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February 16, 2000 -- A.T.'s Top Five

As you've probably noticed from my many news posts and additions to our Tips and Tricks section, I installed Linux on my system at the beginning of this month. Over the past couple of weeks I have learned a lot about the operating system. I'm not saying I'm an expert now, I just know a lot more than I did before. There's a lot to like, and a lot to dislike. Now that I've had it running stable for several days, I thought I'd whip up a couple of top five lists a la Dave Letterman (get well soon, Dave!). Remember these are my opinions and no one else's. As always, this is not a competition. So please, no wagering.

Please note: The operating systems in question are Red Hat Linux 6.1 and Windows 98 (with all the critical updates applied).

Top Five Reasons I like Linux Better than Windows

  1. Stability. Even though I'm using some programs in their alpha stage (most notably, Mozilla and RealPlayer G2) with some not-quite-ready-for-prime-time drivers, Linux has remained stable. At worst, I have to fire up a console and type kill process name to get rid of a misbehaving program. The OS has not crashed and burned on me once. I get an Explorer crash on boot-up several times a day in Windows 98. Nothing like having to reboot immediately after booting.
  2. Customizability. If you don't like something about Linux, you can change it. All the settings are in easy-to-edit text files instead of a cryptic and binary registry. And I never have to reboot to get anything to install. There's NOTHING I hate more than having something silly like a game or small utility tell me I have to reboot after installation in Windows.
  3. It's Free! The operating system, the apps, the whole ball of wax--free! Much nicer than shelling out $95 every year to M$ for the latest bug fixes. Let's face it, I don't make anywhere near enough money to mail it all to Redmond.
  4. The Console. Since my DOS days, I've been a big fan of the command line. I firmly believe that there are many tasks you can do more quickly and efficiently at the command line than you can in a GUI. Even though I run X with KDE, I still find myself pulling up a console all the time to do this or that. Hitting TAB to complete a filename is worth the price of admission alone.
  5. General Coolness. I've always considered myself a computer geek, and there is nothing better for a geek than to run Linux. I also believe that Linux will soon be challenging Windows as a viable desktop OS, and I want to be on the front line of the change.

Top Five Reasons I like Windows Better than Linux

  1. Mature Drivers. The drivers for my AGP TNT and SoundBlaster Live! Value work flawlessly, giving me 3D graphics (in OpenGL and Direct3D) and 3D sound. Their Linux counterparts are maturing quickly, but they aren't there yet.
  2. Games. Let's be honest. What made Windows95/98 a phenomenal success? Games. Pure and simple. With the advent of D3D and OpenGL support, Win95/98 is THE gaming platform for home computers. The newest and best games always come out first for Windows. With a few notable exceptions, Linux support comes much later, or not at all. The new 2.4 kernel and the new version of X will vastly improve the gaming experience on Linux, but right now they are still a ways off.
  3. Font Support. Say what you want about Bill Gates, but TrueType is a wonderful thing. My display looks very nice with no jaggies and everything prints lightning-fast. XFS provides TrueType support for Linux, but some apps (hello, Netscape!) don't acknowledge that TT fonts can be scaled and you still can't print them.
  4. Plug-and-Play. I install in my plug-and-play modem (not a WinModem), point the hardware install wizard to the driver disk, and it just works. Add an ATAPI Zip drive or CD-ROM, Windows automatically installs the drivers and configures it. Hook my scanner up to my parallel port, put in the CD, and it works. It isn't anywhere near that easy with Linux. The Red Hat installation program helps a lot, but it had no idea what to do with my modem, SoundBlaster Live!, or ZIP drive. I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the scanner.
  5. It is a Tool, not a Religion. Most people regard their computers as tools or sources of entertainment. For the average person, an operating system is simply a way to get your stuff to work, not a major philosophical position. I admire Linux evangelists and applaud their efforts. But unfortunately it seems that a noisy few can quickly descend into a pseudo-religious zealotry that, while well-intentioned, does nothing but turn people off. Witness, for example, the flames sent to Epic's Brandon Reinhart when GT Games announced they wouldn't include the Linux code on the Unreal Tournament CD. He was flamed mightily, even though he did not make the decision and had in fact taken it on himself to do the port in the first place. As far as operating systems go, I use whatever gets the job done best. No matter how much I'd like to see Linux succeed, I ain't in this for your revolution.

Will this be my last word on the subject? Of course not! Operating systems change and improve all the time. Right now I use Win98 for the majority of my work and play, but that is changing every day. Use whichever one (or another one) that does what you need it to do!