- #1
Futurama
- 17
- 0
It really frustrates me when I see my high school spending thousands of dollars every year on Antivirus software, Microsoft Office licenses, Microsoft Windows' keys, and other products such as Adobe Photoshop. As a heavy Windows and Linux user, I can safely say my experiences with both Operating Systems have been quite happy. That being said, I do not understand why so many businesses and schools feel the need to spend thousands of dollars on software when you can replicate that experience with free, open source software. Linux is very different to what it used to be a decade ago. Ubuntu Linux is now as user-friendly as Windows is; so why pay?
If Linux can run ~90% of all Windows programs with WINE, have virtually no need for its own Antivirus (just to protect non-UNIX based OS's), have a faster file system format with a slower fragmentation-rate, and support older hardware, why is Windows still the dominant OS?
It simply appears that Windows is easier to develop software on, and the fact that there are hundreds of millions of more customers and how most Linux users support free software than paid software can severely discourage talented developers wishing to make a living.
Also because there are a gazillion other Linux variants out there it seems to hurt itself.
Should I talk to the school board and suggest this? I really feel like my school is wasting money.
Am I simply ignorant and am missing valid points about the advantages of a Windows world?
I recently convinced several of my friends, family, and my girlfriend to try OpenOffice and Google Docs. They seem very pleased with it and are quite surprised at how feature rich these two /free/ alternatives are. Also, my own computer-illiterate Mother tried Ubuntu out and is really loving how fast it is on her old laptop.
The only thing I am keeping Windows for are my games.
If Linux can run ~90% of all Windows programs with WINE, have virtually no need for its own Antivirus (just to protect non-UNIX based OS's), have a faster file system format with a slower fragmentation-rate, and support older hardware, why is Windows still the dominant OS?
It simply appears that Windows is easier to develop software on, and the fact that there are hundreds of millions of more customers and how most Linux users support free software than paid software can severely discourage talented developers wishing to make a living.
Also because there are a gazillion other Linux variants out there it seems to hurt itself.
Should I talk to the school board and suggest this? I really feel like my school is wasting money.
Am I simply ignorant and am missing valid points about the advantages of a Windows world?
I recently convinced several of my friends, family, and my girlfriend to try OpenOffice and Google Docs. They seem very pleased with it and are quite surprised at how feature rich these two /free/ alternatives are. Also, my own computer-illiterate Mother tried Ubuntu out and is really loving how fast it is on her old laptop.
The only thing I am keeping Windows for are my games.