Happy Birthday, Linux

Happy Birthday, Linux

In my work environment, I have managed to get rid of Microsoft Windows in virtually everything I do. I have it on my main site — but that is just a host for my Web content.

With Windows, I just don’t like it, and realise that I have never really liked it that much. I’ve seen every version, and it just doesn’t do what I want it to do. It has always been horrible in installing programs, and it has — I think — a clunky user interface. Also it has never really embraced the command line (and often tries to hide it). Why can’t I chance the network adaptor settings, without going into a GUI? Why don’t I have a proper “find” command for searching for things? With Windows, they just want everything to be a GUI!

For me, I have Mac OSX, and where I often drop into a terminal for Linux-type commands to run my Python and Go scripts. The best thing for me was migrating my Visual Studio from my Windows VM into Mac OSX, and it works a treat. In fact, my battery loves the move, and where I often watched as the Visual Studio in a Windows VM would often drain a whole battery in less than an hour. My last application I needed in Windows was Visio, and I still love it, I have forced myself to use Lucid charts. And if I want Windows, I just power up VMWare, or go to the Cloud.

I remember giving a Xmas lecture for schools, and just before I was to give my presentation, a message appeared say, “Updating Windows.”, and I couldn’t give my talk. After that I have never relied on Windows, and also use Mac OSX. Just as aside, Keynote has always been so much better than PowerPoint in virtually everything it does, but still you get, “Oh, we don’t support Macs”, at many of the conferences I attend.

And so this week is the 28th birthday of Linux (25 August 1991), and which is the operating system of choice for most serious computing, and will be the base of the future. While you wait for your Windows machine to boot up, your R-PI based on Linux, will already be controlling your home with a simple Python script. And we must thank both Sun Microsystems and Linus Torvalds for giving us an “operating system of the people”. For Linus he introduced Linux to the world with:

“I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing since april, and is starting to get ready. I’d like any feedback on things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat (same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons) among other things).”

Today, Linux’s powers the majority of the servers in the world, and it in virtually every IoT device (and your Android phone). This year I taught a module on cryptography and blockchain, and used Linux, Python and Node.js completely throughout the module. There was not a Window’s machine in sight.

I really can’t understand why we do teach all of kids a bit of Linux at school, as it makes computers come alive.

Our world must be more open, and Linux basically opened that door. Long live, Linux!