Linux and Free Software must be a marketer’s nightmare, Linux is perceived to be
an Operating System used only by highly technical people, who hardly ever leave

their homes or offices. Worse, the people who develop Linux call themselves
hackers, so how do you sell a product to companies when people think that only
‘uber’-geeks can use it, and that they use it to break into bank accounts via the
Internet?20The truth of the matter is that home users and more importantly CEO’s
(Chief Executive Officer) and CTO’s (Chief Technology Officers) have the
perception that Linux is difficult to use and that would not be possible to use it in
their environment.
When you examine how Microsoft has marketed their products and compare that to
the way Linux as been marketed to the world, one begins to understand why
Windows is the Operating System of choice, instead of Linux.
Traditionally Linux has been marketed to the business world, from the bottom up.
Since it was only the technical people who knew about Linux, and how to use it,
they were the people telling their bosses about how stable and cost-effective it is
compared to the products offered by Sun, IBM or Microsoft. Unfortunately few
technically minded people are also good businessmen, or know how to communicate
their ideas to people who have the power to make decisions that will affect the
company.
 Microsoft, arguably the most successful software company around today, has
marketed their products to the Chief Executive Officers, Chief Technology Officers
and Chief Financial Officers. Not to the people who would use it, but rather the
people who may not necessarily have the knowledge required to make a sound
technical decision, but the people who are able to make financial decisions.
When deciding whether or not to use Linux in a business environment, one needs to
make a distinction between an Operating System for a server, and an Operating
System for a desktop. Whilst all Linux proponents would agree that it is very well
suited to the server environment, some would say that when it comes to desktop
systems, meant to be used as workstations, Linux may not yet be polished enough to
replace Microsoft’s products. Though, recent versions from SUSE and Red Hat are
very close to being perfect for the desktop.
For Linux to gain more acceptance in the Business world, it will need to be marketed
in the correct way.
CEO’s would need to be made aware of why Linux is a viable option to use in the
business environment.

Every year millions of dollars are lost worldwide by damage caused by Trojans,
worms and viruses that affect Microsoft products. These programs exploit features in
Microsoft that (it seems) Microsoft is unwilling to fix, since it would mean that
Microsoft loses some of its ease of use. In Linux a much stricter security policy is
implemented than on Microsoft Windows. In Linux the root user needs to allow any
and all programs that want to run on the system. This can only be done by the root
user (the administrator of a Linux machine).
In Microsoft systems, programs are allowed to run without any input from the user.
In other words a malicious program can install itself on a Microsoft system, and run
itself without the user of that system even knowing about it.
 

Interesting but important information about Linux
An operating system is composed of two major parts; these parts are known as the
“kernel” and the “userland”.
The kernel is responsible for handling communication between the physical
hardware and the software running on the machine.
The “userland” is comprised of system utilities and user applications. These include
editors, compilers and server daemons. System utilities allowing you to maintain,
monitor and even upgrade your system are also included.
The phrase “Linux operating system” is a misnomer, as Linux is a kernel, and
requires additional software in order to make it an operating system.
A Linux distribution is comprised of the Linux kernel, and a collection of “userland”
software.