The Many Faces of Linux

by Jon Buys - Sep. 05, 2010Comments (8)

Linux may have started out small, but it’s grown by leaps and bounds. Today, Linux can be found on everything from a home wireless router to the gigantic mainframe in the data center. Although the spirit of openness surrounds Linux, thanks in part to the GPL, distinct communities have sprung up to support the different environments, each with a slightly different take on what it means to be in the Linux community.

Desktop The most famous form of Linux, the type that used to get the press, has got to be Linux on the desktop. Supporters of the Linux desktop range from those who value the open source license above all else (the same type of Linux user who posts words like FREEDOM in ALL CAPS in online flame wars), to technically inclined people, to the simply curious. I’ve personally been following the Linux desktop “movement” since 1999, back when Linux Magazine was “Chronicling the Revolution”, a reference to Linux’s impending superiority over Windows as the operating system of choice for personal computers. Year after year, Linux has gotten better, but dominance on the desktop remains elusive. For many users, this is not a problem. They have their customized Debian desktop just the way they like it, thank you very much, and don’t need anyone’s approval for it. For others though, recent developments in the next category of Linux users has people asking, “Does Linux Need the Desktop?”

Mobile Mobile Linux has exploded in the past year, thanks to Google and their Android operating system. With Android, Linux is finally able to reach the casual user audience that was so difficult to reach on the desktop. Android is the top competitor to Apple’s iPhone, and possibly soon to be with the iPad as well. Android has done the one thing that was seemingly impossible on the desktop, surpass Microsoft on a consumer device. However, the freewheeling development of the desktop doesn’t perfectly equate to mobile devices. Carriers retain a lot of control over what you can and can not do to your phone, and even approved apps still need to play by Google’s (admittedly lax) rules.

Server It is here, in the datacenter, that the true domination of Linux is apparent. Before Android, there were really two main camps of Linux: servers and desktops. Many distributions support both, and some even have a different ISOs to download for the server. Linux can provide all of the services of Windows, all of the power of Unix, and the web hosting genius of the LAMP stack that has really pushed the platform forward. It’s perfectly reasonable to argue that many of the latest revolutions of the web would not have been feasible, or at least more expensive, under Unix or Windows. As a sysadmin, I obviously fall squarely in this camp, and while I believe that Linux and open source software is the best choice for the data center, I continue to be skeptical of it’s performance on other platforms. That is, of course, with the notable exception of the next form of Linux.

Embedded I would be amiss not to mention Linux in firmware, and the several projects that exist to replace proprietary firmware with open source Linux versions. Years ago I updated my wireless router with the DD-WRT firmware, and had absolutely zero problems with it. Other projects, like Coreboot aim to replace the BIOS in PCs with open source systems that have more options. Linux has even made its way into devices that in no way resemble their desktop or server cousins. Linux is powering everything from televisions to cameras to GPS units, and even the popular Kindle from Amazon.

When talking about Linux, it helps to distinguish what kind of Linux you are referring to. The core Linux kernel is amazingly capable and flexible, and has made its way into as many devices as there are CPUs to power them. It’s important to take note that Linux on the server is a world of difference away from Linux on the desktop, in both purpose, use, and functionality.

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by jhominal on Sep. 06, 2010

While I liked this article, there is a sentence that puzzles me:

"and even approved apps still need to play by Google’s (admittedly lax) rules"

If you want to get something "approved", you will, by definition, have to play by someone's rules.

The point is valid though, because approved apps enjoy easier and wider distribution (via the Android market) than other apps - it could just have been phrased better.

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by Jon Buys on Sep. 06, 2010

@jhominal Good point, the phrasing of that was a bit off. I'm glad you understood what I was getting at though.

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by Gerry D. on Sep. 06, 2010

>those who value the open source license above all else (the same type of >Linux user who posts words like FREEDOM in ALL CAPS in online flame >wars

Seriously, this is a totally douchebag example.

I dont resort to such terminology but you are so I see no reason to respect you in return.

The message you give is:

People who value freedom = fringe lunatics in flame wars.

This is of the same caliber of writing as Linux=communism.

Bravo.

People who use these cartoonish generalizations deserve the douchebag tag and you earned yours.

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by artwales on Sep. 06, 2010

Linux in Mobiles, no mention was made of the MEEGO.

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by David Patterson on Sep. 06, 2010

And how you can forget ubuntu it is also a gift of linux and

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by an anonymous user on Sep. 07, 2010

"Linux can provide all of the services of Windows"

Microsoft have extended and twisted the standard protocols that Active Directory is built on so much they have effectively ensured that Samba 4 will never see the light of day. You can only run an NT4 domain with Samba.

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by oiaohm on Sep. 08, 2010

Samba protocol support goes past what NT4 supports.

Recent source code releases of samba 3.5 + include project franky. What is samba 4 ADS part with Samba 3 picking up the rest of the load.

Really most of the time ads support is not important. More important is SMB2 protocol that is currently in samba 3.6 as a testing part.

Its not like samba is not also extending the protocol. Full cluster support is being worked on in samba. Ie many machines appearing to be one Windows server.

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by JPR Direct on Oct. 29, 2011

Its great to see that many people are now realizing Linux’s impending superiority over Windows as the operating system even in the CCTV security realm.

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