Operating system advocacy

Template:Message box Operating system advocacy is an attempt to increase the awareness and improve the perception of a given computer operating system. The motivation behind this is often to increase the number of users of that system, the assumption being that more users will lead, directly or indirectly, to greater improvement in the operating system ("OS"). The term is most commonly used to refer to OS's that are in the minority of usage, to compare to the OS that the majority already use. A further assumption often made by OS advocates is that most of the users of the majority OS only use it because they are familiar with it or they are locked in. Advocacy of the majority OS is most often in reaction to the sometimes over-zealous advocacy of the minority OS's.

Advocacy is one of the common pastimes of those who have a deep and abiding interest in the design, construction and usage of operating systems. For these people, the investment necessary -- both in money and time -- to own and operate a computer sometimes creates an emotional investment in their operating system of choice. Such emotional ties can lead to advocacy that can induce emotional arguments as people compare and contrast the virtues and faults of different operating systems.

These vicious debates most notably include:

Windows vs. Mac OS
Windows vs. Open Source
Windows vs. Linux
Linux vs. BSD
Linux and BSD vs. proprietary UNIX systems

Some wars of the past related to:

There are related wars over programming languages, video game consoles, and text editors (Emacs vs vi; see editor war).

Here are some of the arguments, false or otherwise, which advocates of supposedly opposing operating systems may use.

Caveats

Note that market share can refer to either new sales or to installed base, which give very different numbers. This kind of information should be spelled out by people with a comprehensive picture.
- Because Macintosh computers have a longer usage lifetime than Windows computers, their installed base is greater than their share of new sales.
- Also, market share numbers for market segments. For example, the market share for Linux in the server market is much higher than for the desktop market.
- One definition of the term "market share" refers to the dollar value of new sales. Because Linux is often distributed without fee, those distributions would not add to its market share.
- Since most desktop and notebook computers sold by the big OEM companies are sold with the "Windows Tax", this could increase the Windows market-share artificially since the user could very well use another OS instead, unless the survey took this into account.
Cost can mean either total cost of ownership (TCO) or the actual amount of currency required to obtain the operating system, which is a more precise and less disputed definition.

Desktop systems

Microsoft Windows

Estimated market share: 90%; Microsoft Windows enjoys a near monopoly in the desktop OS market.

Audience: all markets. Most dominant in business, though it has the lion's share of the market in all sectors.

Pro

Large market share
Very reliable for day-to-day tasks (for Windows 2000 and later)
Wide range of applications from same source as OS ensures compatibility - Microsoft Outlook Express, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office
A perception of more available support
Largest range of software applications, although quality varies a great deal
Best driver support, particularly for gaming
High amount of competition in PC hardware, driving down costs (this benefits any OS that runs on PC hardware, but many times hardware vendors choose to work only with Windows in creating device drivers)

Con

Complex closed-source code, which creates delay between discovery of security holes and release of security update
Microsoft's business practices (anticompetitive, privacy-invading, and monopolistic)
Primary applications from Microsoft discourage third-party alternatives, either by their quality, their ability to create lock in, or both
Frequently targeted by malicious software developers (known as crackers, sometimes referred to as hackers) who write worms, viruses, spyware, adware or similar. Market share size and design flaws create monoculture.
Proprietary, non-free operating system
Very expensive, with expensive licensing too.
Users cannot learn how it works due to restrictive license.
Even if users may know how, the license restricts them from fixing source bugs or security holes.
Technical support widely criticized.
Software often described as 'bloated', increasing the system requirements, and causing general instability.
Only available for the industry-standard x86 PC computer architecture (with some versions for 64-bit processors).

Apple Mac OS X

Estimated market share: 4-9%

Audience: education (30-50%), arts (print publishing, graphic design, video/film editing, sound editing), science.

Pro

Simple and intuitive interface.
Strong attention to hardware design and ergonomics.
Aestheticly pleasing design (both in hardware and software).
Enthusiastic, loyal user base.
"Real" plug and play (no driver installation needed to add new hardware in the majority of cases - most standard devices are supported by class drivers included with Mac OS X.)
Single-source main hardware supplier tends to lead to higher reliability. A smaller number of components can be more thoroughly tested before distribution, and are more widely tested by consumers after distribution. Support and repair is easier.
Underlying Mach-like operating system provides many of the benefits of UNIX or Linux, including inherently secure design, command line utilities and the ability to run almost any UNIX programs (including Apache, MySQL, sendmail, etc)
Compatibility with Windows and Linux for a wide majority of usage, especially over networks
"Single-source" OS, CPU, and major applications ensures better compatibility.
Rarely targeted by malicious software developers (known as crackers, sometimes referred to as hackers), worms and viruses.
Rapid response from Apple with security software patches.
Responsive, supportive user community.
Studies indicate Apple's software and hardware ergonomics and aesthetics tend to lead to higher productivity
Many studies indicate a lower TCO due to lowered support costs.
Bundled developer tools, eg. gcc, Cocoa, Interface Builder and Xcode, allow rapid application development.
Object-oriented driver model allows third parties to develop hardware drivers very easily (though in practice manufacturers do not always bother to release Mac drivers).

Con

Small market-share compared to Microsoft Windows
Only runs on Apple's proprietary hardware architecture, which is perceived to be more expensive than performance-equivalent PC hardware.
Limited selection of hardware form factors - for example, micro-laptop, tablet and blade models not available until/unless Apple manufactures them.
Single manufacturer limits hardware diversity. In the historically rare case that a hardware device is defective (e.g. the iMac overheating Quantum hard drive chip), it can affect a large portion of Mac users.
Smaller range of software compared to Windows. Each software niche (e.g. word processing or accounting) tends to only have one or two notable examples although the examples usually function well. Fewer shareware titles.
Some software which requires formatted source data - for example, mapping software - in limited availability on the Mac until/unless manufacturers decide it is worth the effort to port the data and their proprietary applications.
Lagging development for graphics card drivers and smaller range of available games. Those games that do make it to the Mac are often late and/or more expensive, compared to Windows versions.
Smaller range of explicitly supported hardware devices, compared to Windows. (This is somewhat controversial, since as noted above, most standard devices are supported by class drivers included with Mac OS X.)
No ability to customize the user interface without third party hacks.
Aqua (the GUI frontend) is proprietary closed source, meaning upgrades come from Apple if anywhere at all.
"Single-source" hardware ensures extremely limited portability; it is difficult or impossible to run the OS on non-PowerPC architectures.
Legacy applications running in Classic environment "emulated" in Mac OS X might reduce overall system performance.
Software vendors' price for new versions of legacy software was prohibitive for some users.

Linux

Estimated market share (commercial): 2–5%

Estimated computers using linux: 7%

Linux users are notoriously difficult to count, as the openness of the operating system means it is highly decentralized. Many Linux users dual-boot their computer with Microsoft Windows in order to play games, which remains the dominant gaming system. Statistics garnered from the Internet can be inaccurate, as some Linux users identify their browsers as Internet Explorer on Windows for maximum compatibility with web sites.

Audience: FLOSS enthusiasts, information technology, computer science, software engineers, cost-saving measure by companies and governments.

Pro

Linux is a free operating system, which gives you the freedom to access, modify and redistribute the source code or any part of it.
Designed to be a universal operating system.
Because the source code is freely modifiable, software is rarely lost. By continually expanding on previous works, or incorporating them into new works, free software has surpassed commercial software in some fields and may do so in others.
Free alternatives exist for most software found on other platforms.
High stability. The operating system is rarely the failure point in "crashing", etc.
Low purchase cost. Most distributions can be downloaded for free. Some sell media or boxed packages at cost, or for a small donation.
High flexibility, freedom, and customizability.
Hobbyist atmosphere.
Large community; allows free user support by advocates, any vulnerabilities or bugs that are found are patched much faster than closed-source software.
Commercial support available.
Offers graphical user interfaces much like the Mac OS/Windows interfaces (desktop environments such as KDE and GNOME), in addition to the traditional Unix command line and other unique window managing concepts.
Many free or otherwise gratis software packages offer the functionality of programs available on the other desktop operating systems.
Stronger security model. Rarely targeted by worms and viruses. Fewer security vulnerabilities.
Some distributions are security-focused, responding quickly and efficiently to vulnerabilities as they occur.
Individual software packages, including the system kernel, usually incorporate security fixes from the security-focused distributions, hardening them and benefitting all distributions.
Most distributions have a quick release cycle, meaning they are often 'newer' than commercial operating systems, with the latest software fixes, security fixes, and hardware support.
Can be used as a learning tool because source code is open to see.
Most distributions come with a huge array of free bundled software.
Runs on a vast range of computer architectures. (Some suporters argue that Linux's portability exceeds even NetBSD.)
Open development style and a license that requires publicly distributed changes to be made available in source code for others means that future changes will be available for everyone. What anyone contributes, all benefit from. In the long run, it may be impossible for proprietary OS vendors to compete with this.
Fewer commercial applications (considered a positive by free software supporters).

Con

Fewer commercial applications (considered a negative by many users, particularly corporate management)
Some features of proprietary operating systems may not be available yet.
Free versions lack professional, enterprise-level support
Small market-share for desktop computers
Lack of a single target to write applications to, i.e. distribution incompatibilities. An application cannot be written for "Linux" and expected to work on every distribution without significant knowledge of each distribution's differences. It may need to be ported to each distribution.
Desktop managers often seen as too geek-oriented and not user-oriented; supposedly difficult to use or set up compared with commercial GUIs.
Many essential tools lack consistency in syntax or semantics, undermining ease of learning (learning to use a new tool can become a "research project").
Initial setup process varies greatly among distributions.
Software installation process varies greatly among distributions.
Incomplete hardware support (Some noncompliant USB devices, some Firewire implementations, "Winmodems", some video cards, etc.) Linux drivers are often neglected by hardware manufacturers, and adoption of newest technologies is relatively slower than proprietary systems.

Server Systems

Many of the same arguments as for the operating systems used for desktop purposes, but some specific advantages and disadvantages due to being applied in a server situation.

Microsoft Windows

Pro

Ease of configuration for basic tasks
Corporate management personnel tend to be more comfortable with it due to the feeling of one large successful entity being responsible for it.
Allegedly faster at file sharing than Linux when using SMB, Microsoft's proprietary protocol [1] (http://download.microsoft.com/download/c/c/b/ccb52352-90e4-4260-8c8c-113571bf48f3/MSvsSamba.doc)
Alleged lower TCO than Linux [2] (http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/d/0/7d059de9-1557-415c-8332-920db6f89e44/FRSTRossCosts0404.pdf)
Alleged vulnerabilities fixed faster [3] (http://download.microsoft.com/download/9/c/7/9c793b76-9eec-4081-98ef-f1d0ebfffe9d/LinuxWindowsSecurity.pdf)

Con

Expensive software licenses
Difficult to move configuration from one machine to another: nearly all configuration is done through a GUI often making it difficult to do repetitive changes to multiple machines.
Difficulty of configuring anything that the GUI designer did not think of ahead of time, potentially results in reduced customizability. Compared to CLI and script-based systems found on UNIX systems, the shell and its available applications are extremely limited.
Low performance in some uses or applications
Need recent, expensive hardware to be able to run recent versions
Often requires global facility software upgrades due to voluntary incompatibilities between release ABIs, i.e. SMB protocol incompatibilities between older and newer Win32 releases
Remote administration possibilities limited and insecure (and some remote administration services enabled by default where servers generally require secure default setups).
More and more sysadmins refuse to work with closed source products
Not as popular in the web server market as Unix is.
Inability for organizations to audit the system against security and information theft to derive systems for corporate or government mission-critical tasks
As a result generally inadequate for collocated servers, or servers in general. In fact, several Internet Service Providers charge more for people running Windows based servers at their collocation facilities, allegedly "because of administration nightmares that ensue".

Linux

Pro

Initial cost low or zero
Stability
Diverse hardware support including older PC/hardware
The most rapidly progressing server operating system
For a moderately skilled administrator, ease of installation and management
Availability of free and paid support
Its support of most file systems in common use makes it especially good for mixed-platform environments
Most configuration is done by editing text files greatly contributing the ease of automated maintenance or large scale repetitive changes
Linux is a Free Software operating system, which gives you the freedom to access, modify and redistribute the source code of any part of it, so long as you release your changes for others to do the same.
For some applications, such as web servers, it is the most common platforms and is thus well served with software and hardware (see LAMP).
Remote administration comprehensive and secure
Text file and CLI application based configuration allow settings to be changed more easily and without requiring a GUI to be loaded.

Con

Annual Enterprise Edition licenses can be costly. However, skillful sysadmins do not need commercial distributions to achieve the same results, since most server-critical software is free.
While all command-line tools have some documentation in the form of online manual pages, these help documents are usually just technical references; the purchase of a well-written book on Linux system administration is almost always necessary.
According to critics, the total cost of ownership (TCO) is higher with Linux than with other easier systems because Linux requires more tech support. This argument is somewhat controversial. See also Microsoft and Linux.
Less secure than traditional Unices. Due to the strong political and philosophical convictions of Richard Stallman, GNU su, used in almost all Linux distributions, does not have the ability to restrict access to the root account via a wheel group [4] (http://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/manual/html_node/coreutils_149.html). However, this is possible using PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules), now standard with most distributions, which allow restriction of many commands to certain groups.
It is also the most popular of the Unices, thus it is more attractive as an exploitable operating system.
The primary means of configuration, text files and CLI applications, is unintuitive, although GUI configuration tools are often avaliable.

Sun Solaris

Pro

Extremely stable, even under enormous (enterprise, in the jargon) workloads
Long history of success
On the highest-end Sun hardware, supports hardware features such as hot-swappable RAM and CPUs
Remote administration comprehensive and secure
Offers high degree of security. For an even higher degree, Trusted Solaris offers a military-grade security
Open-source under the CDDL
Free of charge

Con

Support from Sun is expensive
Vendor lock-in

FreeBSD

Many of the same features as Linux, due to both being open source systems. See FreeBSD and Linux for a direct comparison of those two operating systems. Mistakenly thought of as only a server OS. It has the same desktop components available as Linux and other open source operating systems.

Pro

No/Some purchase cost
High degree of freedom - source code is available. Anything that is possible to do with the hardware can be done
License allows modifying the code and either distributing changes or not, depending on the choice of the developer.
Design coherence
Long, proven history of good reliability
FreeBSD has a unified kernel and userland: the kernel and userland are specifically tested (and versioned) for each other. Also, the directory structure is coherent and predictable.
The ports tree makes it easy to download and install new software: locating, configuring, compiling, recursive dependency handling are generally taken care of.
Re-building system software is facilitated with automated full system building tools
A Linux compatibility emulator makes it possible to run most Linux binaries
Most configuration is done by editing text files, greatly contributing the ease of automated maintenance or large scale repetitive changes
Great effort goes into documentation; the man pages are generally complete and helpful, and the FreeBSD Handbook is a good resource that is available for free
Remote administration comprehensive and secure
Possibility to upgrade the OS from source, to a chosen version.
Text file and CLI application based configuration allow settings to be changed more easily and without requiring a GUI to be loaded.

Con

Possibly somewhat less focus on the desktop and ease of use than Linux, can lead to the appearance that it is not suitable for the same users.
According to critics, the total cost of ownership (TCO) is higher than with other easier systems because it requires more tech support. This argument is somewhat controversial. See also Microsoft and Linux.
The primary means of configuration, text files and CLI applications, is unintuitive, although GUI configuration tools are often avaliable.

NetBSD

Pro

No purchase cost
High degree of freedom. Can be used from desktop systems running Gnome or KDE to the most secure server setups, using cryptography for filesystems, swap and remote administration, systrace to monitor and restrain system calls made by software, firewall software, auditable code, non-executable stack and heap (minimizing the possibilities of "stack smashing" and "buffer overflow" based exploits to succeed in executing arbitrary code remotely), and verified executables (disallowing execution of non-trusted software). All this security is available out-of-the-box, without the need for third-party patches.
The quality of its networking TCP/IP stack is renowned, and used as reference for most new implementations
Like other BSDs, a common CVS repository to properly synchronize base kernel and userspace improvements, which enhances stability
Portability: claimed to run on more architectures than any other known OS, though this point is disputed (http://www.kroah.com/log/2004/09/29/#more_archs). Is however well known as being the most portable operating system (record time needed to port to new architectures).
It has a long, proven history of reliability (security and stability).
Remote administration comprehensive and secure

Con

NetBSD is widely ported, but finding a recent distribution for obscure architectures can be difficult
Most configuration is done by editing text files or using command-line utilities, which Windows and Macintosh GUI users may find cumbersome; system administration usually must be performed by someone who is familiar with these files and utilities (compared to Windows or Mac OS X where many server admin tasks may be "point-and-click"). (GUI admin utilities exist but are neither standardized nor commonly used.)
While all command-line tools have some documentation in the form of online manual pages, these help documents are usually just technical references; the purchase of a well-written book on BSD system administration is a necessity. Of course, this is debatable when dealing with general UNIX sysadmins.
According to critics, the total cost of ownership (TCO) is higher than with other easier systems because it requires more tech support. This argument is somewhat controversial. See also Microsoft and Linux.
Popular enterprise technologies such as Java are not tailored to the platform by their vendors, although generally working well because of excellent binary compatibility with other operating systems.

OpenBSD

Pro

OpenBSD is one of the most secure versions of Unix, using integrated cryptography and proactive security measures, including extensive security auditing. This has led to a record of perhaps the fewest remotely executable security holes of any freely and commonly available operating system
Many security features are available that are either not available or much less well integrated into other operating systems, eg systrace
Project focus on security leads to security not being an afterthought, or just a set of features, but integrated in and always taken into account in design decisions. (see Security focused operating systems)
It is free, and supports a variety of hardware platforms.
It has a long, proven history of reliability
Remote administration comprehensive and secure

Con

Some critics say that most of OpenBSD's security is just due to the fact that the operating system is installed with almost every daemon turned off by default
In late 2003 a report [5] (http://bulk.fefe.de/scalability/) was released claiming scalability problems, making it a poor choice for certain tasks involving high system load, which has been used as an argument against OpenBSD. OpenBSD advocates claim this report was biased because a non-stable development branch of OpenBSD was used instead of a stable release.
According to critics, the total cost of ownership (TCO) is higher than with other easier systems because it requires more tech support. This argument is somewhat controversial. See also Microsoft and Linux.
Popular enterprise technologies such as Java are not tailored to the platform.

Mac OS X Server

Pro

Like Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server is based, in part, on BSD, with a "friendlier" GUI
The latest (Panther) implements Apache webserver, MySQL, Perl, PHP, Postfix mail server, Squirrelmail, ipfw firewall, AFP Apple File Sharing, SMB file sharing (and other standard server tools). All tools are available from the standard install and require no command-line compile or configuration for standard operation.
Server Admin and Workgroup Manger, allow management of standard UNIX services from a GUI.
Most other UNIX-based server tools (e.g. Jakarta Tomcat, etc) are available (though they may require install, compile, and/or configuration).
User management is based on NeXT's NetInfo but compatible with LDAP.
Licensing terms far less expensive compared to other commercial server offerings - a very competitive fixed fee "unlimited clients" license is available.

Con

Only available on Apple hardware (though does work seamlessly with Windows clients)
Macintosh and Windows NT/2K/XP users may dislike having to occasionally edit configuration files by hand.
Similar functionality, without the Server Manager GUI, may be attained by installing open source tools on the standard Mac OS X.

Novell Netware

Pro

Noted for stability of code, as well as exceptional uptime, often measured in years.
The ability to run only the applications and services desired
Server can run in text-only mode and load the GUI only when needed
Offers good performance out of the box, but responds well to knowledgeable configuration and tweaking
Features mature, robust, and scalable Directory Services (NDS/eDirectory) since 1994
No viruses, worms, or Trojan Horses specifically targeting the Netware OS have been discovered
NDS/eDirectory password protection has never been compromised
Interoperates well with Windows, Macintosh, and Unix/Linux clients with native protocols (CIFS, AFP, and NFS, respectively)
Comes bundled with Apache webserver, Pervasive SQL, and other top-notch enterprise tools

Con

Not useful as a workstation in the conventional sense; limited console functionality reflects its file-, print-, and application-server heritage
Expensive software licenses
Public perception of the OS as being old-fashioned or tied only to IPX/SPX protocol
Dwindling support from software developers
Dwindling support from hardware vendors
Lack of technicians familiar with the OS

Usability differences in OS

Althought there many different operting systems, their UIs are not more distinct than the interfaces of two differently branded cars. Every single system tries to balance between being different enough to standout from the competitors, but not so much as to make the system difficult to use by someone coming from a different operating system. Microsoft, which holds the biggest market share, doesn't allow itself too much innovation, as it has a conservative user base. Apple has a smaller but very loyal user base which expects innovation, but at the same time apple wishes to attract users of Windows. Linux and other free operating systems, due to their openess and decentralism, rarely have a unified and coherent UI. Varying from computer to computer (even between applications on the same computer) from a copy of a proprietary system, to mysterious personalized interfaces which only the creator understands. Although most Linux users are programmers, there is an interest of governments and organizations to make mass switch to linux, making ease of use for unexperienced users a vital necessity.

External links

X vs. XP (http://www.xvsxp.com/)

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Categories: Accuracy disputes | Operating systems

Operating system advocacy

Caveats

Desktop systems

Pro

Con

Pro

Con

Pro

Con

Server Systems

Pro

Con

Pro

Con

Pro

Con

Pro

Con

Pro

Con

Pro

Con

Pro

Con

Pro

Con

Usability differences in OS

See also

External links

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