Operating system (or OS) advocacy is one of the primary pastimes of people who have a deep and abiding interest in the design, construction and usage of computer operating systems. For these people, the investment necessary -- both in money and time -- to own and operate a computer creates an emotional investment in the operating system of choice. Such advocacy turns to arguments, as people compare and contrast the virtues and faults of different operating systems. Arguments between advocates of similar systems sink to the level of ongoing, vitriolic, and personal attacks; such arguments are known as the "Holy Wars". Some "Holy Wars" include Windows vs. MacOS, Windows vs. Linux, Linux vs. BSD. Some wars of the past included VMS vs. Unix. There are related wars over programming languages and text editors. |
Operating system (or OS) advocacy is one of the primary pastimes of people who have a deep and abiding interest in the design, construction and usage of computer operating systems. For these people, the investment necessary -- both in money and time -- to own and operate a computer creates an emotional investment in the operating system of choice. Such advocacy turns to arguments, as people compare and contrast the virtues and faults of different operating systems. These visceral debates include, most notably, Windows vs. MacOS, Windows vs. Linux, Linux vs. BSD. Some wars of the past included VMS vs. Unix. There are related wars over programming languages and text editors. |
productivity benefits; hardware design (esp. laptops); reliability; ease of use; emotional appeal; support; community; cost, aesthetic design |
productivity benefits; reliability; ease of use; emotional appeal; support; community; total cost of ownership; aesthetic design |
small market-share; hardware architecture; missing features/usability; support; cost |
small market-share; hardware architecture; lack of applications; initial hardware cost |
Here are some of the arguments which people who enjoy this sort of thing use.
With desktop managers such as KDE and GNOME, Linux offers a graphical user interface more like the MacOS/Windows? interface, in addition to the traditional Unix command line]. Many Free or otherwise gratis software packages offer the functionality of programs available on the other desktop operating systems.
Linux is the most rapidly-progressing operating system in existence. It supports more hardware platforms than any other operating system. For a moderately skilled administator, ease of installation, management, and support are other advantages. Its support of almost every filesystem in existence makes it especially good for mixed-platform environments. Finally, the zero cost of acquisition combined with undemanding hardware requirements result in a very low total cost of ownership (TCO).
BSDs have a unified kernel and userland: the kernel and userland are specifically tested (and versioned) for each other. This, along with the coherent, no-surprise directory structure, gives an excellent sense of a well-designed system. The ports tree makes for a very easy way to download new software: locating, configuring, compiling, recursive dependency handling are all taken care of. Re-building system software is also exceedingly easy with the automated world-building tools. Linux compatibility lets you run Linux binaries manufacturers didn't see fit to release as source or with a FreeBSD binary. Excellent speed and stability.