I recently stumbled upon the following site http://srom.zgp.org/ in my daily shuffling through the intercontinental network.

Mildly amusing.

However I have never liked the OS debate. Usually it is Linux vs Windows which I find really annoying as it is like comparing cheese with tigers. They both have their uses, but not usually the same.

There are a number of different people in the great OS debate.

1. There are the Computer Geeks, They use Linux because it is what they know, it is what they like. They are more productive on it. 

2. There are the Anti-Microsoft people, They use Linux because they would rather use it then a Microsoft product.

3. There are the ignorant people, who simply are unable to understand windows, and as such assume something else would be easier.

4. There are the people who don’t care, and as such use what they are given (usually windows)

5. There are those who use windows because it is what they know, what they like, and are more productive on it.

My opinion on the matter is that Windows has its purpose, and Linux has its own purpose. For the average user, people need a simple desktop computer to do their internet and word processing. Now, I have used a number of different operating systems including all the different flavors of windows, and a number of major distributions of Linux, Novell, Various Mac OSs, Unix, and a few embedded systems. Not a whole lot in comparison to some people. But, Windows is in my opinion the most stable "windowed" OS on the market. So for the average user who only used the GUI, Windows is by far the easiest to learn and operate. Linux in my experience tends to be unstable with the X windows running, not to mention confusing. 

Linux has its purposes, It has a lot of power that most users would never use, and have even seen some distributions "limit" this power to make it more user friendly. But this power does allow the "power user" modify and improve the OS to fit their own needs. Linux makes a good server, one you can set up and ignore. But for the desktop user it is slow and buggy.

Windows is good for desktop applications, it is quicker then its Linux counterpart and tends to be easier to learn and operate, especially since it has a seamless clipboard and communication between applications, Something Linux has issues with. The stability of Windows, or the lack there of generally is caused by faulty applications, or drivers, plus windows tends to be more susceptible to user stupidity and virii.

I have seen windows run properly on a computers that Linux would crash unexpectedly. But I should not make this an anti-Linux blog, I like Linux, I just have no use for it. at all. All my programming can be done on windows, all my games are on windows, all my programs are on windows, and I prefer using them over the Linux versions.  Even though this server is in fact Linux, I can do all my work for it in php on my windows machines and run them on the server. I do have a Linux machine in case I ever need it, but lately it is has remained off a majority of the time. 

I hate the debate, it all really depends on what you need it for. Peoples ignorance, and prejudice tend to interfere with this simple reality. Very rarely to people even bother to compare the operating systems. A lot of people don’t really have the opportunity to compare. 

Ah well, what do I know.