Friday, January 11, 2013

What exactly is so great about linux?

Q. I have tried Ubuntu out once but I didn't really see the point of it and I ended up going back to windows 7. What does linux have to offer that windows does not (apart from the fact that its free)? I'd really love to learn more about linux and play around with it (especially customizing it and tweaking settings to personal preference but I don't know if that's what it's about).
Oh and can someone also please recommend a (or perhaps a few) versions I should try out?

A. I'm so glad you ask this question!
Well, linux is great from many points of view. I hope you take your time reading this, and I hope this will prove helpful to you! :D

1. The main one, which is definitely the best thing for an every-day user is the fact that Linux is virus-free. No antivirus, no problems at all with malwares or malicious software.

2. Open source. Open source doesn't mean ONLY that it's free. Aside of the fact that you have FREE licensed OS, there is a huge open source community, constantly working on your linux version (we call them distributions), fixing bugs, or dangerous leaks and making it better, and better every day. With linux, you will always benefit from the latest updates, which is great.

3. Great security. Having no viruses, being open source (constantly updated), with Linux you can be sure you're system is as secure as it can be. As for myself, I feel secure ONLY on Linux.

4. Optimal. Linux is, no doubt, optimal! It is very fast, even on slower computers. As an example, at the Informatics Olympiads in my country, they test the sources both on Windows and Linux, and Linux is faster all the times, sometimes even twice. Linux is faster because of it's relative simplicity, because of it doesn't have all those additional programs which Windows needs for pretty much everything to slow down your computer.

5. Support for all standard formats. With Linux, you are off to go from the moment you install it. It supports pretty much EVERY standard format there is. In windows, to emulate an .iso you need a program (in Linux you don't; of course you can install, if you want a nice user interface), In windows to unzip a .zip you need a program (in Linux, you don't) etc. etc.

6. Great control over your OS. In Linux you got the Terminal, which allows you to do EVERYTHING you want (including to screw up your computer, believe me :)) ). Basically, in Linux you control the system. In Windows it's different, Windows is a closed box, you can only see it's outside. You are forced to use what they give you, how they give it to you. In Linux you can use what you want, how you want. And that's nice.

7. Just like the OS, you benefit from a lot of open source software, which (some of them) are great! Like GIMP instead of Photoshop, Blender instead of... well instead of nothing because Blender is the best out there for 3D Modelling (IMO)..., Inkscape for vector graphics etc.

8. WINE. If you still need a certain program from Windows which doesn't have a version for Linux, there is WINE. WINE is basically a thing which lets you install and run Windows programs as your Linux would be Windows. You can very well install MSOffice, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, anything you want. Even games! Yes, you can play windows games on linux with WINE. For some of them, you may get even better performance than on Windows itself. With a little bit of learning it's ropes WINE will make you forget about windows.

9. Customization! That's another great thing of Linux. On Linux you can customize, tweak, modify anything at your pleasure, given that you know how to do it. Of course, some of the things you can customize easily, some of them harder, but there's always that feel of happiness when you make your system look like you want to. And when you know you did it!

At first, I would suggest you to use a dual boot: Windows 7 and Linux, so that you can switch to Windows whenever you need, until you get familiarized with linux. For this, it is necessary to install Windows first, and then Linux with it's bootloader so that it recognizes both Windows and Linux at boot.

Finally, as you requested, here are some versions (distributions, like I said, or shorter distros):
1. Ubuntu - it is great, user friendly. If you want full customization you should try older versions of Ubuntu, like 10.10 or 11.04. http://ubuntu.com/

2. Linux Mint 12 - the distro I'm using now. It's as great as Ubuntu, if not greater. It's interface is very very nice, and I love it. http://linuxmint.com/

Have a nice day, and good luck on learning the ropes to this great system, Linux!
I hope I helped!

Is it safe to have two different antivirus programs; one for your home computer and one for your flash drive?
Q. So my question's just that. I've learned that it's bad to have more than one antivirus program running on a single computer, but I was wondering, is it okay to one antivirus for my actual at-home computer, and a separate antivirus for the flash drive/portable device? Please and thank you.

I currently have avast! for my home computer and I'm thinking of getting ClamWin for the flash drive.

A. You need to get one antivirus program, one firewall and some spyware/adware/malware removers if you don't have it.
I use Norton Internet Security (antivirus, spyware, firewall, add blocker, mail spamfilter, pop up blocker etc) Ad Aware, Spybot and more on my desktop running XP Home SP2 with Firefox and Yahoo Toolbar with pop up blocker.
On my laptop i have Ubuntu 7.04. No security needed in Linux, but i use antivirus and firewall. Firefox is standard.
I have no virus, spyware, adware, pop ups etc on my computers.
Mozilla Firefox and Opera are safer browsers to use then Internet Explorer.
http://en-us.www.mozilla.com/en-US/produ...
http://www.opera.com/

Here are some free programs.
BitDefender Anti-Virus Free.
http://www.bitdefender.com/PRODUCT-14-en...
Avast Anti-Virus Free.
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.ht...
AVG Anti-Virus Free.
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl...
Avast Virus Cleaner - free virus removal tool.
http://www.avast.com/eng/avast-virus-cle...

Where do I download a good free antivirus?
Q. I am looking for a good free antivirus on the internet to download for my pc. Any help?

A. www.linux.com

Has a longer track record than any anti-virus of not getting infected.




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