Advantages of Linux
Why would you choose Linux over UNIX? As already mentioned, Linux is free. Like UNIX, it is very powerful and is a real operating system. Also, it is fairly small compared to other UNIX operating systems, although to be honest, some versions of BSD UNIX, such as OpenBSD, can be shoehorned onto a 60MB filesystem. Many commercial UNIX operating systems require 500MB or more, whereas some versions of Linux, such as the embedded uCLinux, can be run on as little as 2MB of file space and 2MB of RAM. You can even run Linux from a floppy disk!
Realistically, you will want room for development tools, data, and so on, which can take up 500MB or more, and your RAM should be 32–64MB (although the more, the merrier!). See Chapter 2, "Installation ...
Get Red Hat® Linux® 7 Unleashed now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
