Linux

[Vornzog]

Hi,
Well, emacs is a great OS, it just lacks a text editor ;)

--Pete
[right][snapback]59985[/snapback][/right]

Point proven by the fact that you can get a vi mode for emacs...

Seriously though, I've used both for quite some time, and while the learning curve for vi is steeper, I have ended up liking it better in the long run.

Back on the original topic:

I run a mixed windowsnux environment at home, and pick the best environment for the job.

If I am planning to serve anything, I'll use linux. If I am planning to program anything, I'll use linux. My girlfriend is the software engineer, and she is even more rabid about it. I don't even think she'd know where to start with a windows based programming problem, but she's darn good in *nix.

I will be redesigning the home network here shortly. Due to some issues with how the cable modem comes into the house, I'll be setting up wireless on a linux box that I can use as a firewall/file server. Here, iptables blows anything I can get for free/cheap on windows out of the water. I define my rules, the way I want them, to control incoming and outgoing traffic, and I can log everything.

I still use windows, but I don't do any more of the networking with it than I have to. If the windows box can connect to the internet, that's usually good enough for browsing/email/diablo. I have also traditionally used it for the Office suite, but I recently tried OpenOffice, and found it much to my liking. We'll see how much longer I keep using with MSOffice.

At the lab I work in at the University, I have appointed myself the systems admin. This is because I am the only one who pays any attention to security. Most of my labmates are somewhat computer savvy, and can handle connecting windows to the campus network and sharing files among the various machines, but are clueless about locking them down so that they don't get hacked. When two of our computers were hacked, I reformatted one (it was time anyway), but spent a *large* chunk of time cleaning up the other, as it belonged to a company that was letting us demo an instrument, had custom boards to interface to the instrument, and I had no drivers. I have managed to firewall all the general use machines and the instrument controller machines that I work with, and have converted those machines over to using Firefox so that I spend less time chasing down viruses and spyware.

Prior to my arrival the lab network was strictly windows machines. I now run a linux machine on it, for my use as a server, desktop, network security scanner, and programming environment. It is completely transparent to the rest of the users - they cannot see my machine on the windows network, but I can see the computers I need access to from it. It is the only machine that is on a static IP address, and again is heavily firewalled with iptables - univeristy linux machines are a favorite hacker target.

The primary difference, I think, is that Windows is written for the lowest common denominator. That makes some tasks very easy, but it usually leads to horrible security, and prevents easy customizations. For tasks like networking and serving where security and customizability are the most important factors to consider, linux wins out every time.

-V-