11 Things that college students don’t know about Linux

asking if Linux is good for college students is a frequent question. But what makes Linux good and different from other operating systems?

in this article, we’re going to discover the 7 facts that college students don’t know about Linux.

linux is good fro programing

According to Hostingtribunal, more than 50% of professional developers are using Linux today, they reported that using Linux is giving a better programing experience and spending less time and effort deployed.

80% of Linux users say Linux is good and prefer to stay working with it. As a result, more than 2.5 million developers are using Linux, while 2 million software developers prefer it over the other operating systems.

professional developers and college students especially computer science filed prefer to use Linux for these 8 following reasons:

  • security
  • is more fluent “you can install programs will a simple command”
  • the programmer doesn’t have to reboot their computers
  • it has powerful programming tools
  • it has is powerful to automate tasks
  • high performance
  • good guidance through error explanations
  • customization
  • improve their programming abilities

Linux is the first OS for embedded system engineering

According to our article “Embedded systems without a Master(9 resources)” we’ve seen that Linux is the first operating system used in embedded systems. More than 70% of users prefer to choose Linux over other operating systems like windows or other ones.

If we compare Linux to windows we find that windows are used only in 20% of embedded system applications, while 70% in Linux. That is to say, Linux is more popular 3 times more than windows OS.

if you are a college student and don’t know about embedded systems you can watch this video.

college students can make huge and biggest embedded programs using Linux and raspberry pi. The raspberry pi is a popular electronic device that can allow users to make professional IT projects with beginning knowledge.

According to raspberry pi statistics more than 37.4 million boards sold until today. Raspberry pi as the ultimate tool that helps embedded college students to learn this industry by using Linux.

you could watch this video below to know more about raspberry pi and Linux.

Is an open-source operating system

According to the article” Why Microsoft is not used for math? (8 important keys)”, Linux is the third most popular operating system after windows and mac. 1.25 million users are adopting Linux in their tasks.

mac and windows were invented in 1985 while Linux came afterwords in 1990, regarding the Microsoft domination Linux is growing every year due it special options that we can’t find in mac or windows.

Linux is open source meaning if you are a college student, developer, or normal user you can customize it as you want. There is no limitation, you can do whatever you want.

were going to give the 5 interesting examples about the open-source Linux options:

  • Students can study how the program is made
  • students can share the program codes
  • you could use the software like you want without restrictions
  • can be enhanced by the huge community that get access to it
  • avoid the high priced software

linux has more than 300 distributions

currently, Linux has more than 300 distributions that can replace windows or mac, each one has special characteristics But we will list the 6 famous distributions used by college students and categorize them by similarity:

linux distribution

User numebrs in US

similar or close to 

Ubuntu   

mac

Pop!_OS, for stem studetns

 no aviable data 

windows

Elementary OS

mac

openSUSE

windows

Fedora

android

Vanilla Arch

around 1 million

mac

ubuntu is a famous distro for students or beginners because it is the oldest one. It has been invented in 2004 while others have recently appeared in these last few years.

In addition, if you look at Fedora, Elementary or Open sus all are based on ubuntu distribution. So this is what made ubuntu the most popular Linux distribution among the 300 one’s today.

Microsoft use linux

According to cybersecurity Microsoft Microsoft Corporation has announced that it will be using Linux OS instead of Windows 10 for IoT security and Connectivity to Multiple Cloud environments.

Microsoft tends to approach more to Linux due to its advantages, you could watch this video to know more about it.

linux is more secure

According to Techjury on Every 39 seconds, there is a new attack somewhere on the Web. That is to say 2,244 attacks on the internet every day. It is equivalent to 819 000 so it is close to 1milion electronic attacks per year.

the number of web attacks is increasing by 17% each year, which makes us to predicted that the number of attacks next year will cross the 1 million mark.

Linux is the first secure operating system in the world, that is to say, is more secure than windows or mac. were going to list the 3 major reasons why Linux resistant against cybersecurity attacks than any other existent operating system.

  • hacker don’t make viruses for Linux
  • open-source
  • the execution Linux methodology

===>hackers don’t make viruses for Linux:

Linux operation system is only covering 2% of market share, that is to say, Microsoft is dominating the market industries by 90%. while mac and Linux have only 10% of the market share together.

Linux has 2 % and mac operating system has 8%, almost most companies today are using Microsoft. hackers are driven by money so it is not logical to work hard for creating viruses for a fewer portion of users.

===> Linux is open source:

It is very difficult to include a virus in Linux directories, in addition, most viruses are getting transferred through download from strange websites.

with Linux you download directly from official directories, these directories are open source. So if someone succeeds to put a virus on these directories surely someone will notice that. Linux has 100 of thousands of contributors so it is impossible to skip them all.

===> the execution Linux methodology:

Linux has a different methodology of running, it is not like something that would run in the background without being aware of it. This happens in windows many applications run automatically in the background.

Linux has file permission that is to say if you don’t command or get permission to a file or program running it won’t do that by itself.

Linux has the best community

There are 3 to 3.5 billion users of Linux so there is no doubt that the Linux community is big and growing every day. if we gather the total number of the famous Linux community we reach more than 3 million users today.

we listed only 3 famous Linux communities, but in fact, there are dozens of other crowded communities that you could read about in this article. As an approximation, we can estimate that community Linux is reaching 4 million users for the big picture.

college student don’t have to reboot their linux OS like MS

As a Linux user, you don’t have to reboot your computer, some student has used their computers for more than 1000 days without rebooting them at all. That is to say 3 years free of the headaches computer message like in windows.

you could work comfortably without having any disturbance or being afraid to stick in upgrading messages like this image below.

The worst thing that could happen for a college student is some critical times, where you have homework and you are under pressure. But you don’t have any solution you have to wait until this thing finishes to access your files.

portability

The best thing about Linux is you can run a whole system operator from 2GB flash USB memory, which is impossible to do with windows. For college students who love to work in Windows and Linux, this is the best option.

They can download the Linux version on USB and use the operating system when they want without installing anything on their computers. Linux allows students to have their open-source and portable operating system available where they want or where they go.

college student don’t have to care anymore about dirvers

with Linux there isn’t any more a problem with drivers, the Linux system is made for hardware. In other words, it is so close to hardware in a way that doesn’t require drivers.

This helps a college student to prevent a lot of drivers’ compatibilities problems, like sound or image troubles.

99.6% of super computers are working with linux

the top 500 supercomputers around the world are using Linux operating system. According to itsfoss 498 of 500 supercomputers are using Linux as an operating system.

Linux is ruling the supercomputer world this indicates the importance and highly promising performance that can provide.

China and the united state have 339 supercomputers which represent 67% of the global supercomputer around the world. you could watch this graph below

CHINA has in the first place with 226 supercomputers, it has a double than the US which means 113. Japan comes in second place with 29 supercomputers while France has 19.

Conclusion

Linux is a future operating system that can replace the current operating system today, it is just a question time.

yassin.ajanif

Yassin ajanif is a physics graduate and electromechanical engineer width more than 5 years in the field. My goal and my team are to share our experience to help you succeed in your career as a stem major. we talk about all tips, problems, and struggle STEM students face in their career and how to overcome them.