Operating system advocacy

Operating system advocacy is one of the primary pastimes of those who have a deep and abiding interest in the design, construction and usage of computer 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 the operating system of choice. Such advocacy can induce arguments as people compare and contrast the virtues and faults of different operating systems.

These visceral debates most notably include:

Windows vs. Mac OS
Windows vs. Linux
Linux vs. BSD
Linux and BSD vs. proprietary UNIX systems.
terminology: "Linux" vs. "GNU/Linux"

Some wars of the past related to:

VMS vs. UNIX systems
OS/2 vs. Windows
AmigaOS vs. MS-DOS/Windows
AmigaOS vs. Mac

There are related wars over programming languages 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.

Table of contents

1 Desktop Systems

1.1 Microsoft Windows

1.1.1 Pro
1.1.2 Con

1.2 Apple Mac OS X

1.2.3 Pro
1.2.4 Con

1.3 Linux

1.3.5 Pro
1.3.6 Con

2 Server Systems

2.4 Microsoft Windows

2.4.7 Pro
2.4.8 Con

2.5 Linux

2.5.9 Pro
2.5.10 Con

2.6 Solaris Operating Environment by Sun Microsystems

2.6.11 Pro
2.6.12 Con

2.7 FreeBSD

2.7.13 Pro
2.7.14 Con

2.8 NetBSD

2.8.15 Pro
2.8.16 Con

2.9 OpenBSD

2.9.17 Pro
2.9.18 Con

2.10 Mac OS/OS X Server

2.10.19 Pro
2.10.20 Con

Large market share
Incredible range of compatible software and hardware
Most software makes use of a fairly consistent user interface, easing the process of getting up to speed with a new program
Primary applications - Microsoft Outlook Express, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office - from same source as OS ensures compatibility
Support

Con

Complex code (registry, "features")

Microsoft's business practices (anticompetitive, privacy-invading)
Feature limitations
High cost
Corporate monopoly
Primary applications from Microsoft discourage third-party alternatives
Frequently targeted by malicious hackers (aka. crackers), worms and viruses

Apple Mac OS X

Estimated market share: 5-10%

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

Pro

Productive and intuitive
Simplicity
Reliability
Underlying Mach-based operating system provides many of the benefits of UNIX or Linux, including command line utilities and the ability to run many UNIX programs
Many Unix tools and applications (such as MySQL) have been ported to run on OS X
"iApps" - iTunes, iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, GarageBand, etc. - high quality applications included with OS
Flexibility in dealing with various workloads
Lower support cost
Increasing compatibility with Windows and Linux
Usually has the newest technologies (802.11, FireWire, USB) implemented before other vendors
Responsive, supportive user community
Total cost of ownership is low
Aesthetic design (both hardware and software)
Very understandable, integrated system
"Single-source" OS, cpu, and major applications ensures better compatibility
Rarely targeted by malicious hackers, worms and viruses
Rapid, reliable response from Apple with security software patches.
Rapid application development, bundled integrated development environment

Con

Relatively small market-share compared to Microsoft Windows
Hardware architecture (only runs on Apple's proprietary hardware)
Fewer programs or hardware devices
Higher initial costs
Slower computers until recently (see G5)
iApps discourage third party development of core applications
One-button mouse as standard (though three buttons and scroll wheels are fully supported). Apple feels that a one-button mouse is less confusing for beginners.
Sometimes not taken seriously in a Windows crowd

Linux

Estimated market share: 2-5%

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

Pro

Low cost (free on most distributions)
High flexibility and freedom
Low initial cost if switching to from another OS
Hobbyist atmosphere
Large community
With desktop managers such as KDE and GNOME, Linux offers a graphical user interface much like the MacOS/Windows interface, in addition to the traditional Unix command line.
Many free or otherwise gratis software packages offer the functionality of programs available on the other desktop operating systems.
Rarely targeted by worms and viruses
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.

Con

Supposedly missing features

Lack of formal support in free versions

Supposedly has hidden costs

Supposed difficulty of migration

Small market-share

Lack of closed-source applications (this can also be seen as a pro)

Desktop managers widely seen as too geek-oriented and not user-oriented; supposedly difficult to use 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")

Some powerful tools (e.g. the shell) are unnecessarily complicated

Initial setup process varies greatly among distributions

Installing new software difficult, too many bizzarre dependencies and issues

Incomplete hardware support (USB, Firewire, "Winmodems", some video cards etc.) Linux drivers are often neglected by hardware manufacturers, adoption of newest technologies is relatively slower than proprietary systems.
Lack of significant multilingual features. In languages other than English, Linux market size is significantly smaller.
No standard GUI (although this too can be seen as an advantage)

Ease of configuration
Corporate management personnel tend to be more comfortable with it

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.
Frequently exploited by malicious hackers, worms and viruses
Stability sometimes problematic (low uptime)
Low performance
Need recent, expensive hardware to be able to run recent versions
Moderate to low level of security, slow fixes

Linux

Pro

Initial cost can be low
Freedom (open source)
Stability
Diverse hardware support
Due to being open source and other factors, Linux is likely to be the most rapidly-progressing operating system in existence
For a moderately skilled administator, ease of installation, management, and support are other advantages
Its support of most, if not all, 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.

Con

Most configuration is done by editing text files (often using a console-based editor if the X Window System / the default windows manager will not load) or using command-line utilities; Windows and Macintosh GUI users may find this cumbersome; system administration usually must be performed by someone who is familiar with these files and utilities (compared to Windows or Mac OSX 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 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.

Solaris Operating Environment by Sun Microsystems

Pro

Extremely stable, even under enormous (enterprise in the jargon) workloads
Long history of success

Con

High cost (depending on licensing)
Expensive for small workloads because Solaris does not run as well on PC hardware as it does on Sun hardware, which is expensive
Support from Sun is expensive

FreeBSD

Pro

No cost
High degree of freedom
Design coherence
Long, proven history of reliability
BSDs have a unified kernel and userland: the kernel and userland are specifically tested (and versioned) for each other. This, along with the coherent, no-surprise directory structure, gives an excellent sense of a well-designed system
The ports tree makes for a very easy way to download new software: locating, configuring, compiling, recursive dependency handling are all taken care of
Re-building system software is also exceedingly easy with the automated world-building tools
Linux compatibility lets you run Linux binaries that manufacturers haven't released as source
Excellent speed and stability
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

Con

Most configuration is done by editing text files (often using a console-based editor) or using command-line utilities; Windows and Macintosh GUI users may find this cumbersome; system administration usually must be performed by someone who is familiar with these files and utilities (compared to Windows or Mac OSX 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

NetBSD

Pro

No cost
High degree of freedom
Portability: NetBSD's slogan is "Of course it runs NetBSD!" While FreeBSD focuses exclusively on the i386 architecture and its successors, NetBSD has gradually increased the number of supported platforms
It has a long, proven history of reliability

Con

NetBSD is widely ported, but finding a recent distribution for obscure architectures can be difficult
Most configuration is done by editing text files (often using a console-based editor) or using command-line utilities; Windows and Macintosh GUI users may find this cumbersome; system administration usually must be performed by someone who is familiar with these files and utilities (compared to Windows or Mac OSX 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

OpenBSD

Pro

OpenBSD is the most secure version of Unix, using integrated cryptography and proactive security measures, including extensive security auditing
It is free, and supports a variety of hardware platforms.
It has a long, proven history of reliability

Con

Some users dislike the personality of the system's maintainer, Theo de Raadt
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

Mac OS/OS X Server

Pro

Like OSX, Mac OS X Server is based, in part, on BSD, with a "friendlier" GUI
The latest (Panther) mail server is Postfix
Other UNIX-based server tools are available
User management is based on NeXT's NetInfo but compatible with LDAP

Con

Command-line users may dislike the GUI management tools; though the command-line tools are available, it may be difficult to determine what actions GUI tools are taking
Macintosh and Windows NT/2K/XP users may dislike having to occasionally edit configuration files by hand

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 free software, many copies are freely redistributed outside the economic market.
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.
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.