Are other operating systems ever going to catch up with Linux?

[Arthur]

Linux is safe and secure, it is stable, reliable, extremely simple to install and use and then also more hardware compliant nowadays than Windows or OS X.

Linux is wonderful. It's light and fast and well-architected. And its nice to drop back to a command line and do geeky stuff.

But let's not kid ourselves about security. All general purpose commercially-used operating systems are vulnerable to some or other degree.

Just saw this news today while surfing Ars Technica:

Powerful, highly stealthy Linux trojan may have infected victims for years

Backdoor tied to espionage campaign that has targeted governments in 45 countries.

...Like its Windows counterparts, the Linux trojan is extremely stealthy. It can't be detected using the common netstat command. To conceal itself, the backdoor sits dormant until attackers send it unusually crafted packets that contain "magic numbers" in their sequence numbers. The malware may have sat unnoticed on at least one victim computer for years, although Kaspersky Lab researchers still have not confirmed that suspicion. The trojan is able to run arbitrary commands even though it requires no elevated system privileges.

"It's a very interesting piece of code," Baumgartner said. "Not only does it run on Linux, but you can't detect it in the usual ways


Mobile link: http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/12/powerful-highly-stealthy-linux-trojan-may-have-infected-victims-for-years/

 

[Bar0n]

Fact remains it is available on both platforms for a fee. One can't therefore reasonably expect to use that as a reason for going with one platform over the other.

Precisely my point.

 

[Thor]

The general computer user will remain inferior to Linux.

This^

 

[noxibox]

The bigger picture is that it's irrelevant what OS runs on supercomputers, fridges or routers. If Windows works for someone it means it is the superior OS for them and what they do. You can talk about irrelevant technical details all day and it won't change that.

I don't need to expose my children to Linux any more than I need to expose them to a particular programming language. If they want to be in that field, then they'll need to be able to adapt and learn whatever comes along.

Few people in developing countries are BUYING anything Microsoft. They'd rather pirate than buy, as nobody who has respect for hard-earned currency will willingly go buy it unless it comes installed. How many people have you seen flocking to computer stores to BUY Windows? I haven't seen any but I have seen countless pirate installations.

So in fact for them Linux is so inferior they'd rather pirate Windows.

also more hardware compliant nowadays than Windows or OS X

That's just a dumb statement in regard to OS X.

 

[MacLindroid]

So in fact for them Linux is so inferior they'd rather pirate Windows.


That's just a dumb statement in regard to OS X.

People pirate Windows only because of their ignorance in not knowing about legitimate FOSS alternatives. Part of the reason why I regard most Windows users as not smart and uninformed. Also too lazy to do proper homework.

About OS X. I lack the emotional energy to repeat what I had written many times before, but my DUMB statement is based upon practical experience of myself and a number of Apple certified technicians in my circle of friends. I do not grab things out of thin air as I do not deal with opinions but with facts. Get broader experience as your limited exposure is insufficient to afford you a fuller understanding.

As for MS Windows: its is being pushed into the cloud, both as OS and its apps such as Office. The idiots in Seattle think that all the world enjoy freely available, lavishly dished out broadband. This is while more than 4 out of 7 people globally have NO internet and NEED standalone machines. In Africa, still about 80% have NO internet access. There has been growth in infrastructure over the past ten years, maybe a bit less, when 3G was being rolled out slowly. It will take another decade or two to have it really in place. Users need to find alternatives to ensure they don't get painted into a corner. Even in our cities, signal distribution is a big issue - Cape Town is a city rated amongs the very best globally, yet broadband infrastructure here seems to be haphazard. Travel across the entire Peninsula and see how many times there just is either no signal or 2G at best.

Perhaps you should read the original post before you post again.

 

[GreGorGy]

This is while more than 4 out of 7 people globally have NO internet and NEED standalone machines. In Africa, still about 80% have NO internet access.

Whenever I try to explain the above to people they seem almost oblivious. It kills me how some oke who never knew what the internet was in the 56K days (let alone the slow ages before) suddenly thinks it is widespread enough for everything to live in a cloud.

One of my former clients serves an industry that has factories and facilities out in the sticks where 2G is a pipe dream yet they want every one of their clients to connect to a cloud-based solution using the latest technologies. That's great and it works a dream - until you try load an HTML 5 site over a 2G/Edge connection.

 

[MacLindroid]

The Apple salesman said, in my face, I was a f*****ng fool!

Whenever I try to explain the above to people they seem almost oblivious. It kills me how some oke who never knew what the internet was in the 56K days (let alone the slow ages before) suddenly thinks it is widespread enough for everything to live in a cloud.

One of my former clients serves an industry that has factories and facilities out in the sticks where 2G is a pipe dream yet they want every one of their clients to connect to a cloud-based solution using the latest technologies. That's great and it works a dream - until you try load an HTML 5 site over a 2G/Edge connection.

I have boldfaced your sentence in red, hoping that readers will take note of what you had said.

An Apple "sales executive" raised his voice when trying to convince me that ALL of the Northern Cape was fully covered by broadband and that I was a f......ng fool for believing otherwise. Perhaps it is because I am out there while these youngsters find reality in gaming, that I know better than most of these young "educated executives" in the first instance. If he just knew how much frustration and heartache iCloud still would bring to Apple users, he would have reserved his opinions to himself. Data corruption and broken systems after updates was what had sent me to Linux and Android. Apple worked well when using Google and only then. I can do the same on a R1k phone and a R5k laptop of uncertain heritage.

With copper theft as rampant as it is, most career professionals in rural areas are having a terrible time to get their work done. Geologists, architects, surveyros, engineers, doctors and the like, over and above the usual farmers and miners. Satellite connectivity is far too expensive and www.outernet.is remain evasive in our region.

Google's Project Loon may change things for the better, but these are early days.

 

[Bobbin]

In my opinion the cloud is the most efficient form of data storage and also processing performance. I do not see a civilization not progressing towards this obvious platform regardless of the security concerns and despite the bandwidth challenges in certain countries. Market supply/demand will prevail in this direction, there is no question in my mind.

As far as Linux and MS are concerned. Too many large corporate companies are heavily invested in Microsoft. I have worked for 2 such companies. Their very being seems to rely on Microsoft from SharePoint, Exchange, Active Directory, Lync all the way to the end-user experience on Windows 7. And now OneDrive for Enterprise with single-sign-on - simplifying the end user backup process and reducing the infrastructure/maintenance requirement. Hell it is difficult enough just to get away from Internet Explorer without the support implications on company portals!! And did anyone forget System Center? SCOM? SCCM?

The nature of the market is changing, large companies are outsourcing everything but still rely on Microsoft to function. Not only for what Microsoft offers but all third-party applications in business that also run on Windows platforms. It is only logical that Microsoft moves in the direction of this outsourcing initiative that the market is demanding or be left behind.

Also the stability of Linux is not a strong selling point for me. I have personally experienced quite a few basic problems with Linux that a non-power-user wouldn't care for. That being said I do not dislike the OS and would love to see it gain in popularity. As a gamer I also do not use it on a personal capacity.

 

[Bobbin]

I have boldfaced your sentence in red, hoping that readers will take note of what you had said.

An Apple "sales executive" raised his voice when trying to convince me that ALL of the Northern Cape was fully covered by broadband and that I was a f......ng fool for believing otherwise. Perhaps it is because I am out there while these youngster find reality in gaming, that I know better than most of these young "educated executives" in the first instance. If he just knew how much frustration and heartache iCloud still would bring to Apple users, he would have reserved his opinions to himself. Data corruption and broken systems after updates was what had sent me to Linux and Android. Apple worked well when using Google and only then. I can do the same on a R1k phone and a R5k laptop of uncertain heritage.

With copper theft as rampant as it is, most career professionals in rural areas are having a terrible time to get their work done. Geologists, architects, surveyros, engineers, doctors and the like, over and above the usual farmers and miners. Satellite connectivity is far too expensive and www.outernet.is remain evasive in our region.

Google's Project Loon may change things for the better, but these are early days.

Technically all of Africa is broadband capable right now. It just costs money. I've sourced many a VSAT price for the most arbitrary places.

Basic Internet connectivity in the form of BGAN also seems to get favorable fixed/uncapped rates in African countries. Though this is hardly broadband I agree.

What is happening now is that large developments in places like Mozambique or even Angola usually includes the installation of fiber lines (Sometimes even 3G towers) for the project houses which later get passed on to the ISP's. People like Internet Solutions, Vodacom, MTN have extensive coverage and there are POP's and Data Centers (Can even build a custom mobile Data Center to order if you wish) all over if you look for them. All that is needed is for the market to catch up. Else if the market can't afford it the businesses simply won't be able to operate in those areas.

So in time it should all catch up, and I think sooner than we may expect.

 

[MacLindroid]

Myopia in Government(s) Retard Broadband Expansion

Technically all of Africa is broadband capable right now. It just costs money. I've sourced many a VSAT price for the most arbitrary places.

Basic Internet connectivity in the form of BGAN also seems to get favorable fixed/uncapped rates in African countries. Though this is hardly broadband I agree.

What is happening now is that large developments in places like Mozambique or even Angola usually includes the installation of fiber lines (Sometimes even 3G towers) for the project houses which later get passed on to the ISP's. People like Internet Solutions, Vodacom, MTN have extensive coverage and there are POP's and Data Centers (Can even build a custom mobile Data Center to order if you wish) all over if you look for them. All that is needed is for the market to catch up. Else if the market can't afford it the businesses simply won't be able to operate in those areas.

So in time it should all catch up, and I think sooner than we may expect.

Yes, the satellites have been up forever and accessible BUT dare to transceive without having an ISP licence or without having an account with a locally licensed ISP may see you end up in gaol for many years and your entire rig confiscated. The technology is there, the market is anxious to assume its position but politicians tend to limit growth. Some countries have a less stubborn beareaucracy, such as those you have mentioned, also the Gambia where a friend of mine is a telecoms engineer. using the Neotel-Tata WACS fibre, they have full 4G and not LTE (3.9G) like us.

All satellite-based connectivity, including Outernet, remain dependent upon the mercy of world superpowers, as a laser war can see these things obliterated in no time at all. Ubiquity can never be fully guaranteed, referring to military offensive and force majeure. It would serve us better to have a bouquet of services feeding us broadband.

When one does cloud computing, the OS becomes largely irrelevant as the browser then is all we need. I personally like Windows 8.x, just as I like Mac OS X or most distro's of Linux. I just think that Linux-based OS's are going to become much more prominent in future. Even Microsoft is paying attention to that, in terms of R&D. As it requires much less in terms of hardware, it presently makes itself more accessible to upcoming economies. I have always said that the untapped market out there is in dire need of thinware that is also frugal in terms of energy usage. The Android/Linux environment does not shine in that department, however.

Then there is eyesight. My eyes are not exactly good, yet it afforded me a few medals on the big bore rifle range over distances ranging from 300-1000 yards. Even so, I find working on a 13" Mac Retina taxing my eyes after a while and that is why I am typing right now on a 15.6" WXGA instead. Many productive people have much worse eyesight and the small screens of tablets and smartphones could be a hindrance.

ICT solutions need to keep realities in mind and not merely follow impractical ideologies. It is evident that much of the connected world is unaware of the huge world out there, yet to be discovered by cyberventurers. The tremendous lack of understanding displayed by career ICT professionals in South Africa never fails to astonish me. A good university degree does not give you exposure to mining diamonds on the West Coast or operating an ecotourism lodge in the Kgalagadi. Few people realise the number of these type of entities out there and the huge share of the GDP oozing from these uncharted cyberterritories.

Western civilasations tend to disregard the very industries that provide the resources they need for their own survival and, in their shortsightedness, they exclude these sources from global trade by implementing systems designs that are designed for the First World only.

Bear in mind that cyber-borders are not set according to political borders but rather in terms of ICT infrastuctre availablity and exploitation. Add to this the capital requirement for cybercivilising the interior and it becomes a complex situation, as many times, politics and economies do not converge peacefully and co-existence simply remain impossible. This is where the traditional standalone computer or closed LAN remain popular. In terms of cost, Linux offers savings.

I have attached a document about Linux, if anyone is interested in learning something new.

 

[MacLindroid]

Linux is wonderful. It's light and fast and well-architected. And its nice to drop back to a command line and do geeky stuff.

But let's not kid ourselves about security. All general purpose commercially-used operating systems are vulnerable to some or other degree.

Just saw this news today while surfing Ars Technica:

Powerful, highly stealthy Linux trojan may have infected victims for years

Backdoor tied to espionage campaign that has targeted governments in 45 countries.

...Like its Windows counterparts, the Linux trojan is extremely stealthy. It can't be detected using the common netstat command. To conceal itself, the backdoor sits dormant until attackers send it unusually crafted packets that contain "magic numbers" in their sequence numbers. The malware may have sat unnoticed on at least one victim computer for years, although Kaspersky Lab researchers still have not confirmed that suspicion. The trojan is able to run arbitrary commands even though it requires no elevated system privileges.

"It's a very interesting piece of code," Baumgartner said. "Not only does it run on Linux, but you can't detect it in the usual ways


Mobile link: http://arstechnica.com/security/201...x-trojan-may-have-infected-victims-for-years/

Arstechnica may have published this, yet it is more of academical interest. When they can prove actual systems breaches, data theft/corruption, actual damage done, it remains a discussion for philosophers, not engineers. Of course, then we all need to sit up and take notice, especially where the use of Linux in SME and SOHO is concerned.

Compare successful Linux attacks with equal Microsoft attacks in real life - what are the stats and what do they say?

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2003/10/06/linux_vs_windows_viruses/

 

[zippy]

Linux still has the sh###est desktop implementation. It's great for many things. But not as a business desktop platform. In that area it is many years behind Windows and OS X.

Technically, there are better Unix's for high powered server implementations, but they are expensive and therefore for many Linux us a better choice. Such as something basic, like website hosting. This is why the majority of websites will use Linux. It's the same reason you get more Toyota's on the road than Lambourgine's. The only difference between the IT and car analogy is that the Toyota owners understands what he/she has bought and doesn't have this massive inferiority complex.

I worked for a SA company that moved from a COBOL based IBM mainframe to Oracle. They chose Linux over AIX Unix because of the cost. They decided that since they envisioned actually reducing their staff and thus user load, they did not need to go for higher end OS. Should their business expand in such a way that they needed to switch to another OS, they where confident they could do that and that expansion would fund the costs.

Area's where Linux is superior in most respects is in embedded systems and teaching. Its great for teaching because it mimics Unix and OS X. Students can move to Unix and OS X with minimal effort. This makes it a very effective teaching OS. And because it's cheap it's great for tinkering. Although now you can download some good Unix's for free, such as Solaris. Solaris is a way better server OS than Linux imo. It's just a bit more difficult, but I can understand why most would prefer the easier Linux. But if you wanted easier you simply use Windows

 

[Bobbin]

Yes, the satellites have been up forever and accessible BUT dare to transceive without having an ISP licence or without having an account with a locally licensed ISP may see you end up in gaol for many years and your entire rig confiscated. The technology is there, the market is anxious to assume its position but politicians tend to limit growth. Some countries have a less stubborn beareaucracy, such as those you have mentioned, also the Gambia where a friend of mine is a telecoms engineer. using the Neotel-Tata WACS fibre, they have full 4G and not LTE (3.9G) like us.

All satellite-based connectivity, including Outernet, remain dependent upon the mercy of world superpowers, as a laser war can see these things obliterated in no time at all. Ubiquity can never be fully guaranteed, referring to military offensive and force majeure. It would serve us better to have a bouquet of services feeding us broadband.

When one does cloud computing, the OS becomes largely irrelevant as the browser then is all we need. I personally like Windows 8.x, just as I like Mac OS X or most distro's of Linux. I just think that Linux-based OS's are going to become much more prominent in future. Even Microsoft is paying attention to that, in terms of R&D. As it requires much less in terms of hardware, it presently makes itself more accessible to upcoming economies. I have always said that the untapped market out there is in dire need of thinware that is also frugal in terms of energy usage. The Android/Linux environment does not shine in that department, however.

Then there is eyesight. My eyes are not exactly good, yet it afforded me a few medals on the big bore rifle range over distances ranging from 300-1000 yards. Even so, I find working on a 13" Mac Retina taxing my eyes after a while and that is why I am typing right now on a 15.6" WXGA instead. Many productive people have much worse eyesight and the small screens of tablets and smartphones could be a hindrance.

ICT solutions need to keep realities in mind and not merely follow impractical ideologies. It is evident that much of the connected world is unaware of the huge world out there, yet to be discovered by cyberventurers. The tremendous lack of understanding displayed by career ICT professionals in South Africa never fails to astonish me. A good university degree does not give you exposure to mining diamonds on the West Coast or operating an ecotourism lodge in the Kgalagadi. Few people realise the number of these type of entities out there and the huge share of the GDP oozing from these uncharted cyberterritories.

Western civilasations tend to disregard the very industries that provide the resources they need for their own survival and, in their shortsightedness, they exclude these sources from global trade by implementing systems designs that are designed for the First World only.

Bear in mind that cyber-borders are not set according to political borders but rather in terms of ICT infrastuctre availablity and exploitation. Add to this the capital requirement for cybercivilising the interior and it becomes a complex situation, as many times, politics and economies do not converge peacefully and co-existence simply remain impossible. This is where the traditional standalone computer or closed LAN remain popular. In terms of cost, Linux offers savings.

I have attached a document about Linux, if anyone is interested in learning something new.

Hehe. A few personal experiences are running through my mind as I read your post.

The battles I've witnessed telling the Solutions Architects that X is not possible/is impractical out in the sticks in Africa.
The reliance of in-house systems in large companies that force certain infrastructure - due to those promised systems/controls in proposal.
Fighting against insane/expensive and technical corporate security measures that merely fail with end user behavior - again not always practical out in Africa.
And as always the budget hardly allocated to the IT demands sought out by these project sites in the first place.

I've got some grey hairs already in my young days

I guess it is something the market is just going to have to dictate on its own through all the endless to and fro between business and IT of which I'm smack in the middle at the moment. But I am and always remain a futurist biased by the best technologies through and through. Character flaw or not, who knows.

FYI Linux is a swear word in the company I work for. I've been called out or hushed once or twice on it

Thanks for the insightful post Gives me some food for thought.

 

[porchrat]

Precisely my point.

Uh, no it wasn't:

If my company with 15 000 employees switches to Linux, how can we ensure our clients that someone will be held accountable for our OS and the support thereof? Big companies need accountability. They need a finger to point if something does go wrong. Linux does not offer that, certainly none of the free options do anyway.

 

[w1z4rd]

In my opinion the cloud is the most efficient form of data storage and also processing performance. I do not see a civilization not progressing towards this obvious platform regardless of the security concerns and despite the bandwidth challenges in certain countries. Market supply/demand will prevail in this direction, there is no question in my mind.

I was an idiot. My bad and my apologies.

 

[SauRoNZA]

You are limiting yourself. Your views are a good argument as to why its better to hire younger IT staff that adapt to change, rather than old timers who are stuck in their ways. The Cloud is good for a helluva lot more than that. I run an entire company in the cloud. From almost A-Z.

Huh? He was being very pro Cloud and doesn't seem stuck in old way at all.

 

[CruelBreeze]

Cool story bro



/hugz Windows

Group hug!!!

 

[Thor]

/hugs sammyD

 

[w1z4rd]

Huh? He was being very pro Cloud and doesn't seem stuck in old way at all.

I have apologized. I totally read that wrong. Must not post when distracted...

 

[MacLindroid]

The cloud is an excellent concept and one that I am using when I have broadband.

My own objection is having to deal with cloud-only solutions. If the toll road is too expensive, I need an alternative route even if it is gravel and dusty.

Time is needed for the world to catch up but the device vendors and systems designers do not anticipate realities existing in their largest market. To merely say that society will catch up is perhaps a bit short-sighted. It would be a good idea of the OS and hardware developers of this world design systems according to the needs of users, not the other way around.