Using Linux for business purposes
The business world is currently dominated by Microsoft’s Windows operating system, and there are good reasons for it – the OS has everything one might need, and more importantly, it’s got a history of being used for business purposes and a lot of specialized third party software that can only run on it.
But Windows isn’t the only viable solution for companies and individuals when it comes to work – the competition has pretty much caught up and today, Mac OS X and Linux (pretty much all of its varieties) are perfect choices for any office or workplace.
Obviously, you’ll need a Mac to use the former, but the latter can be installed on pretty much any machine, making it a great choice for an operating system. Here are just a few reasons why Linux is a great alternative to Windows for business use:
It’s more secure
You’ve probably already heard of the almost-legendary Linux security – well, it’s actually real and it can be very helpful for your business. Linux uses a different method of separating high level important processes from low levels, and any would-be virus, Trojan, key logger or other malware is unable to work, unless you really go out of your way to give it that permission. This makes Linux very secure, which is especially important for businesses.
It’s less resource intensive
Linux uses less system resources, which means that it can run on slower computers and leave more resources free for more important tasks. If you’re just starting a small business or startup, every gigabyte of RAM and every Gigahertz on the processor counts, and with Linux, you’ll be able to use all of your computer resources as efficiently as possible.
It’s cheaper
Obviously, Linux is cheap – it’s completely free to begin with, and most of the packages and apps for the platform are also provided for free, or at the very least have a free version. This means that you can save thousands of dollars when starting a business by not paying for most of the software and using Linux and free alternatives, which are often just as good as the paid solutions.
It’s got less distractions
There are less distractions on Linux for the user than on Windows, for example. There’s no Solitaire, and you can easily block access to the most time-wasting websites (like Facebook and Zynga) with a few lines in the right file. Linux is perfect if you don’t want your employees to waste time and money on things that aren’t related to their work.
It’s more customizable and flexible
Since pretty much everything on Linux is open source, you can easily customize those apps and code to your own liking and needs. You can even build custom versions of the popular apps that will better suit your needs, you can personalize everything and always know exactly what your computers are doing (no backdoors possible here).
Linux is a great operating system for any purpose, and it’s grown a lot in the past several years. Today, it’s a perfect choice for individuals, as well as businesses that want to be able to accomplish whatever they need without being encumbered by any issues with the license or the closed source code, or which simply need an affordable solution for their office PCs. Be sure to check out Ubuntu, Mint or any other Linux distribution to see what it can offer for you!
