[ale] Linux the $400 Operating System

[ChangingLINKS.com]

For over a half decade, a new Unix variant offers users more speed, stability 
and security than MicroSoft Windows. The variant's name is Linux. Currently 
Linux has grown into an operating system that comes with thousands of free 
programs and an install (with all it's upgrades) can use 6-8 times more space 
than Windows 98.

Most people believe that since it's beginning's, Linux has been "free," at 
least insofar as being able to download and use the operating system on a 
daily basis. However, what many users are finding, is that there are costs 
that can be incurred after committing to the operating system.

"In the beginning, I tried to fully install Linux - and just couldn't. I ended 
up paying a company called "Onyx" $90 to install it for me - and they refused 
to help with data encryption or playing DVDs," a spokesman from 
ChangingLINKS.com. He went on to say, "As time went on, I shelled out other 
varying amounts of cash to "Linux gurus" in an effort to learn how to use the 
operating system better."

In all fairness, he did mention that he got lots of help from the Linux 
community - including encoding a video tape for playback on a CD which would 
have cost a couple hundred dollars to create using a graphics company. Still 
on the downside, is the countless hours spent trying to understand various 
programs and features. "You come across some topics, like security - and it 
seems like there is only one or two guys that can help. In windows encrypting 
a filesystem 'on the fly' and using it daily is easy. My data is still 
unencrypted to this day," the spokesman said.

But what of the price tag that entitles this article? It is spent on data 
loss. After calling around to various data recovery companies, the minimum 
estimate for recovering data for Linux was $400. The price includes a 
standard diagnostic charge. In Windows, data recovery is relatively easy. 
There are programs like "Recover" and "Winhex" that will undelete your data 
with a few simple clicks. Don't make the same mistake with Linux though- it 
could cost you hundreds, especially if you are using the "ext3" filesystem.

"In my 12 years of using Windows, I have never lost a 100,000 byte file - and 
my first Windows box was was installed (and reinstalled) on a computer with a 
defective hard drive. For years, each time I booted the compter, some of the 
hard drive medium would be permanently damaged and unusable. But, I still 
never lost mor than a screenfull of data." 

The spokesman was using Worker on Linux, and accidentally deleted an directory 
tree. Next, he spent day and night trying to learn how to undelete the data 
from the ext3 partition, and is currently looking a Windows solutions to 
recover the data. "I'm just hoping that Windows can bail me out, because I 
have not been able to understand the results from the Linux based tools. For 
data recovery and encryption, Windows is simply the way to go."

So before downloading your next distro or using programs that automate 
deletion of files on Linux, at least be careful. The mantra that you will 
hear from the Linux community is "restore from your backup" but that is 
useless when you do 8 hours of work - and your back up was not sceduled until 
12 hours have elapsed.

All in all, the real Losers (of data) are the Lusers that end up having to 
spend $400 to get their data back. In some cases the only "freedom" about 
Linux provides your computer is "freedom from important data."

staff writer
-- 
Wishing you Happiness, Joy and Laughter,
Drew
http://www.ChangingLINKS.com

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