A: You're talking about the price tag, right? Well, first of all, one reason why it is free is because the people who work on it don't ask for money to do so. This probably sounds a little strange; someone working hard for you for free? It begins to make a little more sense, though, if you try to imagine something like 100 people working together for each other for free: one person contributes only the fruits of his own efforts, but benefits from the efforts of 99 others, in addition to his own. Of course, some people are paid to work on linux, but it is usually through channels such as sponsorship from companies such as IBM.
A: Yes they are. They aren't the only ones. The American government sponsors open source programmers too, mainly in the lower level technical things. Sun Microsystems contributes a lot too, as well as numerous European governments such as the German and Finnish ones. Brazil also is a heavy linux user.
Linux really is a revolution in progress. It is a global digital tidal wave which just keeps getting bigger, and that's why we have an Egyptian Linux Users' Group.
A: Yes they do. IBM is a good example of a for-profit business adapting itself to the incredible world of free open--source software. The trick is shifting your revenue stream to services and hardware.
A: Quite the opposite. Imagine if you were a programmer with, for example, Microsoft. You would be getting paid to write programs, that is true, but you would be working on what the company wanted you to work on, not what you really wanted to work on. The programmers who write Linux software get to choose exactly what interests them and stimulates their creativity. This makes an incredible difference, and this is something you can only feel if you start using open source software like Linux.
A: There's some good news and some bad news. The bad news is, they won't be available. In some cases, windows software will work on linux, but that is a different story. The good news is, you might be able to guess, that there are substitutes for almost everything available on Linux which are usually better. In most cases, it will not be a problem of finding a replacement for, say, Microsoft Word, but rather a problem of which one of the substitutes to use; OpenOffice? KWord? Abiword? KWrite? &c.
Using Excel? Try Gnumeric, Openoffice Calc, KSpread. Do you absolutely need Photoshop? For that there is The Gimp. And while you try Gimp, check out Cinelerra and Film-Gimp too, movie editing tools. And you might as well drop 3D Studio Max for Blender.
If you're programming under windows, you're most likely using Visual Basic. For that, there's Gambas, though this document is really too short to list all of the programming languages you can use under linux, or all the development environments. Windows programmers who move to Linux usually feel like they have died and gone to Heaven.
Why don't you ask someone from the Linux Users' Group for a demonstration of the substitute for your favorite windows software?
A: This isn't windows. All of these choices and all of this power doesn't have to cost you massive resources. A barebones linux installation will run quite happily in 4 Mb of RAM. For real-world desktop work with a graphical user interface, you should be fine with 32 to 64 Mb a a minimum. And you don't need the latest of fastest processor either; anything from a 486 up will do fine.
Linux isn't greedy.
A: Yes. You get free access to the source code (the recipe) of the software just in case you feel a need to modify anything and know how to do it.
When you get stuck, there is always a helping hand -- free and knowledgeable.
A: At the risk of over-simplifying things, UNIX is not an operating system; it is an idea. When you use Solaris or AIX or Linux, you are using an operating system which was sprung out of a collective set of ideas which are called UNIX. In fact, we tend to call Linux and Solaris, for example, flavours of UNIX. It's a little bit like ice cream: when you eat a vanilla ice cream, this is specifically a vanilla flavor, but it is also made the way ice cream is made. Hence, Linux is not UNIX, but it is a UNIX like operating system.
A: That is absolutely true. The heart of Linux is at the command line. This does not mean, however, that all your work under Linux has to be command line driven. There are excellent graphical interfaces for just about any administrative task you can think of. The way most of these applications are designed is to have a command line program, and then to build a graphical application on top of it. This means that you are free to choose whichever method you prefer to get your work done.
On a deeper level, this is a fundamental concept under Linux; command line tools with optional graphical interfaces. This does not only mean that you can choose how to get the job done, it also separates the GUI code from the functional code. So, if for any reason the GUI interface is inaccessible (such as if you are telnetting in to do the work) then you can still get everything done.
By contrast, if you don't have the GUI under windows you are pretty much stuck. Under windows, there is no separation of GUI from core operating system functionality. This is one of the primary reasons why UNIX--like systems such as Linux are legendary for their stability. Keeping things simple and compartmentalised.
A: That really depends on your needs. It is safe to say that Linux can do pretty much everything you need in terms of server functionality, so that is probably a good place to begin. How about setting up an e--mail server on your LAN? That would probably not take more than fifteen minutes.
And while you're at it, with all of those windows clients, you might as well think about using Linux as a windows file--sharing server. And print server. And don't worry about those Macintosh users; Linux is fluent in Appletalk and will happily connect them with the rest of the world. Seamlessly.
Do you need a web--server too? Have a look at Apache. Apache is the leading web--server software solution in the world, and it has been so for a very long time and it will continue to be so for a very long time. This not surprising since it is free, open source, stable, incredibly flexible, and smart.
Application server? Tomcat. LDAP? You got it. Groupware? Plenty of alternatives. FTP? Yep. Instant messaging server? Of course. Database server? MySQL/postgreSQL/Firebird/etc. Linux makes an excellent firewall and/or router too.
As we said, it all depends on your needs. Try describing your requirements to one of the volunteers and see what they can come up with.
A: Thats what we have Linux vendors for, many companies offer support contracts and the kind of guaranties you may be used to, the good thing is now support is truely a competitive market since all these companies have access to the source code and can modify and service the software as in any possible way. you don't like your current services provider? change the company seek a better one? the other good thing is you can go to a local company, or a small company if you prefer. and then there is always a free community on the internet eager to help you with all support questions, you can even contact the software developers directly, or employ some of them, the choices are endless.
A: Linux is probably the benchmark for standards compliance.
When you think about it, there really wouldn't be a Linux without standards and without the commitment to follow them. There are hundreds of thousands of programmers world--wide who work on Linux, and the only way for an interface designer in Bombay, for example, to coordinate his work with a programmer in New York is for there to be a set of standards governing the work. This goes for network protocols, UI design, file structure, filesystem hierarchy, all types of API, etc.
Standards are the air Linux breathes.
Linux even knows how to deal with other systems which do not comply with common standards. One excellent example is Microsoft Office documents, which are proprietary and undocumented yet which (after a lot of hard work and reverse engineering) can be viewed and modified under Linux.
Linux speaks all languages, even the broken ones.
A: No trick. No catch. We do want something from you, though; we want you to become a Linux user. It's a little bit like when you hear a nice song, and you tell your friends about it -- does that gain you anything? No? Then why do you do it?
A: Just like Linux is made in a wide and decentralised way, support is also available in a way which is just as unique as the way the programs are made. There are communities of Linux volunteers on the internet who are always ready to help you out with any difficulties you might be experiencing. We, the Egyptian Linux Users' Group, is one such community. There is help available 24 hours a day 7 days a week on web message boards, on IRC chatting channels, through e-mail lists, &c.
A: Okay okay, slow down. It's easy to get excited about Linux, we know.