Migrate to Linux. What's stopping you !!

Posted by Abhishek on October 12, 2024

Operating System Linux Salesforce Development Programming

I am not against Microsoft or Windows. It’s a great Operating System that works for everyone. As someone said, it just works and that’s what we need. I appreciate and respect that perspective. This article is not intended to brainwash/beg Windows users to use Linux but instead to highlight how Linux has matured over the years and why does it even make sense for you to try.

I have broken this article into 2 sections.

For your personal use, how well would Linux meet your needs.
For organizations, how beneficial would Linux be and is there a benefit in moving to Linux from proprietary OS.

How Linux benefits you personally?

Linux has matured over the years and the open source community has showered lots of love and effort into making it better to use. Various flavors/distros of Linux have come out to meet the needs of the general public. With a huge list of apps and softwares available via Software Center and now, the introduction of Flatpaks, the possibilities of doing anything & everything in Linux has become so easy.

Yes. You needed to know the terminal, basic commands and so on. They were mandatory to know in the past. But now, the evolution of Linux have made it easy to do everything via GUI. Even if you don’t know anything about terminal and commands, the open source community has so much of documentations and technology forums where you can find any command and use it. As of now, you can learn using Terminal as you go and it’s not a show stopper.

What are the most reliable Linux distros you can use?

These are not listed in any specific order.

Ubuntu (Debian based)
Linux Mint (Debian based)
Pop OS (Debian based)
Fedora (RPM based)
Zorin OS (Debian based)
RedHat (RPM based)
Debian (Debian based)

I have more love towards Pop OS. But let me say that any of the linux distros mentioned above are a good choice.

It is Debian based and has lots of community support.
It is built on the Ubuntu which is proven and tested.
Pop OS has an intuitive desktop manager called the “Cosmic” which is so easy to navigate around.
It comes with out of the box Flatpak support. So, finding an app in the Pop Shop (which is the Software Center of Pop OS) is a breeze. Every app that I have used is so stable and reliable.
It uses very less resources in your machine and thus so fast even with the basic configurations your desktop/laptop may have.
This operating system doesn’t track you. You have control over everything. This is what we call as having “Freedom”.
100% free for the Operating System and for all the apps you install from their Pop Shop.

Why should you consider migrating to Linux?

For freedom - Freedom from what? Freedom from proprietary softwares which track you and that take advantage of your privacy to make profit. Your privacy is not for sale.
For cost savings - Linux has matured over the years and this wonderful community will keep pushing their spirit of innovation even further. Linux has been open source and free for all these years. Why to pay for expensive operating systems, softwares and recurring subscriptions when you can run everything on 100% free base?
Every app is now available as a Web App - If you don’t have a flatpak or native Linux installer for a software, it is most likely that the product will have a Web version that can be run in a web browser. The world is betting every innovation to be supported for Web and Mobile. For example, Office 365, Microsoft Office suite of products, Google suite of productivity apps, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, LinkedIn, YouTube, WhatsApp, Github, you name it - all work in web browsers.
Less intensive on hardware resources - making it super fast in running apps, commands and scripts.
Full flexibility to customize - You can customize Linux’s shell, look and feel, install additional gnome shell extensions if you don’t like what comes vanilla out of the box.
No need of extra drivers - Gone are those days where drivers were needed for audio and video to work. Now, the most reputed Linux distros just work as soon as they are installed.
Frequent OS updates - Linux informs you via app notifications if updates are available. These updates are downloaded and installed so fast with some distros not even having the need to reboot.
Secure - Unlike Windows, Linux is very secure and less prone to malwares and cyber attacks. You know why? Because linux is open source. The community of developers, cyber securtity experts, testers evaluate it and contributes security patches constantly making it rock solid.
Hardware requirements are minimum - Unlike Windows which keeps increasing the hardware requirements when they release new versions, Linux just needs the most minimal hardware configurations and it doesn’t grow exponentially like Windows does.
Servers run Linux. It’s tried and tested - Almost every cloud provider and their data centers run Linux heavily to reduce cost and increase performance. With the advent of containerization using Docker and Kubernetes, it has easy to spin up containers in Linux and deploy our applications and network docker containers for application frontend & backend to communicate seamlessly. Simply put, if you develop in Linux, test it, package it and it runs, it would run anywhere.

Like we used to say Windows just works. Now, I can confidently say Linux just works and much better than Windows.

What do I do with my Linux distro?

My personal system has Pop OS installed and I do a lot of programming, writing blogs, youtube content, learning new technologies & managing study notes, contributing to open source projects and all my personal tasks so easily.

I personally use the following applications and these are too good from a productivity standpoint.

Browsers

Brave
Chrome
Firefox

Programming

VS Code (general IDE for programming all kinds of languages)
Postman (API development and testing)
drawio (for drawing technical diagrams)

Task Planning & TODO

Planify

Image Editing & Rendering

GIMP

Mail & Calendar

Thunderbird

Office Productivity

Libre Office

If you have specific needs or looking for an app/software to be used in Linux or any alternative for the same, check Flathub Repo. My favorite Linux advocate Derek Taylor (creator of the Youtube Channel DistroTube) said if you cannot find a software supported in Linux, then don’t use it, find an open source alternative. I love this statement and its truly empowering. Why should we switch to Windows or Mac because that app was only built for that OS? Why can’t organizations and product companies build for Linux too? If their justification is the market cap for Windows and Mac is higher than Linux, then better not to use that product.

I have used Linux as my daily driver for the last 8 years. Give Linux a try and I assure you, you will love it.

How Linux adoption would benefit organizations

Switching an organization’s workforce from the proprietary ecosystem (for example: Microsoft Windows) to Linux can offer significant cost savings in several areas, but the actual savings depend on various factors such as the scale of the organization, licensing requirements, and support needs. Here’s a breakdown of potential cost-saving areas:

1. Licensing Costs:

Microsoft Ecosystem: Most Microsoft products, including Windows, Office, and other enterprise tools (Exchange, SharePoint, etc.), require paid licenses. Enterprise-level licensing for Microsoft products can range from hundreds to thousands of dollars per user annually.
Linux Ecosystem: Linux distributions (such as Ubuntu, Fedora, RedHat) are typically free or have minimal costs associated with premium support. Open-source alternatives like LibreOffice can replace Microsoft Office, and many enterprise tools have free or open-source counterparts.
Savings: Depending on the organization’s size, this could result in savings of $100 - $300 per user per year, just in software licensing.

2. Reduced Hardware Costs:

Microsoft Ecosystem: Windows-based systems often require more robust hardware to operate efficiently, particularly with newer versions of Windows and Office.
Linux Ecosystem: Linux is known for being lightweight and efficient, allowing organizations to extend the lifecycle of older hardware. This means organizations could defer hardware refresh cycles, saving capital expenditure on new machines.
Savings: Delayed hardware upgrades could potentially save $500 - $1,000 per device over its lifecycle.

3. IT Support and Maintenance:

Microsoft Ecosystem: Organizations typically need to purchase expensive enterprise support contracts for ongoing maintenance, security updates, and technical support.
Linux Ecosystem: While Linux is generally more stable and secure, reducing maintenance needs, enterprises may still opt for paid support from vendors like Red Hat or Canonical (for Ubuntu). However, these costs tend to be lower than comparable Microsoft support contracts.
Savings: Support savings could range from 10-30% annually, depending on the level of support needed.

4. Software and Application Costs:

Microsoft Ecosystem: Many enterprise applications in the Microsoft ecosystem (e.g., Office 365, Dynamics, SharePoint) are subscription-based with recurring costs.
Linux Ecosystem: Open-source alternatives (e.g., LibreOffice, Thunderbird for email) are generally free or have lower costs compared to proprietary software.
Savings: Organizations could save $50 - $100 per user per year on software costs.

5. Security and Anti-Virus Software:

Microsoft Ecosystem: Microsoft systems are often targeted by malware and ransomware, leading to added costs for anti-virus software, monitoring, and security patches.
Linux Ecosystem: Linux is considered more secure due to its permission-based structure and lower market share, which makes it less of a target for cyberattacks. This can reduce the need for expensive security solutions.
Savings: Organizations can potentially save $20 - $50 per user per year on anti-virus and security software.

6. Cloud and Infrastructure Costs:

Microsoft Ecosystem: Organizations often use Microsoft Azure for cloud services, which can be costly depending on the number of virtual machines, data storage, and services consumed.
Linux Ecosystem: Linux is natively supported by almost all cloud providers (including AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure), and Linux-based virtual machines tend to have lower operational costs compared to Windows instances.
Savings: Cloud hosting costs for Linux can be 10-20% lower compared to Windows-based virtual machines.

7. Training and Transition Costs (Short-term increase, long-term savings):

Transitioning to Linux requires training for employees who are unfamiliar with the system. This could initially increase costs, but in the long term, organizations benefit from reduced dependency on proprietary software and vendor lock-in.
Savings: After the initial transition, organizations may save on renewal training and re-certification costs compared to the frequent updates in the Microsoft ecosystem.

Total Estimated Annual Savings (Per User):

This is more of a guestimate and would give you a rough idea of the potential range of savings you may achieve.

Licensing and Software: $150 - $400
Hardware: $100 - $200 (amortized over several years)
Support: $50 - $150
Security: $20 - $50
Cloud Costs: $50 - $100

Estimated Total Savings: $370 - $900 per user per year.

For a mid-sized organization with 1,000 users, this translates to potential annual savings of $370,000 - $900,000.

Companies embracing Linux

Co-founder and CEO of Zerodha, Nithin Kamath, said ‘almost the entire employee base uses Linux laptops,’ saved the day, while commenting on the Microsoft Windows outage that wreaked global havoc on July 19, 2024.
Lenovo is committed to providing our customers with information to assist in utilizing the Linux operating system on various personal computing systems.
System76 proudly engineers and manufactures premium Linux computers and keyboards at our factory in Denver, Colorado. Our user-driven products alongside Pop!_OS give creators, makers, and builders the means to bring forth the future.
Google uses gLinux which is a Debian based Linux distribution that is customized to the needs of the organization.
Facebook (Meta) - Engineers often use Linux as their preferred operating system, particularly those working on the backend infrastructure and development tools. The company’s massive data centers are also powered by Linux servers.
IBM - IBM has a long history of supporting Linux, particularly with its acquisition of Red Hat, a major Linux distribution provider. IBM actively encourages the use of Linux among its employees, especially in its enterprise solutions and cloud services. Many IBM teams, especially those in cloud computing and server management, prefer Linux-based systems.
Red Hat - Naturally, as a major Linux distribution company, Red Hat allows its employees to use Linux. In fact, Red Hat builds its entire business model around its Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) distribution. All Red Hat employees work within a Linux environment, making it a fundamental part of the company’s culture.
Twitter (X) - Twitter has long been a supporter of open-source technologies, including Linux. Many of its developers and engineers use Linux for backend operations, server management, and coding. Twitter’s infrastructure relies heavily on Linux servers for scalability and reliability.
Tesla - Tesla engineers and software developers, particularly those working on the autopilot, embedded systems, and AI, often use Linux due to its flexibility and strong support for development tools. Linux plays a role in Tesla’s backend infrastructure and autonomous driving technologies.
NASA - NASA uses Linux in its research labs and scientific computing environments. Many NASA engineers and scientists use Linux for its reliability in handling complex simulations and experiments. Linux is preferred for applications that require high-performance computing (HPC).
Netflix - Netflix runs its entire video streaming service infrastructure on FreeBSD (a Unix-like OS) and Linux servers. Many Netflix engineers and system administrators use Linux in their daily workflows. Netflix’s backend systems and content delivery networks (CDNs) run on Linux, making it integral to their operations.
LinkedIn - Owned by Microsoft but operating with its own infrastructure, LinkedIn’s backend systems run predominantly on Linux. Many of LinkedIn’s software engineers use Linux for developing and managing large-scale data systems.
Valve - Valve, a leading gaming company and owner of the Steam platform, supports Linux not only for its employees but also in its product offerings. Valve developed SteamOS, a Linux-based operating system for gaming. Valve’s development and engineering teams use Linux to support gaming on Linux platforms, especially with the Steam Deck.
HP (Hewlett-Packard) - HP allows its developers and IT teams to use Linux, particularly those working on hardware-related software development and server management. Many of HP’s enterprise-grade servers come with Linux support, and internal teams leverage this extensively.
Oracle - Oracle, a leader in database management systems and cloud services, supports the use of Linux for its employees. It also provides its own Linux distribution, Oracle Linux, used by many developers and engineers within the company. Oracle’s cloud infrastructure is built on Linux, and its database systems are widely deployed on Linux servers.
GitHub - GitHub, the popular code hosting platform acquired by Microsoft, operates its infrastructure on Linux. Most of its developers and engineers use Linux to manage services and develop open-source projects. GitHub’s backend runs predominantly on Linux servers, making it a core part of the organization.
Dropbox - Dropbox transitioned many of its servers from Amazon Web Services to an in-house infrastructure based on Linux. Engineers at Dropbox use Linux for development, infrastructure management, and scaling operations.
Samsung - Samsung developers, especially in its mobile division, use Linux for Android development.
Intel - Intel supports Linux use among its engineers, particularly those working on hardware and driver development.
NVIDIA - Many engineers at NVIDIA use Linux, especially for driver development and GPU-related projects.

As every organization build stronger, efficient systems around them, it is very important to select products, platforms and services which are available for all Operating Systems, accessible via Web and provide support & upgrades consistently. If organizations can truly evaluate their necessity and work their way towards adopting Linux, it would benefit their overall strategy, help their employees be more productive and help optimize cost for their customers.

Thanks for reading this post. Enjoy !!

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