Does Windows really have a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) than GNU/Linux?
There are some indisputable facts about both operating systems that can help you decide this matter for yourself. To begin with, GNU/Linux is either free or cheaper than Windows XP for desktop use. Secondly, the Linux kernel and the GNU utilities and tools have gone through more extensive security auditing and they have a far larger development team than Windows XP has. It’s harder to write and propagate viruses for GNU/Linux than it is for Windows XP, and it is not susceptible to the thousands of Windows-based viruses on the Internet. On the server side, Netcraft says that GNU/Linux consistently has higher uptimes than Windows operating systems. So in short, GNU/Linux is cheaper, safer, and more reliable. Where GNU/Linux can fall behind is in software support. While it will support MS Office as mentioned above, it won’t support some other types of Windows programs. If your business depends on proprietary Windows-based software that was written specifically for your company (or for a s
