows open working on papers, listen to music, play with flashy desktop effects, have contact with a largely happy community and have firefox, instant messaging, and email clients all open at the same time, without ever having had to beg someone for a code to make my os work, and without the system running so slow it is useless
16. Use the command "dpkg --get-selections > pkg.list" to make a full, detailed list of all software I have installed, backup my /etc and /home directories on a separate partition, and you are able to recover your system any time, easily
17. Run multiple desktops simultaneously, or even allow multiple users to log in and use the computer simultaneously
18. Resize a hard disk partition without having to delete it and without losing the data on it
19. Use the same hardware for more than 5 years before it really needs to be replaced...I have some hardware that is nearly 10 years old, running Linux, and still useful
20. Browse the web while the OS is being installed!
21. Use almost any hardware and have a driver for it included with the operating system...eliminating the need to scour the internet to find the hardware manufacturer's website to locate one
22. Get the source code for almost anything, including the OS kernel and most of my applications
I could go on, but that's long enough. :) - inactive, on 02/04/2008, -30/+99One thing you can't do when you use Linux: Shut up about it.
- colincornaby, on 02/04/2008, -26/+92(I'm bored so I'll have a look at his list...)
Reason number two is incorrect. Mac OS 10.0-10.4 all had documented performance increases. Four is also incorrect. Mac OS X has a documented package system, and using either the software update or installer tool you can install multiple packages over the web. Eight is incorrect. Everything below the GUI is open source in OS X. Nine is incorrect, OS X includes most of the same software Linux does, so it's just as immune to viruses. Ten is incorrect, OS X is evenly susceptible to fragmentation as Linux is. Eleven is incorrect, OS X has no registry. Twelve is incorrect, both Windows and Mac OS X can save files or programs on a different partition (duh?). Thirteen is incorrect, Leopard can run on pretty old Macs. Fifteen, uh, both OS X and XP are great and running multiple programs. Sixteen is incorrect, dpackage runs on OS X. Seventeen is incorrect, multiple desktop implementations are available for both OS X and Windows. Eighteen is incorrect, Leopard can resize partitions without having to erase them. Twenty two is incorrect, OS X's kernel is open source.
Has this guy even used the platforms he's comparing to? - harlowsmonkeys, on 02/04/2008, -26/+71Wow. About half of those were just variations of the same one point. And a good fraction of those he claims you can't do on Mac or Windows you can easily do on one, the other, or both. And several of the ones he says you can do on Linux you actually can't (unless you place severe restrictions on your system, in which case you can also do them on Windows or Mac).
- subgeniusd, on 02/04/2008, -13/+57FTA: 21. Use almost any hardware and have a driver for it included with the operating system...eliminating the need to scour the internet to find the hardware manufacturer's website to locate one
Personally I've been rather lucky on this point since I run Linux mostly on 2-3 yr old, modest systems. But for a great many new users this assertion is pure BS, especially those running hot new systems, or getting Winmodems to work, or various brands of printers etc etc. Just visit any major distro user forum/hardware section and you can read 1000s of hardware compatibility issues.
Linux is the greatest thing going in the IT universe IMHO but let's get real and stay real please. - niallabrown, on 02/04/2008, -10/+47Great list and this is just a small fraction of the benefits. Hope I'm not repeating any of yours but there is also:
-It doesn't try to make you dependent on it... it tries to facilitate choice and interoperability instead
-It doesn't force me to use or keep installed programs I don't want to use. (for example: IE)
-Install twenty programs with one command (if you don't use the command line you can install twenty or more programs at once in a GUI by ticking off the boxes and clicking apply. Just select your category.... office,sound&video,education... )
-The people who code it wont do anything to you they wouldn't want for themselves or for their own family
-People with low incomes (or average incomes for that matter) and those in developing countries can afford to run it
-Your software acquires great new features automatically without buying or downloading a new version
And there are many more. People keep saying that "when linux needs to focus on doing something better than Windows rather than just copying it. These people need to re-asses what linux can do. - inactive, on 02/04/2008, -15/+49This is a bit of a silly article which rather misses the point of Linux (and Free software in general.) The whole point of free software is to empower people to use their computers in any way they see fit, not to empower *Linux users alone*. Most points in the list apply equally to BSD, and even a fairly large proportion of them apply to Mac OS X, too.
- Roger, on 02/04/2008, -32/+63Nothing new here. Just another Linux zealot, move along.
- djbon2112, on 02/04/2008, -4/+27God, seriously, WHY is Adobe always this big issue? How many of you ACTUALLY use Photoshop enough to justify worrying about it!? Please, I'd like to see a hand count, because logic seems to dictate not a lot (the software is a couple hundred $ first of all), but yet that's the only unifying reason (other than games) for why people refuse to use Linux!
- Disease, on 02/04/2008, -2/+24Play Crysis.
Oh wait, no one can do that. - saguratus, on 02/04/2008, -2/+21You're likely mistaken. On almost all distributions, there's a one-command or one click method of installing applications through package managers. The method to install software is without doubt far superior on Linux, the article actually goes into it a bit.
- Greywhind, on 02/04/2008, -0/+17Surprisingly enough, that's not actually true. I have most things installed from the package manager. Only a few that are new and not mature enough to be included are installed from their own packages, which are still pretty much just one or two clicks to install. Most of those will eventually be added to the package manager, I'd expect.
- jstone, on 02/04/2008, -0/+17There's this wonderful thing called a package manager... It gives you a list of available software for your specific distribution, and allows point-and-click installation of software on that list. Package managers make it incredibly easy to find and install software on Linux.
- Fraize, on 02/04/2008, -23/+38How about "configure your system without opening a text-editor"
- nailer, on 02/04/2008, -2/+17I regularly use both OS X and Ubuntu. Some things you've said I agree with, some things I think aren't reflective of what using either are is actually like.
#2. True for OS X.
Having new versions run faster? Agreed.
#3. Also doable on Windows.
Running a different desktop shell on Windows isnlt doable out of the box, and breaks a lot of software that expects explorer. If it's not out of the box, stable, and no additional cost, then it doesn't count.
#5. Only if you limit yourself to programs offered through your distro's package management system. With that limitation, both Windows and Mac do this.
Updating all your software at one?
Windows and Mac don't come with a usable desktop apps built into the OS. Office suite (OpenOffice), virtualization (VirtualBox), HD video app (Miro), VOIP (Ekiga). etc. are available on Ubuntu repositories. Also third party apps like Skype add their own repositories.
There's nothing like that on Mac or Windows. A pity, as they'd be quite useful. The only comparable thing is Installer on iPhone.
#6. True for Mac (he overlooked that Apple sells a family pack).
Multiple licenses with one media copy? Yup you're right.
#8. This assumes he avoids hardware whose drivers includes binary-only kernel modules. (There are also some people, including the submitter of this story) who claim that SELinux configuration is so hard to understand that the NSA can stick backdoors in there and they won't be detected.
Good point.
#9. First, this one is not true for Linux. If you are keeping up with all the latest security updates, you'll not have an uptime of months, due to kernel updates. As for the rest, also true for OS X.
Restarting Ubuntu for 3 kernel updates a year is much better than SOftware Update on my Mac, which still requires reboots for Application (a surprise for any Unix).
#10. First, this depends on what you do with it. People running news servers or large mail servers find that sometimes they DO need to defragment Linux systems, but I'll take it as implicit that he's talking about home and desktop use, so we don't get into that kind of usage. However, then it is also true for OS X. In fact, it is MORE true for OS X because OS X does on the fly defragmentation of files that meet certain criteria, so is even less likely than Linux to need defragmentation.
Since Ext3 avoid fragmentation when writing blocks out to disk, consolidating them wherever possible rather than filling all free holes like NTFS does, mail servers shouldn't require defragmentation either - though you may need to increase the inode limit when using maildir style mail boxes.
News servers aren't really in general use outside piracy anymore.
#11. OS X, too.
Try out software without having bits left over? iTunes messes with your mobiledevice framework and doesn't uninstall the changes when you remove it. You have to go in to /System/Library and do it yourself. There are other examples too.
12. OS X, too.
I assume you're right here, I don't partition separate disks on desktops as I like to have the available space together.
#15. Same for OS X.
I assume you're right, I don't really write documents on my Mac.
#16. What about programs that weren't installed via the packaging system? Oops.
On my Ubuntu system, this consists of one test copy of Songbird, which I assume will be packaged once it's stable. Everything else is properly packaged.
#17. Hello, OS X.
Multipel desktops? You're right of course. Windows too regarding multiple simultaneous logins.
#18. This one is just stupid. Non-destructive partition resizing was available on Windows LONG before it was available for Linux.
The first version of Windows that could resize NTFS non destructively was Vista. Before then you had to pay for a third party tool. That said, as mentioned, Vista can do this. Not sure about Mac.
#19. Same for OS X and Windows.
You want to run current software on a five year old version of OS X? Good luck. XP gets eaten by old registry entries and annoying app that want to start on demand (but you can do this with a lot of tweaking). Not sure about Vista. - regeya, on 02/04/2008, -0/+14If 'not playing games' is a deal-stopper for you, I doubt you're highly concerned about the ability to 'really get anything done.' ;-)
In all seriousness, and at the risk of feeding the trolls, the same tech that makes EA's most recent OS X titles possible was thanks to technology that those of us in the free *n?x world had first. It's called WINE. It lacks polish on our platform, but if you buy a Cedega license (same commercial branch being used by EA) your chances of playing games trouble-free increases. And before you bitch about it not being free...hey, YOU'RE the one wanting to play proprietary games, aren't you? - djbon2112, on 02/04/2008, -3/+17I seriously want to know, no joke. I really don't understand it. Why is everyone so incredibly tethered to Photoshop? Is it really used as much as people seem to imply?
- Derfy, on 02/04/2008, -35/+49Hey, what can Windows users do that Linux users can't?
Shut the ***** up. - robbie32, on 02/04/2008, -10/+24Can we compile a list of things you can do on a windows machine or a mac that you can't do on linux?
- nailer, on 02/04/2008, -24/+37Half the comments here are angry Windows / Mac people telling us how they can update all their apps using Software Update or Windows Update.
It seems none of them have actually used a Linux distro. - gavintlgold, on 02/04/2008, -0/+13From the comments: "I feel in the end people doing the code for these open source projects are doing it because they love it. It's a lot like eating a home cooked meal made out of love vs something from a restaurant. Both accomplish the same thing in the end, but the meal made with love is a little better if you ask me."
Very good point! - suprxtragrav, on 12/09/2008, -2/+15As an avid gamer and windows nerd, I installed ubuntu linux on my dell m1330 a few days ago for the first time ever, and while it did mess up one of my data partitions, i have to say i was utterly blown away at how easy the installation process was. All the drivers loaded seamlessly, even the battery meter, bluetooth card and screen brightness. (even when i booted the OS off the cd, before installation)
Not only that, but the cd included everything i needed to get started (open office, mozilla firefox, pidgen IM service, GIMP, PDF reader), pretty much everything i needed to do school work on (since thats all i use my laptop for).
While it was a bit of a pain in the ass to find and install the nvidia driver, i couldnt belive how smoothly it ran on my laptop, compared to vista and even XP. The included Compiz-Fusion visual effects was jsut icing on the cake.
I've since uninstalled the OS though, since linux has a far ways to go in terms of battery life (in which case i have to say vista wins) - bratterscain, on 02/04/2008, -1/+14It's what they're trying to do, I'm sure. More user base = more Co's willing to write apps for it. There's decent games out there and alternatives to PS that are good enough for the average user, which is all I can say being an average user and not a pro photographer and such. Why would anyone not be fore Linux? I'm on Vista atm and used to use Linux. Will switch back as soon as I can have a compatible scanner driver and have a few games I like to play. But OSS is a great model that I think we should all promote.
- Disease, on 02/04/2008, -0/+12Take a look at Ubuntu's Synaptic Package Manager. You search for what you want or browse through the 20,000 different free packages, click the check mark, click Apply and the package manager does the rest. No dealing with trialware or shareware like I usually end up doing in Windows when looking for a simple program like a DVD ripper.
- Louis11, on 02/04/2008, -0/+12It's funny that you are making fun of "Fanboys" as from your username, you are obviously an Apple fanboy . . .
Also somewhat ironic is the fact that the OS X operating system, which is based off BSD, is strikingly similar to a Linux enviroment (to some extent, at least).
So if you take what you said at face value, you're basically making fun of yourself. Who's the idiot now? :-D - inactive, on 02/04/2008, -4/+16skyscape, wow all that to come out sounding like an ignorant idiot - well done :)
- jackminardi, on 02/04/2008, -8/+20i can do about 1/3 of those on a mac...
- RaiKitsune, on 02/04/2008, -7/+19DRM
Spyware
Viruses
BSOD
IE7 - nailer, on 02/04/2008, -4/+15"Mac OS X has a documented package system, and using either the software update or installer tool you can install multiple packages over the web."
Last time I checked, Software Update is only for Apple software. Unlike Linux, you can't get a new Firefox, Java, Skype, OpenOffice (or Mac equivalent), Evolution (or Mac equivalent), Pidgin, and Cheese (or Mac equivalent) with Software Update. Just OS X, iTunes and Quicktime.
Maybe that changed in 10.5, but Apple don't say that on their website.
Software Update also requires reboots for applications. - harlowsmonkeys, on 02/04/2008, -15/+26#2. True for OS X.
#3. Also doable on Windows.
#5. Only if you limit yourself to programs offered through your distro's package management system. With that limitation, both Windows and Mac do this.
#6. True for Mac (he overlooked that Apple sells a family pack).
#8. This assumes he avoids hardware whose drivers includes binary-only kernel modules. (There are also some people, including the submitter of this story) who claim that SELinux configuration is so hard to understand that the NSA can stick backdoors in there and they won't be detected.
#9. First, this one is not true for Linux. If you are keeping up with all the latest security updates, you'll not have an uptime of months, due to kernel updates. As for the rest, also true for OS X.
#10. First, this depends on what you do with it. People running news servers or large mail servers find that sometimes they DO need to defragment Linux systems, but I'll take it as implicit that he's talking about home and desktop use, so we don't get into that kind of usage. However, then it is also true for OS X. In fact, it is MORE true for OS X because OS X does on the fly defragmentation of files that meet certain criteria, so is even less likely than Linux to need defragmentation.
#11. OS X, too.
#12. OS X, too.
#15. Same for OS X.
#16. What about programs that weren't installed via the packaging system? Oops.
#17. Hello, OS X.
#18. This one is just stupid. Non-destructive partition resizing was available on Windows LONG before it was available for Linux.
#19. Same for OS X and Windows.
This was not a complete list. - lovekudu, on 02/04/2008, -3/+14Him not mentioning BSD doesn't mean he's missed the point of Open Source.
- djbon2112, on 02/04/2008, -2/+13Pro world I can understand, but every Tom, Dick and Harry uses Adobe as their magic "get out of Linux" card. How many of THEM actually use it?
- prattstick, on 02/04/2008, -1/+12I agree wholeheartedly
ditch the headshot. - PaulRay, on 02/04/2008, -1/+11Actually, in my experience, most of the drivers you need are on the disk. I have installed ubuntu Linux on no less then 6 computers of various brands and configurations over the last year. In the mean time, we have tried to install win XP on 2 and found less useful drivers. people are used to buying PCs with Windows pre-installed, so of course the drivers are there. Try installing on a fresh box. I've done both, personally and Linux is more compatible with more hardware out of the box. Then there's the whole issue of what software come bundled on the disk. There's not even a comparison, Linux, ubuntu specifically, packs many times more useful applications that Windows or Mac.
- archiesteel, on 02/04/2008, -3/+13"So, can I use my webcam and wifi card in linux yet?"
Probably. What models are they.
Oh, and Winmodems? Who still uses modems, seriously? - bruenig, on 02/04/2008, -2/+12Not inherently. There are graphical package managers which are actually easier because you don't have to scour the interwebs looking for it. pacman -S softwarename is pretty simple also if you like the command line.
- inactive, on 02/04/2008, -5/+14How about 1999 called and they want their insult back.
- Louis11, on 02/04/2008, -2/+11Sure they do, they force you to install their "Genuine Advantage" software to verify you're using a legitimate copy of the operating system before it will give you some necessary updates. They also force you to install some sort of antivirus solution, seeing as their operating system is terrible . . . and regarding you're coveted Office Software, have you ever heard of Open Office? You see, basically all of us Linux users can do exactly what your word processing software can . . . and wait, what's that? We paid nothing for it :-)
Which brings me to my final point, MS also forces you to pay for their "*****" . . . well, legally that is.
*insert a few more vulgarities to sound as cool as PRIME* - say592, on 02/04/2008, -0/+9#20: WHY?
Ill tell you why. When the OS is installing, you typically cant do anything. I like being able to browse the web and work while its installing. It takes the sting out of the fact Im spending an hour installing an OS. - jivemasta, on 02/04/2008, -1/+10I can't really speak for mac OSX but things windows can't do:
Update ALL of your software with the latest version, daily, or even every minute if you want.
Install any sort of program just by searching for it in a package manager. (if you want a video editing program, you just search in you package manager for "Edit Video" pick the program you want, and click install)
Let you uninstall features you don't want/need.
Let you add features directly into the OS without hacks. (if you don't like the file browser, you can change to another with a few clicks, try uninstalling explorer.exe) - Spikito, on 02/04/2008, -11/+20Its ironic that this is on the front page right now, I'm on XP right now for the first time in months because i couldn't set up drivers for my new printer in Fedora
- jemmrich, on 02/04/2008, -1/+10Actually there is a linux version of Adobe Reader and it works fine for me, of course, not that you actually need to install adobe reader since there are alternatives that have been around quite a few years and work just as well if not better regarding load times.
Like one of the posters above said, why does an operating system have to be judged on games and adobe? Cedega works great for windows games and there are plenty of linux games that are just as fun.
Also, when people bring up "its difficult to install software on linux" as a down side to linux.. I say its easier than windows. Why? Windows doesnt tell you when software is out of date. Only windows itself.. linux FTW on that one! And double clicking on packages installs just like windows exe files or msi or bat files or wait!? I could say windows is pretty complicated installing software. Where is that darn dll or ocx file im missing??
Most people grew up with Windows just like they did speaking their native tongue.. its like saying another language is inferior to your native language because of its design and because you cant speak it as fluent as its native users. Oops no direct translation? obviously that must mean its missing some words... must not be as good.
The whole argument of windows vs linux has been beaten to death. Each do their thing, choose the system you need to get things done. And dont be so quick to follow the herd, its your computer, you choose the OS you want. - djbon2112, on 02/04/2008, -3/+12Except that Mac OSX isn't free (gratis or libre), and only runs (correctly without hacks) on their proprietary, overpriced hardware.
- maccam94, on 02/04/2008, -2/+11That doesn't actually remove IE, it just deletes shortcuts to it.
- opencoder, on 02/04/2008, -2/+11No, but all Windows trolls are.
- Frixionburne, on 02/04/2008, -4/+13I guess the issue of control is just completely overlooked. We shouldn't be comparing linux to OSX and Windows, we should be looking at open source vs. dickbags putting out ***** software so we have to pay them to fix it. I don't care how much of an Apple or Microsoft fanboy people are, whats important is that while they keep spending money, my pockets keep getting padded.
- mithrasinvictus, on 02/04/2008, -1/+10What if the printer only supported linux and not windows? Would that be microsofts fault?
- hellonull, on 02/04/2008, -4/+13Hey, yet another stolen punchline!
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=ma ... - nailer, on 02/04/2008, -2/+10I agree with everything you say, and I think the poster does too.
'Linux is about liberation, not about having some little feature that other operating systems might not happen to have. '
Yes, and all the benefits he's stated are benefits of that liberation. To make people care about the liberation, you have to show the practical benefits it provides. -
Show 51 - 100 of 490 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is