10 Reasons To Choose Linux Over Apple's OS X

OS X, the Unix-based graphical interface operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. is considered to be more user-friendly, but Linux in many regards is much better.

But if you still love OS X then according to zdnet, here are ten reasons that might just change your opinion.

• Flexibility: OS X, as you know is user-friendly but not very flexible like Windows. There is not much that you can do with it. You can’t customize it as per your requirement. But with Linux, it is a different story. Linux can configure itself the way you want.

• Open source: One of the issues that Linux users have with OS X is the license. Apple took a BSD kernel to create its own Darwin kernel, and released it under the Apple Public Source License. It then layered on top of that proprietary software to create OS X. At one point, Apple created OpenDarwin, but that failed too. In 2007, PureDarwin was created to continue the work that was developed with OpenDarwin. PureDarwin has come a long way and can even run Linux-based window managers. However, OS X, is still locked tightly together and can’t compete with the openness of Linux.

• Command line: Although most OS X users say that they don’t need command line, most users know the importance of command line in serious administrative tasks. But with OS X, you can’t do everything you need from the command line. OS X does have a set of command-line tools, but for the power admin, it is not enough.

• Hardware requirements: Even in hardware equipment, if you compare the two, Linux is much faster. Obviously, Linux can run on lesser powered machines by default. And Ubuntu 8.10 is not the most optimized of the Linux distributions. Mandriva Spring 2008 has fewer requirements. Though some claim that OS X outperforms Ubuntu 8.10 soundly, the real world results are contradictory. When you tend to run many applications, the machine crawls.

• Security: In the recent “Pwn 2 Own” competition, both the OS X and the Windows Vista machines were hacked, whereas the Linux machine was not. Of course there are counter arguments. OS X is not unsecure but Linux is better equipped in security with tools like iptables, fwbuilder, and SELinux. Linux can lock down in many ways, on many levels.

• Portability: Linux shines over all other operating systems in its ability to migrate an installation from hardware to hardware. Linux has an uncanny ability to relocate. You can move the complete hard drive from one machine to another. So long as the architecture was the same, the migration seemed to work with little to no adjusting. OS X, on the other hand, is landlocked to the machine it is installed in. Also, with Linux, you can take certain directories and move them.

• Cost: Linux is free. OS X is currently selling for $129.00 plus the hardware cost. The cheapest Macbook you can purchase is $999.00. You can purchase a $399.00 laptop that will run Linux from any dealer plus the cost of the software. With Linux, you can have an office-ready machine that will tackle most every task. So if you’re looking to cut costs, Linux is the way to go.

• More available software: Though surprising, Linux has far more software available than OS X. Turn to Google and search for OS X Software and Linux Software. The results: OS X 19,100,000 hits. Linux 45,700,000 hits. One of the things that separate Linux from other operating systems is that for every task in Linux, there are numerous tools available.

• Not so dumbed-down: One thing that Apple did with OS X is dumb down the operating system interface to the point where all tasks are easy for anyone to do. But some would not want that dumbed-down experience. With Linux, you can have a desktop experience on every level. You can have the full-on, dumbed-down experience akin to OS X with either GNOME or KDE. Or you can go to the complete opposite and use the console as your desktop.With OS X, many users feel trifled but with Linux, you can let go of that .

• Keyboard efficiency: One problem with OS X is that there is no normally functioning Delete key. Instead you have to hit fn + Delete to get the delete key to work as it should. And it’s not just the Delete key. The End key doesn’t do what you would expect, either. To get to the end of the line, you have to add the fn key to the End key. Mouse button is a fundamental design and the majority of people like two mouse buttons. With Linux, you get three mouse buttons. With those you can even do a simple copy and paste function. The Linux keyboard is just far more efficient than the OS X keyboard.