Technical Thoughts and Reflections

I have been thinking about operating systems. How one operating system can change the landscape of computing field? Before Linux came into picture, there was basically only Microsoft with its primitive operating systems, MS-DOS and Windows, and was completely dominating the personal computer market. It still is dominating, but Linux with zealous contributions from fans around the world, is likely to chip away a substantial portion of that predominantly Microsoft share in the PC market.

Actually I have recently started using Linux for some of my desktop as well as programming and research purposes, and I am beginning to understand why a Linux user actually hates Microsoft and its dominating policies. In Linux, and in open source, world, everything is open. There is nothing called security by hiding. Anybody who is willing can take a look at the actual source code, modify it, customized it according to its needs, and even sell it. Only catch is the source code must remain open again. Free source doesn't necessary mean, without any cost. As Richard Stallman had said, 'Free as in freedom'. Freedom to play around with the software and come up with something new.

Initial transition to Linux was slightly overwhelming with the options available to customize the system, and for one time, I felt like succumbing back to the 'no option' option of Microsoft. Slowly, I am finally beginning to understand the inner workings of the system, how everything fits together like a nicely knit pattern. Anything can be plugged out, new modules can be plugged in, and almost everything is customizable. I have been reading that Linux has less spyware and virii than Microsoft, and that should obviously be true, because with almost non-existant bug in the Linux kernel, crackers, as those who write such malware are called, have very little exploit in Linux. As with less eye-balls to expend on Microsoft systems, it achieves the security it achieves mostly by means of secrecy. No doubt after Windows NT, Microsoft operating systems had been more secure and versatile, a software with millions of lines of code is bound have thousands of bugs.

It has been proven that higher secrecy doesn't result better security, especially in computer software, as they are inherently very buggy entities, and without enough 'eye-balls', it is really very hard to ferret many bugs out. For example, this Mozilla's Firefox internet browser, an open-source software, has recently announced that there had been a bug in the software and they released new version with that bug fixed. That bug was uncovered after so many developers around the world had scrutinized the source code for such a long time.

I have a gut feeling that this torrent of onslaught from open source community, Google dominating the search, Internet as well as Desktop, market, and Firefox chipping away some of the browser market share from the Internet Explorer, in coming four-five years, Microsoft won't be same anymore.