Linux has been something like monotony nowadays. Its fame makes it being the talk of the town – various Linux downloads, Linux programs, etc… And what’s great about this is – it’s all for free! However, free programs or software would always come to an end due to the rising number of users as well as the demands them constantly plea. There will really come a time that some of them will be priced just right for its effectiveness and usage. But that won’t tremble any of the existing and satisfied users of Linux because they already know how great it is to use such system.

Most of today’s Linux subscribers were actually using other operating systems and decided to transfer to Linux because of some annoying experiences. You can almost hear their murmurs whenever they talk about their previous systems. A complaint from a lady in her workplace have been heard telling that she got all fed up and totally annoyed with her current operating system and thinks of migrating to Linux. No worries at all because I think it’s just so easy to do it. Another thing is, switching to Linux can be very fast for her since she’s not using the software herself.

Beforehand, switching to Linux will require you to take a closer look around your software as well as to make some research about this new operating system. You should be aware of the software that are compatible with this new OS. Will your software run faster, or will be more user-friendly and effective once you transfer to this new system? Consider the advantages and disadvantages before you finally decide.

A large number of Linux software usually comes for free. And yes, they are indeed FREE! But are that free software doesn’t bother you at all? A colleague once mentioned that the more ‘free’ a software becomes, the more it is prone to get affected by some malicious programs. So before planning to use Linux, better watch out for these unwanted possibilities.

Another thing to consider is the commands that Linux has. Since it is new, there’s a possibility that some of its commands are different from your old OS. You have to get familiar with it first and then see to it that it has some sort of a familiar environment with your previous operating system. In that way, you won’t be caught something like grasping for breath because you have experienced a shock after suddenly switching to something you aren’t familiar with yet. So, it would be better to check everything out in order to get all things done – safely.

Anyhow, if you think you are ready enough to switch and try something new, then better opt for something that have positive feedbacks. Try to look at the bright side of your choice. Don’t worry too much about some adverse comments, for as long as you know that you, yourself can handle any problems that may occur (we could never really get rid of any unexpected failures). Consider the point that Linux has been very congenial to its users and is very friendly to the budget too. You won’t have to fret since some of its software are still offered for free (to download and to use as well).

I guess, the best thing to do primordially is to seek for valuable inputs about the Linux OS. Search and read a lot of reviews. Visit those sites that have favorable recommendations as well as some critics about this new operating system. Check out for software compatibilities and make sure that you’ve done checking the list of important software that you have – of which ones are and are not compatible with Linux. Better be ready before deciding to make a shift.

To finish this off, it will make sense to weigh all the odds and to consider the possibilities first before deciding to switch for Linux. A dissatisfied OS user (of another system) may opt for Linux to try its proficiency and effectiveness. He may go through a lot of new commands to learn and get familiar with, yet the important thing is, he is happy and comfortable with his choice. Well, the bottom lines for this is – if you are already fed up with what you currently have and is already annoyed of its performance, then why stick to that when you have greater options to choose from? So to speak, Linux may have been waiting for you all along.

By: Syahrul Azlan Idris

The Linux Foundation announced April 8 its annual sponsorship of independent IDC predictions about how the Linux ecosystem will grow over time. The answer is “a lot” but exactly what you’d expect in relationship to the UNIX ecosystem. 

I usually measure Linux/UNIX usage growth/decline by following the IDC quarterly view of server shipments. The clear trend from that perspective is that factory shipments of servers with Linux is increasing basically at the rate that factory shipments of servers with UNIX decreases. It gets the rabid open source blogosphere foaming at the mouth to say this but Linux is basically the latest version of UNIX. So market researchers expect the two operating systems to move in this manner. 

From a market research perspective, looking at the Linux ecosystem separate from the UNIX ecosystem would be like looking at the growth of Windows 15 years ago without also watching the decline of DOS. Bascially,  you choose the IBM and HP versions of Linux et al for factory shipments if you used to choose AIX, HP/UX and so forth. In addition, leading server suppliers are partnering with Linux services suppliers such as Red Hat, Canonical and so forth for follow-ons. This is relatively low-margin services business the major systems suppliers used to take for themselves. 

The IDC report released April 8 looks at the same trend from a different perspective. By the way and not coincidentally, the Linux Foundation is funded by platinum sponsors Fujitsu, Hitachi, HP, IBM, Intel, NEC, Novell and Oracle along with dozens of other Gold, Silver and Affiliate sponsors. Rather than measuring your choice of servers, the new IDC research predicts your “Linux-related software spending.” The forecast says Linux-related software revenue will grow from $12 billion to $35 billion between 2008 and 2013 while “Unix spending” goes almost almost flat (from $69 billion to $74 billion). This statistic forecasts not only the Linux- and other open source operating software (e.g., Solaris) revenue flowing in the market but the revenue of license fees, maintenance and related subscriptions for application servers, ESBs, databases, ERP, BI and even consumer software running on those operating systems. Note that much of this software is not tied to open source terms and conditions (Ts&Cs). As an example, an Oracle database and SAP R/3 running on a Linux server would be considered Linux-related software spending in this case. 

The IDC report also has some interesting information about cloud computing, virtualization and the effects on the market of the current economic downturn. It is available free from the Linux Foundation Web site. I wrote about a companion piece of IDC research sponsored by Novell here. 

By comparison, “Windows-related” revenue, according to the same IDC white paper, will grow from $149 billion to $206 billion during the same period. That is, both ecosystems are growing at about the same compound annual growth rate of 6 percent to 7 percent. That’s also as one would expect because both ecosystems are rapidly becoming the two dominant choices you have in the marketplace. As has been the trend for a few years, Linux- and other open source-based software is replacing UNIX-system-based software while Windows-based software is displacing OS/400 and other similar less IT-personnel-intensive systems. 

As always, be careful of statistics. These statistics do not tell the whole story of the marketplace and your choices in it. For example, just as a lot of the software in the open source operating system ecosystem is deployed with traditional Ts&Cs (the Oracle/SAP example above), a lot of the software revenue measured in the Windows ecosystem is distributed with open source Ts&Cs. Examples are JBoss or MySQL running on Windows

By: Dennis Byron

The Basics of Linux & Windows : Linux (and its close relation Unix) and Windows 2000 (and its close cousin Windows NT) are types of software (known as operating systems) that web servers use to do the kind of things that web servers do. You do not need to know any real detail of either to make a decision as to which you need but here a few guidelines.

Just because you use a windows desktop PC doesn’t mean you have to opt for Windows web hosting (and the reverse is true as well). The operating system you use on your desktop has little to do with your choice of web hosts. As long as you understand how to use your FTP or web publishing software, your can use either operating system.

But what is important is that you know what you want your website to do and what you want to offer on it. This is what will ultimately help determine the type of web hosting that will work best for you. As mentioned earlier, interactive websites usually rely on ASP, PHP, or Perl type languages.

Linux Web Hosting or Windows 2000 Web Hosting ? Make your Choice !

When it comes to Web hosting, Linux has, for some time, been widely considered the best OS for Web servers. It’s typically found to be the most reliable, stable and efficient system and, as such, it’s commonly used for the demanding environment of Web and mail servers. Indeed,Most of the clients websites of aalpha NET runs on the Linux OS precisely because of this traditional stability.

The million-dollar question is what application are you looking to use for your hosting? Consider the tools and scripting languages you plan to use – if you use PHP, Perl or MySQL, Linux is the way forward. If apps are Microsoft-specific, then Windows is what you need.

If your site, like most web sites, is what might be termed “brochure-ware” then Linux servers are ideal. By brochure-ware I mean a site that offers the kind of information that in the past might have been provided on paper in the form of brochures, newsletters or data sheets. Brochure-ware sites will offer some interaction through enquiry forms and can certainly incorporate online purchasing and other routine e-commerce functions.

If however your site incorporates an online searchable database or interactive chat facilities then Windows 2000 or NT will be a better bet in most cases. It will cost a bit more but you’ll get that back in reduced development time and simply better functionality.

The following are the advantages of using Linux based web server compared to Windows based web server :

Stable: Linux/Unix operating systems has traditionally been believed to be very stable and robust. A web site housed on a Linux operating system will have very high up-time (of the order of 99.9%). Of course, other factors such as power supply, network admin skills, and network load etc. also matter when it comes to maintaining the system uptime.

Low cost of ownership: The Linux OS comes free of cost (or at very insignificant cost, usually cost of distribution). Also, it has full fledged server, and desk top applications that comes free along with the OS. These server applications (such as FTP, Web Server, DNS Server, File Server etc.) being free, are also very stable.

Ease of use : When it comes to web hosting, it is easy to host on Linux web servers. The process of uploading and hosting is almost same for both Linux and Windows web servers. If you want to use a Windows based tool such as Front Page for uploading a web site on to a Linux based web server, make sure that the Front Page extensions are enabled. This is only required if you are uploading using HTTP feature (http://www.yourwebsite.com) of Front Page. Front Page also makes it possible to upload a web site using FTP. You need to select ftp://www.yourwebsite.com for up loading using front page FTP option. Note that if you select “Front Page Extensions” during web site design, you must enable Front Page extensions on a Linux web server also. These days, all Linux web servers are coming with installable Front Page extensions, and this should pose no problem for hosting on a Linux platform.

You can use almost all types of file extensions (or scripts) when using Linux web server. Commonly, the following extensions are supported: .cgi, .html, .htm, .pl, .php, .shtml, .xml, and others. Basically it means that you can host web sites that use different types of server side scripts including .cgi, .pl, ..php, and .asp (with plug-in).

Easy to move between hosts : A web site designed to be hosted on a Linux based web server can be hosted on a Windows web server easily, where as the reverse is not always true.

Most widely used : Linux/Unix based web hosting is most widely used compared to Windows based web hosting.

Scalability : A web site is dynamic. Usually, a web site starts with a few pages of html and grows over a period of time to suit the customers requirements. It is preferable to design a web site keeping this requirements in mind. A web site designed for compatibility with a Linux/Unix based web server meets the scalability requirement easily without making any site wide design changes.

On the downside, Linux based web server is not fully compatible with Microsoft technologies. If you are using any specialized applications or VB for development of your web site, it is preferable to host with a Windows based web server.

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Thank You

By: Arpit Sharma