amosf |
07-27-2004 02:14 AM |
Until you have used linux it's a little hard to believe just how much it can be customized. I'm not sure how long you have been around, but a comparison might be to DOS where DOS runs on the PC and you could load win3.1 or GEM onto it - which were totally different.
Linux is just the DOS-like core, only much more powerful. On top of that runs the window environment and on top of that the window manager or desktop environment. You have windows like systems like KDE or Gnome, and then others that work totally differently like windowmaker or enlightenment. Each of these may have dozens of themes so the look is very customizeable, as is the feel and how windows behave and what clicks and button do what. So the interface is very customizeable and that part is relatively easy.
But linux is also very customizable under the hood as well. You can install what packages you want or leave out what you want. The deeper you go the more you will need to know, of course, but you can go right to the core and recompile the linux kernel to suit your needs if you want, or need to run particular software that might be a bit difficult. With kernel compiling it can mean that the core of your OS can be updated every month if you are particularly worried about security, or just updated when you need a particular feature. Actually my old printer server is still running a 2.2 kernel, while this box has the latest stable release of 2.6.7
On thing to note, the linux world is a big place and you will never know it all. There's always more to learn or try...
|