rms calls our attention to the problems of many current commercial ebook distribution models. Ebooks have many advantages compared to books but they also have many disadvantages. Yet, none of the disadvantages are somehow inherent in ebooks. (The link is a PDF.)

I train administrators every day. I often work with administrators who are moving from a Windows server background to Linux. One of the most often asked questions is, “Is there a graphical interface to administer the server with?”

In this article I will debate on several major advantages and disadvantages for using the command-line in Linux. When I think it's 'better' to use CLI, when not, and how can this can impact the work speed.

How would an “ordinary” student cope using a non-Windows environment for 48 hours? Would there be any particular advantages, or would he/she find more disadvantages than it’s worth for long term use?

Before we start our journey to Linux land there is one question you need to ask yourself: why do YOU want to switch from Windows to Linux? What do you expect Linux to achieve? You don't want to spend the time and effort learning about Linux just to realize that changing your operating system to Linux does not solve the problem you have or does not deliver the benefits you expected.

A recent Free Software Magazine article points out that using Linux protects you from potential governmental spying or hacking in two ways. First, Linux is open-source, so it would be extremely hard to inject a backdoor in to its code. Second, since Linux is far less commonly used than, say, Windows, a governmental organization is far less likely to target it.

One of the major disadvantages of Linux is that it won’t let you play most Windows games. On the other hand, lots of great free Linux games have been developed over the last couple of years. Here’s a list of some entertaining Linux games I’ve come across so far.

There are a number of popular choices for Linux enterprise level servers including CentOS, Ubuntu, Debian, Slackware and others including Red Hat Enterprise. What is important to recognize in this evaluation is that how you view advantages and disadvantages are dependent upon the expertise of your Linux administrators and the level of support you need to maintain your servers.

Ext4 is the latest in a long line of Linux® file systems, and it's likely to be as important and popular as its predecessors. As a Linux system administrator, you should be aware of the advantages, disadvantages, and basic steps for migrating to ext4.