diff --git a/why-linux-is-better.txt b/why-linux-is-better.txt index 2f0fdb1..18ad05a 100644 --- a/why-linux-is-better.txt +++ b/why-linux-is-better.txt @@ -43,14 +43,25 @@ Most of the things that users care about -- not losing configuration between ins On Linux, system level configuration is stored in /etc/ and user level configuration is stored in dotfiles (hidden folders) in the home directory. -- Package manager with signed binaries and easy backup/reinstall. + There are many Linux packaging systems, including Fedora's rpm-based yum package manager, Debian's apt and dpkg, Arch Linux's pacman, and so on. -This is has tangible benefits such as avoiding DLL hell, +This is the real reason Linux users are protected from viruses: +they use packages that are signed by the maintainers, +not any old .exe they download from a website. + +This is has other tangible benefits such as avoiding DLL hell, avoiding duplication of libraries, -verifying that there are no backdoors in the coe, +verifying that there are no backdoors in the code, and upgrading all software at once with a single command. + +Want to back up which programs you have installed without backing up every single binary? +Just save the output of `dpkg -L` or its equivalent. +If your disk crashes and your backup fails, +at least you can get back your packages with a the list and a good internet connection. + It also makes distributing programs with library dependencies much easier. For example, installing python and matplotlib is simple on Linux, but a pain in the neck on windows. @@ -58,7 +69,8 @@ People have been working on fixing this, but it's far from comprehensive. http://chocolatey.org/ -- Fixing configuration problems with commands instead of GUIs. -GUIs are good for some applications. They are clumsy and error-prone for fixing configuration problems. +GUIs are good for some applications, +but they are clumsy and error-prone for fixing configuration problems. Many Linux config problems can be fixed by a simple script that can be pasted into a terminal. Windows generally requires navigating deeply nested GUIs and ticking various checkboxes. This has the same security problems as blindly running commands in a terminal,