#MBAtech – Technologically we see beyond the future
#ODDwrite – Seemingly making it ODD
Happy Sunday to everyone, I hope you are all enjoying the day. Today I present to you a #Linux blog post from #MBAtech & #ODDwrite.
I happened to have an encounter with @native_niiakwei C.E.O of #ODDwrite who came up with a discussion on #Linux. He really added a plus to my knowledge on #Linux OS. I salute Boss @native_niiakwei
Linux (pronounced i/ˈlɪnəks/ LIN-əks or, less frequently, /ˈlaɪnəks/ LYN-əks) is a Unix-like and mostly POSIX-compliant computer operating system (OS) assembled under the model of free and open-source software development and distribution.
If I were to go out and ask the ordinary people what Operating System they know of and use, they might most probably mention of Windows OS and most probably they might talk about a Mac OS too. Well, are these the only operating systems around? Are Mac and Windows the only operating systems that can be found on computers today?
Of course not, there are many and varied OS’s on planet Earth and of course there would be some more OS’s on other planets as well if they exist ( I haven’t decided for myself whether or not to believe that there is intelligible life outside Earth though but I hope to make that decision very soon enough 😉 ).
You can go on to Wikipedia, the world’s largest online encyclopedia, to see a list of operating systems. I would like to talk about the Linux OS. Linux OS has gained widespread use around the world by both power and ordinary users alike. My question is, ‘Is it not time for widespread use of Linux OS in Ghana?’ For System Administrators, Linux would be quite known but I am wondering if it is not time for the ordinary user, right here in Ghana to switch to Linux too?Linux offers many flavors which all run on the Linux kernel. You can read more on the Linux kernel from Wikipedia. Some of the popular flavours of the Linux OS include; Linux Mint, Ubuntu (one of the most popular linux flavor), Kali Linux, CentOS, Fedora, Elementary OS and many more.
Security is baked into Linux primarily, all round. Linux is one of the most secure OS if not the most secure OS in the whole world. Nowadays what we seek for our systems is security against malware infection, and also against attacks from hackers who want to steal our data. Linux OS offers the best protection you can get against these attacks.Linux is trusted by big corporations and advanced institutions, such as NASA. Linux has earned this trust by all based on a track record of high level reliability and efficiency. With the Linux foundation in place, more and more strides are being made to get linux a step closer to the top notch organizations.
In addition, Linux offers various desktop environments. You have the Gnome desktop environment, Mate desktop environment, LXDE, Enlightenment Desktop Cinnamon desktop environment, Unity desktop environments and many other Desktop Environments to choose from. Ubuntu Linux for example offers the user about four or so environments to choose from (that is including the Mate desktop environment, Unity desktop environment, LXDE , KDE ).Linux is an OS of choice and it meets your need at whatever level you operate be it as a professional or as a normal user. Most advanced system administrators especially those who work with servers would have much more interaction with Linux.
A little trivia here though, Linux runs on over 80% of supercomputers in the world. You can read more on that here too.So now my question that needs answering; Is Ghana ready for Linux? Well I think yes it is about time we all moved on to Linux. You might just as well say that I am all ‘Linuxy’ so I want everybody to go on that same trend. Well that might be true but let me address your needs on your PC or Laptop as a normal user and how Linux OS addresses it.
First of all is your Spreadsheet, Text document, Database whatever it might be. Well most of the Linux systems I have used comes with an Office suite.( Yeah and just by the way if you are wondering what Linux systems I have used, well I use Ubuntu on a part-time basis, I did try Fedora, Mint, Backtrack, Lubuntu and Kali on a friends machine ). Most of these systems came with an Office suite to use. Most of them had LibreOffice but of course there other ones you can install if you want. What comes to mind for another option is OpenOffice.org. Yeah and all these Office suites are pretty simple to use and just like whichever Office suite you have come to know. Yeah and just by the way I think Mac comes with the LibreOffice too.
Okay now comes the most obvious is your videos and music. Well for that the Linux systems have a wide range of applications you can download to use. Of course you get to have some of these apps already installed on it. I know for one that Linux Mint comes with Banshee already installed which caters for both audio and video files, Ubuntu has with it Rhythmbox already installed on it for playing audio files. Yeah and you can have Shotwell Photo Manager for managing your photos. Yeah and let me add this though, with Linux Mint for example you can start playing all your video and audio files right after installing. Ubuntu for one has a little setback there, because of Proprietary reasons; codecs for playing audio and video files do not ship with the system. Thus you have to install them once you done with your installation and well that does not take anytime at all. It is a pretty simple one there.
Another plus for Linux systems is that most of the drivers you need for your laptop or desktop are automatically installed once you run your Linux OS installation. Thus you don’t have to go running all over the Internet looking for drivers to work on your system. Being in audio, graphic or device drivers you have all bundled up with the Linux system. More drivers are being added to Linux kernel with every single release candidate.
Internet, well Internet needs on the Linux systems are well taken care of. Be it if you want a browser you have an option to choose from firefox (which comes already installed on most of the Linux distros), Google Chrome, Chromium, Vivaldi and a host of other browsers (which you have to install yourself). For torrents you have applications like Deluge and Transmission clients which you can go by. Also if you want to stay anonymous as you browse you can also install for yourself the Tor Browser on your Linus system. Moreso, there is a Linux distro called Tails OS which makes all your Internet traffic anonymous.
For all my coding geeks, you have no worries with the Linux system. You have a solution for all your coding needs no matter the language you are coding in. Python, C, C++, Java, PHP, Ruby on Rails, say every programming language there is a solution for you. The amazing thing is that on most Linux systems you can compile your code with the terminal using the make command.
With gaming of course you would get for yourself games on the Linux system. The only hitch might be that you might not get all the games you want but then more and more games are being ported (i.e. to say being made available) to the Linux system. Yeah and the Steam Client works on Linux systems also so you can get quite a number of games on your Linux system. Well if you want to game all the more on your computer, you could just as well install Steam OS on your machine.
Finally let me talk about security. Well I don’t want to talk any technical stuff here so let me just speak the normal stuff right here. Anyway I don’t know though but the normal is just how technical this one can get. So most viruses attack the computer system by accessing the root folder of the OS. In Windows that is just but a piece of cake for the virus. Well in Linux that becomes a bit of a problem since authentication is needed to access the root folder as it is. Thus the root folder is protected from them viruses that attack the core of your system.
These are just but a few things Linux Oses offer and there in fact more that Linux systems offer. For all there is Linux is no terminal oriented OS where only the geeks can use, it is a normal OS for all and sundry and I think that it is time, we in Ghana go on to use Linux OS in our homes, our schools, our offices and everywhere else. Linux is the way now and we have to jump on to the bandwagon. Linux is powering the world and we ought to so much as join in and let us power our systems with Linux.
Well I might just as well get back to my terminal and feel free there are many Linux communities all over the Internet. If you are wondering where to start you can check up on Google and you would get a lot of help from there.
#LinuxIsBae
Follow me on twitter @mbamuah or you can check out my Facebook Page MBA & Associates for more technological stuffs and updates
#MBAtech – Technologically we see beyond the future
#ODDwrite – Seemingly making it ODD
MBAtech 