what the different between Linux and Microsoft?

3 Comments

1. ganja man says:

   9. January 2010 at 22:01

   Microsoft is a software company (well known producer of the commonly used Windows operating system) while Linux is the Kernel of a Unix-Like Operating System. The Kernel is the core of the OS and is whats first loaded at boot. The complete OS (called GNU/Linux) consists of the kernel and userspace applications. They are licensed under the GNU Public License (GPL) or similar, they are free software (free like freedom, not like free beer) which means that the source code is open to the public, so everyone can change the program to his needs, or help improving it. This way much of this operating system was contributed by the community.
   Microsoft releases most of their software as closed source, all work on their software is paid work and they wanna keep it secret. No one may adapt it for their own needs, as he cannot see the source and its forbidden to reverse engineer it.
   Because of this, Linux runs on much more plattforms than Windows, and is more flexible.
2. nguyentunglam201 says:

   9. January 2010 at 22:01

   the biggest difference is Linux is free and Windows is not
3. ryan says:

   9. January 2010 at 22:01

   Wow, this could potentially be a very, very long answer. However, I’ll try to boil it down to its most basic element:

   Microsoft is a for profit company. It makes and sells software, such as Windows and Office, to make money. You usually buy their software in a store or indirectly when you purchase a new computer.

   Linux is not a company. Linux is the name of the operating system (comparable to Microsoft’s Windows). No one company makes Linux. The core of the Linux operating system is called the "kernel" (Microsoft has one too) and it is developed and maintained by volunteers. That’s right, volunteers that aren’t paid for their work spend time creating Linux. The companies you may have heard in the context of Linux like RedHat and Suse make money by taking the kernel that is freely available and packaging it in a manner that makes it easy to use and install – while also offering support if you need help. These companies are less software makers like Microsoft and more like software support and packaging companies. However, this is a very basic example – most of the Linux companies also have their development on top of the base operating system that provides a lot of value to the distribution.

   Linux also has some distributions (what the different versions of Linux are called) that are maintained solely by volunteers and are not sold but given away. Debian is a great Linux distribution that does this as are Ubuntu, Slackware, Gentoo etc… So, these are not Linux companies, but Linux communties as they do not exist to make money.

   In summary, Linux is a type of operating system developed by a volunteer community while Microsoft is its own company that makes and sells software including the Windows Operating system and the Office productivity suite.