Compare and Contrast LinuxChristopher VaranoProfessor: Patricia EntesariApril 12, 2014IntroductionLinux is a popular and widely used operating system and provides several options for use within enterprise organizations as both a server and workstation platform . Due to the open source nature of the operating system, there are several organizations that make a server platform and workstation available along with their own customizations as part of a specific distribution. To ensure the most appropriate and detailed evaluation these platforms are analyzed and presented so that their feasibility can be determined both for a full implementation and for specific requirements that have been identified. Three specific vendors have been identified, all of whom have extensive experience implementing Linux solutions and can also be termed as some of the leading names in the market. Offerings from each of these vendors in both server and workstation configurations will be evaluated in order to determine the most efficient and effective solution that could be implemented. Red Hat Linux In addition to various consumer offerings, Red Hat also produces an Enterprise Linux variant (RHEL ) and act as both a seller and distributor of the solution. The provision of an Enterprise platform specifically provides an element of security in terms of implementation since, although Linux is primarily seen as open source and user supported compared to traditional competing offerings such as Microsoft Windows, both the client and server platforms that are available with the RHEL solution they would have the option of paid premium support packages to provide tradit...... middle of paper ......ve to the different features and appearance of these applications, even if they can open Microsoft Office documents. This problem may be overcome through training and education programs within an organization, but these would add additional costs to large-scale Linux deployments. It can also be considered that an existing solution, such as Windows/Office, may be relatively expensive but is a known quantity in all respects. However, the ability to exploit additional production qualities across a wide range of hardware – including different processors and relatively low-end solutions – provides a compelling argument in favor of using Linux for new and emerging server requirements, along with the support model most appropriate payment to ensure that there are no problems with such implementation.