Linux is developed by people from all over the world working together with the common goal of spending long, smelly, exceptionally sweaty nights in front of a computer screen to develop a useful, free operating system. The source code used to create Linux systems is open to anyone who wants to view it. This is great, because if you open up the source code files and look at them really hard for a very long amount of time, you’ll get bored and go watch TV.
Luckily for us, the programmers behind Linux have the attention spans necessary to improve on the code to make better and better operating systems, as well as programs, hardware drivers, etc. Different programming teams work to develop Linux for different purposes, leading to many different types of Linux, called “distributions.” Most of these distributions can be downloaded for free, which obviously is a big plus for Linux users. Since Mac OS only works on Apple computers and Windows costs around 90 bucks per user, Linux might be the ideal choice for businesses that need computer systems for basic functions. For instance, Mandrake Linux, one of the most popular distributions, has programs built right in to the OS that are comparable to Windows Outlook, Microsoft Office, and Internet Explorer—all free. What’s more, Mandrake has a simple, user-friendly interface like Windows, allowing the computer illiterate to utilize its many features. Another popular distribution is Red Hat, which many businesses are converting to.
Linux sounds great, but it has significant downsides. Some distributions are hard to use, and even user friendly distributions like Mandrake and Red Hat are unable to open many Windows and Macintosh filetypes. Gaming is pretty limited on Linux computers, and if a Linux machine crashes, data recovery can be very expensive.