A Linux Distribution has thousands of pounds worth of software for no cost (or a couple of pounds if purchased on a set of CD's)

The crash of an application is much less likely to bring down the operating system under Linux, if any crashes happen at all. If the visual side of Linux freezes, then it is just a matter of restarting the visual server (X server) and does not require a reboot, unlike other systems.

Linux servers are often up for hundreds of days compared with the regular reboots required with a Windows system. Software installation does not require a reboot either.

Extremely powerful and configurable. There is no messy registry on Linux. Configuration is done in text files, so settings can be changed by hand in text editor or by using visual tools that come with that particular distribution. These are easily backed up and can be placed on any server or desktop machine, therefore giving a quick rebuild route in disaster recovery.

Comes with a complete development environment, including C, C++, Fortran compilers, toolkits such as Qt and scripting languages such as Perl, Awk and sed. A C compiler for Windows® alone would set you back hundreds of pounds.

Excellent networking facilities: allowing you to share CPUs, share modems, create low cost clusters, mail servers, web servers and much more...

A wide variety of commercial software is available if your needs aren't satisifed by the free software.

An operating system that is easily upgradeable. After any length of time a typical installation of Windows® and software gets into a complete mess. Often the only way to clear out all the debris is to reformat the hard disk and start again. Linux, however, is much better for maintaining the system.

Supports multiple processors as standard.

There are several reasons for the non-issue of the Linux virus ^[1]. Most of those reasons a Linux user would already be familiar with, but there is one, all important, reason that a student of evolution or zoology would also appreciate.

First, let's take a look at the way Linux has stacked the deck against the virus.

For a Linux binary virus to infect executables, those executables must be writable by the user activating the virus. That is not likely to be the case. Chances are, the programs are owned by root (Administrator on Windows®) and the user is running from a non-privileged account. Further, the less experienced the user, the lower the likelihood that he actually owns any executable programs. Therefore, the users who are the least savvy about such hazards are also the ones with the least fertile home directories for viruses.

Even if the virus successfully infects a program owned by the user, its task of propagation is made much more difficult by the limited privileges of the user account.

Linux networking programs are conservatively constructed, without the high-level macro facilities that have enabled the recent Windows® viruses to propagate so rapidly. This is not an inherent feature of Linux; it is simply a reflection of the differences between the two user bases and the resulting differences between the products that are successful in those markets. The lessons learned from observing these problems will also serve as an innoculation for future Linux products as well.

Linux applications and system software are almost all open source. Because so much of the Linux market is accustomed to the availability of source code, binary-only products are rare and have a harder time achieving a substantial market presence. This has two effects on the virus. First, open source code is a tough place for a virus to hide. Second, for the binary-only virus, a newly compiled installation cuts off a prime propagation vector.

Of course this doesn't mean that there can never be a Linux virus epidemic. It does mean, however, that a successful Linux virus must be well-crafted and innovative to succeed in the inhospitable Linux ecosystem.

Of course there are many other reasons to use Linux such as the full source code is provided and can be modified but 'regular' application users will unlikely need the source code.

It is possible to set up your system to have more than one operating system on your computer. If you are contemplating using Linux this can be very handy; it lets you still keep Windows 98,ME,2000,XP,2003 (e.g. if work commitments require that you use certain software) and use Linux. This will require creating partitions on your Hard Disk. Documentation that accompanies most Linux distributions will explain how to create a 'multi-boot' system.

Linux is an operating system that was initially created as a hobby by a young student, Linus Torvalds, at the University of Helsinki in Finland. Linus had an interest in Minix, a small UNIX system, and decided to develop a system that exceeded the Minix standards. He began his work in 1991 when he released version 0.02 and worked steadily until 1994 when version 1.0 of the Linux Kernel was released. The current full-featured version is 2.6 (released 17th December 2003) and development continues.

Linux is developed under the GNU General Public License and its source code is freely available to everyone. This however, doesn't mean that Linux and its assorted distributions are free -- companies and developers may charge money for it as long as the source code remains available. Linux may be used for a wide variety of purposes including networking, software development, and as an end-user platform. Linux is often considered an excellent, low-cost alternative to other more expensive operating systems.

Linux has an official mascot, the Linux Penguin (see front page), which was selected by Linus Torvalds to represent the image he associates with the operating system he created.

Due to the very nature of Linux's functionality and availability, it has become quite popular worldwide and a vast number of software programmers have taken Linux's source code and adapted it to meet their individual needs. At this time, there are dozens of ongoing projects for porting Linux to various hardware configurations and purposes.

Although many variations of the word Linux exist, it is most often pronounced with a short "i" and with the first syllable stressed, as in LIH-nucks.