Linux Versus Windows NT :: essays research papers

Linux versus Windows NTFor permit the browser wars. This years big nerd battle is the boniface gunplay mingled with Linux and Windows NT - and its not just a bunch of geeks nit-picking. While both(prenominal) offer more affordable platforms for Web service than in the past, Linux and NT are polar opposites on almost every other level. They look different, mold differently, support different bundle system, and cost money in different places. So far though, most press coverage of the Linux-NT debate has focused on the competing business models, and theres been little helpful information for deciding which OS to use. At the other end of the coverage spectrum, technical comparisons usually stick to carrying out tests, churning out reams of numbers from the lab and missing the big persona of owning and operating a Web site. The most obvious difference between NT and Linux is that NT attempts to bring the familiar Windows graphical user interface to a server environment. Ideally , a Webmaster could maintain NT (and its bundled Web server, Microsoft Internet Information Server, aka IIS) primarily by pointing and clicking. NT also loves bundled with a singular set of Microsoft site development tools.      Linux, on the other hand, builds from the long, varied tradition of Unix command-line culture. It can be harder (or at least more daunting) to learn Unix from scratch than it is to learn a Windows system, but Unix users who get over the hump of the initial learning curve rarely utter happiness over trying to do the same work in a Windows environment. Thats the "Windows rage" you observe whenever your local sysadmin (System Administrator) has to get up from his Linux workstation to let your PC. If theres one area where NT stands out over Linux, its the willingness of third-party software vendors to develop versions of their software for it. Ad-serving software, search engines, databases, application servers, and e-commerce shopp ing carts are almost certain to come in NT versions, whereas big-name vendors such as Oracle, Sun, and IBM have just begun to commit to Linux.     A Windows NT license costs about $300. A Linux license costs nothing. non much overhead, but the real costs come later helpless income from downtime or unfixed bugs, high prices for technical employees who make things go, and extra machines and software as the site grows. Theres a notable lack of consensus as to whether Linux or NT delivers a lower total cost of ownership.