Top Reasons Why You Should Choose Linux

Apr 14, 2019

Posted by Brian Njoroge in Listicles | 0 comments

Linux popularity has grown over the years. It is one of the leading operating systems used on servers and mainframe computers. It is used by around 2.3 percent of desktop computers. The Chromebook runs the Linux kernel-based ChromeOS. Linux services empower some of the biggest companies in Silicon Valley such as Amazon, Facebook, twitter, E-bay and Google.

Linux was released almost 28 years ago by a then University of Helsinki computer science student Linus Torvad. He used to work on the Unix OS and thought that it needed some improvement. However when he approached the designers of UNIX with his suggestions, they were rejected. He then thought of an OS that would be receptive to changes, modifications suggested by its users. As time passed by, he collaborated with other programmers in MIT to build the operating system. With the objective to run some applications on it, he released Linux version 1.0.0. Linux 4.15 released in 2018 has more than 23.3 million lines of code. The latest version as of now is Linux 5.0.6 was released on 9 April 2019.
 

Many people don’t know that, while using their android based phone, they are actually using a modified version of the Linux kernel. Due to widespread usage of Android on smartphones, Linux has acquired the largest installed base of all general-purpose operating systems.
 

That’s about it giving you a brief introduction of Linux, I have been an ardent user of the Linux Mint OS for almost 3 years now and I am loving it. But why should you choose it as your preferred OS, when you think of buying a Dos-based PC next time? I have listed some reasons, based on my experience, to choose Linux even when you want to fully restore your PC, or when you want to add another OS to your PC:
 

1. Open Source

One of the most exciting things about Linux is that you can get most Linux distributions for free. Linux uses the GPL2.0 (GNU Public License) to control its distribution and use. This is a permissive license which makes it free unlike most other operating systems like Windows that come at a relatively expensive price. By virtue of it being open source, programming enthusiasts like me can contribute to its development.
 

2. Uses Fewer Resources and is Faster

One of the main reasons I switched from windows to Linux, is that I had 2GB RAM computer and I was running Android Studio software. For those who know the software, it is quite resource heavy. Every time I used to open the software, my laptop would heat up and hang. Switching to Linux on the same machine and using the same software has never been the same. Linux is more lightweight which makes it beneficial for home users who just want a very fast computing experience on a possibly low end machine. Linux has better internal memory management. When a process is not being used in Linux, it is released.
 

3. Run Updates When You Want

How many times have you been using your OS on an important job, then it prompts you to restart for doing updates? I am sure many of you might have come across such situation. One of my friend told me a similar incidence. He was about to make a presentation to his potential clients for making a sales pitch and while starting up his computer, it prompted to run an update and took almost around 20 minutes. What a great way to start the presentation? This is one of the reasons Linux is preferred by many people that it run updates only when the user wants, with a simple update command. This would not interfere with the task being done on the computer.
 

4. Ability to Choose a Linux Distribution

Different versions of Linux distributions provide different stacks of software tools and desktop environment, all of which are tied to the Linux kernel to form a complete OS. Most distributions have many advantages and purposes. For example there very specific distributions that are specific to running a Naas, backup server, web server. That is better than downloading a whole version of windows server and only using a small portion of it.
I will not divulge much to this point at this time. Possibly, I will write another one on the different Linux distributions and which one you should choose to suite your needs.
 

5. Choice of Themes, Desktop Layout and Features

One can choose not just a theme but even a whole new desktop experience. Linux has a plethora of themes for a user to choose from to have an enjoyable computing experience. E.g., with ‘Apple arc OSX’ theme, it makes your Linux OS have a Mac OS feel. You can have other themes that have a windows 10 feel also. For the material designers, sports fanatics, car fanatics all have themes suited to your needs. In windows you are compartmentalized into a specific feel. In windows all you can do is change the color of the theme and the screen wallpaper and that’s all about it.
 

6. Security

One of the best things about my Linux experience is that it is safer against virus. It is more inherently secure than your preferred OS which basically give all its users’ admin access, Linux runs by default in a lower privileged mode. So even if a virus infects you it can’t do any damage because the virus can’t access a lot of the system. It does not need an antivirus or rather those trips you make to a computer expert to save your computer that has been severely attacked by a virus, or that expensive antivirus you buy from a software retailer.
 

7. Privacy

Linux is better for people who are privacy conscious because other OS collect lot of information about you and there is no default way to disable all the collection called telemetry in windows. If you want to do that you really have dig down the registry and its really hidden deep down into the settings. In Linux, you may volunteer to send anonymous data where you can easily disable.
 

8. Simple to Maintain

Linux has an ease of installing software, they typically use what is called a repository. This means there is a repository for all sorts of different software that developers will upload their programs. So anytime you need to install software, instead of going to its official website of the software and download the software then installing it, you can just do it in the command line or the repository interface in Linux.
 

Now, after reading this blog, if you have decided to switch to Linux, get a complete idea on available Linux distributions before installation.