1.4 Usability

Usability has often been stated as a problem for GNU/Linux for a long time. It has not been comparable to the ease of use of the MS/Windows system in terms of having a common desktop environment. As we demonstrate in this book though this issue has been well addressed and the time is now right for Debian GNU/Linux on the desktop.

Also, open source applications are often more efficient than closed source applications, because many eyes can review the code and identify improvements, rather than the very few eyes that can review closed source software. The Samba file serving system is faster serving Microsoft file systems than Microsoft’s own file servers. As of November 2005, 78% of the worlds super computers run GNU/Linux.

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