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| Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash |
Linux
runs the cloud,
the Internet
and
supercomputers. Turns out that due to its free price, open nature, interoperability with
open standards, enterprise features and robust security, Linux could be a
great fit for your school, University or research lab.
Linux is free
One of the most important reasons to use Linux in education is its price: zero. Yes, Linux is free. As public debt grows, it won't be long until public institutions have to adapt to this new reality of budget reduction. Being free allows Linux to be a serious alternative in education as it's a solid, cost-effective and reliable alternative.Enterprise-Grade security
Since the how critical Linux is for the functioning of the internet today, there are lots of eyes on its security model. There are multiple reasons why Linux is way more secure than Macs and Windows, including its: open-source nature, open-collaboration model, built-in enterprise grade software, security-aware architecture, frequent updates, native disk-encryption and encrypted data at rest.
Open-source code
Due to its open nature, researches and hackers frequently inspect and crack
the code. When issues are found, they're reported and fixed by community. This
constant review and curation of software guarantees that your organization
will be getting software as secure as it can be.
Less viruses, less ransomware, less threats
Despite still being subject to viruses and ransomware, the previously mentioned features combined with a significant smaller percentage of threats of make Linux much safer than Windows and Macs (but not immune). And Linux also has anti-viruses if the system administrators need too.
Knowing that most students are not as tech-savvy, keeping your organization free from virtual threats will be less stressful with Linux as most ransomware target Windows and Macs.
Linux will feel familiar
Linux will feel familiar for Windows and Mac users. Most distributions will either use GNOME and KDE, the most popular desktop environments which contain applications for everything you'd expect: file managers, contacts, calendars, email, communication tools, etc. For example, GNOME, the standard for most distributions looks like this:
Huge selection of applications
Linux also supports your favorite browsers such as Google Chrome, Brave and Firefox and runs most cloud services without issues. On the educational side, Linux comes with fantastic tools such as the Scratch tool created by MIT:
Linux is reliable
Remember this? You'll probably not miss that. Using Linux will be a way more stable experience. It's yet another reason why evelopers prefer using Linux. Your system will rarely crash and the tools you'll use will make your computer way more stable than Windows or Mac equivalents.
Good for old hardware
Linux is also excellent for old hardware as it can be configured with lighter tools that utilize less resources. Most distributions (such as Fedora LXDE shown below) release alternative lightweight versions so you'll just need a simple install to get these systems optimized for lower-end hardware.
Reliable updates
We've seen a lot of mistakes recently made by either Microsoft and Apple with their Windows and Mac operating systems. Updates on Linux are not only reliable but are more frequent than anything you'd get on those systems. You can choose between a long term support (LTS) system which provides up to 10 years of support or go with a more dynamic model that updates once or twice a week, every 6 months for a new releases.
Frequent/Automatic updates
Linux distributions are frequently updated meaning that students will be getting the latest security, software and kernel fixes automatically. These are usually the holes crackers explore to target organizations. Getting updates quickly is also important to mitigate zero-days.Custom repositories
With Linux, organization can easily setup their own custom repositories allowing/limiting which software can be installed on their Linux workstations.
Linux is customizable
If just setting up a custom repository isn't enough, organizations can benefit from Linux's fantastic array of customization options allowing them to customize everything including:- Desktop Managers: most common are GNOME, KDE, XFCE, LXQT and LXDE.
- Login Managers: how to login in your system.
- Desktop themes: themes, colors, etc.
- Fonts: customize your fonts, sizes, etc.
- Systems and Services: your system will have an endless list of services to choose from.
- Kernel: even the kernel, the main process of your system can be customized.
Free Office Tools
Linux also offers many alternatives to Microsoft's Office proprietary suite on Linux including LibreOffice, OpenOffice, WPS and Calligra Suite. You'll probably not miss Word and Excel.
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| Source: linuxuprising.com |
Native disk-encryption
Most distributions offer native disk encryption during the installation.
Native disk-encryption is essential today as students frequently transport
their devices out of the company's secured space. If lost or stolen, the only
way to access the data would be by entering the encryption password.
Conclusion
On this post we discussed why Linux is perfect for Education. Due to its free price, open nature, interoperability with open standards and enterprise features, Linux could be a great fit for your school, University or research lab. We hope you learned something today and are excited to bring Linux to the attention of your organization.See Also
- Why use Linux
- What's a Linux distribution
- Why is Linux free
- Why Linux is safer than Windows and MacOS
- Why developers love Linux
- Why Linux is perfect for web developers
- Why Linux is perfect for small companies and small organizations
- Why Linux is perfect for Governments and public institutions
- How to become an open-source contributor
- What is Open-Source?
