Why Linux?

Why DevOps and Cloud world love Linux?

Why Linux?

Have you heard that Linux is now on MARS?

The answer is a BIG YES! In Feb 2021 there was a news that NASA’s Perseverance rover which landed on Mars, first time ever brought the Linux operating system to the Red Planet.

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(PC: NASA)

More then 71% of smartphones worldwide are running Android operating system (which is based on a modified version of the Linux kernel).

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Every Supercomputer Runs On Linux! Yes. Linux runs on all 500 of the world’s fastest supercomputers. It's a default choice when it comes to Supercomputers.

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Not just the above, Cars, Watches, Stock Exchanges, companies like Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, Google, IBM, NASA, Robots, Submarines, Bullet trains, Home Appliances, Home Desktops, Enterprise Servers etc. everyone uses Linux.

Linux is everywhere!

But why everyone is using it?

Before highlighting Linux's merits I would like to thank the guy Linus Torvalds a then-student at the University of Helsinki who created Linux Kernel way back in 1991 and made it available to the world for free.

There are many reasons why Linux is so popular among different fields. Here are few -

  • It's FREE - There is no cost for using Linux OS aka Kernel (Desktop or Server distro) and related applications.

  • It's Open Source - Yes! you can see the Linux kernel source code and modify it as per your requirements. It's easy to locate bugs, explore vulnerabilities etc.

  • It's Reliable - You won't have to reboot it frequently, not sluggish in nature at all. Other Operating systems such as Windows requires a reboot almost after every software update, uninstallations etc.

  • It's Secure - The way this operating system has been built makes it secure by design. Be it Access controls, Package installations, Process management. The malicious attachments can't be executed as they could have on Windows. The open source nature of Linux makes this possible as so many reviewers are there to find and fix the bugs for you.

  • It Performs better - Linux based system's performance is always better than Windows OS'es because here you have complete control over system or application's configuration files which you can tune as per requirements. You have better control over process management than any other OS'es.

  • More choices - You can't beat Linux here. There are over 600 Linux distros and about 500 in active development. You can chose one as per your requirements.

  • Developers Friend - Developers love Linux. It supports almost all the major programming languages you can think of. A rich set of native libraries, A powerful and far better Linux terminal than Windows CLI.

Is Linux a Kernel or Operating System ?

This is one of the frequently asked question in interviews.

"Linux by design is a Kernel not an Operating System."

Now you will ask what is a Kernel?

It is the primary part of the operating system. When a system gets booted, Kernel is the first part of the OS which gets loaded into the RAM for your system to start working. It is the core interface between a computer's hardware and its processes aka applications to use the hardware.

What an Operating system provides?

An OS includes a bundle of programs, tools, and services (like a desktop, clock, an application menu, and so on). It includes the Kernel as well as part of it.

There are many companies like Red Hat , Canonical , SuSE which provides support for their customized Linux Kernel based operating systems.

Linux in DevOps and Cloud

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Linux is the perfect choice when you need to run highly available, reliable, and critical workloads in a cloud computing environment. A wide support to devices, varied use cases and systems.

In enterprises both on in-house servers and cloud servers are running Linux. At the same time Windows Server use is declining continuously.

DevOps, Cloud and Linux all three goes hand in hand. As they all are focused on two major aspects -

  • Customization -> As you have more freedom and control over Operating system functionality and can tune it accordingly it becomes the preferred choice for DevOps and to all Cloud providers.

  • Scalability -> Linux Operating system can accommodate larger workloads without hampering the system performance beyond acceptable levels. As it successfully supports the concepts such as clustering, multiprocessing, and load balancing. The basic functionality remains same (such as terminal, tools, configuration, automation, code-compatibility) irrespective of platforms where you are using it. It can can process the huge amounts of memory as well.

  • Containerization -> Linux laid the foundation of the modern container platform rise. All the major concepts of container ecosystem such as packaging and orchestration relies on Linux namespace and isolation mechanisms in order to operate.

Along with this of course all the other reasons I've mentioned above in the article.

BTW Microsoft too uses Linux! Yes! many of you will be surprised to know the fact that even Microsoft – a company which never believed in Open Source and ignored Linux for years saying it is a Cancer is now openly stands in support of this and are a proud Open Source contributors.

According to a study about 40 percent of the virtual machines that Microsoft Azure uses are Linux-based.

"We recognized open source is something that every developer can benefit from. It's not nice, it's essential. It's not just code, it's community." Indeed, Guthrie then claimed, "We're now the largest open-source project supporter in the world." --Scott Guthrie, Microsoft's executive VP.

That speak volumes.

That's all for now. This series will be beneficial for anyone who wants to learn Linux from scratch or to build upon a skill. We will be focusing on core Linux concepts.

Hope you like the article. Stay Tuned for more.

Thank you. Happy learning!

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