Free Software Resources

Free Software Resources : Why Linux?

A lot of the information on these pages has a Linux bias. I don't mean to show any disrespect for other free operating systems, I don't even mean to discourage people from developing free software that runs on proprietry systems. Here are the reasons for the bias. (Some of this is just opinion. You have a right to disagree).

Linux is popular

Linux is a very successful free software system. Millions of people use Linux. This doesn't in itself make Linux good, but it makes it much easier to find someone to help. The Linux community is very active. Commercial vendors have embraced Linux, porting well known products from other platforms quite quickly. In addition, many commerical vendors have sprung up around Linux and contributed back into the free software community (rpm, the RedHat package management tool, is GPL, and so is Caledras administration system COAS).

Being popular has side benefits - the more people you have interested in a system, the more outside expertise they can lend. For example, recent years have seen Linux attract many more graphical artists, which means the Linux world has not only technically excellent tools, but increasing numbers of graphically beautiful tools.

Linux is good

Linux is a fully-featured, powerful system. It has very active maintainers, supports lots of hardware (even very new hardware) and has frequent releases. The stable/unstable kernel development strategy makes people who like stability and people who enjoy the challenge of bleeding edge software to both benefit. It is very well documented.

Linux is free

The Linux kernel is covered by the GPL. There won't ever be a predatory company that takes the kernel, changes it, leverages it using their own products, and hides the source code.

Linux is pretty compatible

If it compiles under Linux, chances are you'll be able to get it to compile under any other UNIX-like operating system.

Linux is pragmatic

The Linux community is generally interested in providing solutions for today, rather than building a perfect world tomorrow. They're willing to put off a perfect world for a whole week if it means we can have a reasonably good one today.

Business Vehicles Directory
DAF Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft is an influential German electropunk/NDW band from Dusseldorf, formed in 1978
IVECO an acronym for Industrial Vehicle Corporation, originally an alliance of European commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Fiat (including OM and Lancia Veicoli Speciali), Unic and Magirus. Iveco is now an Italian truck, bus, and diesel engine manufacturer, based in Turin.
MAN formerly MAN AG, is a mechanical engineering company and parent company of the MAN Group.[3] MAN SE is based in Munich, in the German State of Bavaria. Its primary output is for the automotive industry, particularly heavy trucks.
NEOPLAN NEOPLAN Bus GmbH is a German automotive company that manufactures buses, trolleybuses and coaches. NEOPLAN is now a subsidiary of NEOMAN Bus GmbH.
RENAULT Renault Trucks is a French truck manufacturer with its corporate headquarters at Saint-Priest near Lyon. Originally part of Renault, it has been owned by Volvo Group since 2001.
SCANIA Scania Aktiebolag (publ), commonly referred to as Scania AB or just Scania, is a major Swedish automotive industry manufacturer of commercial vehicles - specifically heavy trucks and buses.
VOLVOs a global truck manufacturer based in Sweden, owned by Volvo Group - AB Volvo it is the world's second largest heavy-duty truck brand.
Public service vehicle is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.
Refuse and Garbage truck refers to a truck specially designed to collect small quantities of waste and haul the collected waste to a solid waste treatment facility.
Concrete Pump trailer-mounted boom concrete pump because it uses a remote-controlled articulating robotic arm (called a boom) to place concrete with pinpoint accuracy.
Breakdown and Tow truck is a vehicle used to transport motor vehicles to another location (generally a repair garage), or to recover vehicles which are no longer on a drivable surface.
Heavy load(Heavy Duty) truck gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) is anything above 26,001 pounds (11,794 kg).

This is both good and bad. It attracts more users because solutions to problems are available now, but can undercut attempts to provide the "right" solution.

It's my opinion that in a fast changing computer industry, the Linux approach is the right one for free software, because it offers more to people immediately, which is attractive to innovators and developers. Innovators and developers are those most likely to develop more free software. If all the developers in the world were interested in developing free software, all other design goals could be easily met (just be sheer force of numbers).

If your approach to OS development was designed with stability and elegance being your major design goals, you might get a lot of users who don't want to worry or care for these computers. This is great for those users, but eventually the more pragmatic system will be able to overtake you.

If the pace of change slackens, then people may become more interested in getting the most out of what they have, and doing things the right way, rather than just taking advantage of new developments.

I use it

I use Linux. I've used it since 1993, when I started a computer science course and needed a C compiler.