The myth of the thousand updates for Linux, debunked
One big supermarket of applications
Windows update updates Windows (and Office). Your antivirus updater updates the antivirus. How many administration tasks does it take before you go insane?
On Linux, you get one screen. One place to look for. That’s only one.
It updates the entire collection of applications, usually hours or days after they have been released. What’s more: it’s customary for that same screen to offer tens of thousands of applications for you to try out and install — just a few clicks of the mouse, and your favorite app is downloaded and installed after a few minutes.
For free.
In fact, modern update systems for Linux are so powerful, that they can migrate your entire Linux setup to an altogether new version, straight from the Internet, nary a single reboot required.
End-to-end package management and system integrity
When was the last time you purged an application from a Windows system?
Despite the wide availability of “installers” under Windows, there still isn’t a package management system. Applications are free to dump crap everywhere they have write access to (and they usually do). When you uninstall them, they reguarly leave Registry settings there. You can’t ask the system to tell you which files a particular application installed (at most, you might look under the Program Files folder, but that’s just the beginning of the story).
None of this happens on modern Linux (unless you have installed software by compiling from source). The package manager can and will tell you:
- if a file from a program has been modified or corrupted,
- if its configuration has been touched, or
- if its integrity has been compromised.
After you wipe a package, all of its files (which were properly tracked from the start) will be dead and gone. Complete end-to-end system integrity.So the next time you’re staring at an odd file in the Windows SYSTEM directory, or a DLL conflict, you’ll be wishing you had Linux’s advanced automatic package management tools.
Conclusion
So, in summary, yes, the pace of updates in the Linux world is faster. Combine that with the facts I just presented, and the corollaries are:
- When you issue an update, you’re getting the best of both worlds: security and new, fresh stuff to use.
- You can install new and exciting things, and they will be duly upgraded in the next course of updates.
Compare that to the puny proprietary alternatives. When was the last time you used your system’s update tool to get the latest version of Oracle or Photoshop (for free)? Maybe a bump from Office 2003 to Office 2007?
Not a chance, dude. Stop buying marketeer hogwash and get with the program already.
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October 23rd, 2007 at 0:21
Nice distro-neutral explanation of the benefits of a Linux package handler. I think the Microsoft boys are beginning to wither under our escalating broad-front attacks. I’ve noticed their return fire is becoming more and more defensive. This is odd when you consider that they hold the high ground with “95%” of the desktops. They sound worried. I would be worried too if I were them, Vista was supposed to be the “Great White Hope”. Instead it’s turned out to be an embarrassment.
October 23rd, 2007 at 10:30
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October 24th, 2007 at 2:59
This article is very true. It is amazing how I try to explain this to some Windows users and they are completely blown away by the idea that all applications are updated and it is all available for free. The issue is not that Linux is less superior to Microsoft Windows, it is that the mindset has been to purchase software at a store on a disk and put it in your CD-Rom. I tried to explain the Linux way to my sister and she just couldn’t believe that so much software was available for free. This just goes to show how much *nix was designed to be on a network. Some people just choose to live in ignorance. The only reason I would want more Linux users is to gain the respect from hardware vendors and therefore better hardware support.