About Linux, it is often said that 'everything is a file.' This means kernel and system parameters, device interfaces, etc. are accessible as text files. For example, one can enable packet forwarding in the kernel by editing the 'file' /proc/sys/net/ipv4/ip_forward. Though this is a system kernel parameter, it is read and manipulated just as if it were a text file.
Personally, I find configuration of Linux much easier than that of
Windows. In addtion to the system parameters in /proc, Linux systems
store application configuration information in one of two places.
System wide configuration (that applies to all users) is stored in
the /etc directory; per user configuration settings are stored in
the user's home directory. A text editor is all that is needed to
edit Linux configuration files (though graphical configuration tools
do exist) and the settings in the various configuration files tend
to make sense once one reads the file (or documentation). For example,
to configure the Samba SMB server to act as a domain controller, one
needs the line (among others)
Domain Master = yes
in the Samba configuration file. This is pretty clear, and the setting
is right where one would expect: in the file for the SMB server called
smb.conf.
This is in direct contrast to the Windows configuration system. Configuration
settings in Windows are done either using graphical tools (such as
through Control Panel) or by editing the Registry directly (which
is very error prone). To illustrate just how confusing Windows configuration
can be, consider this example. The author recently had the opportunity
to set up numerous Windows XP computers for domain membership and
as IPSec VPN clients. Several of the relevant Windows settings contain
double (or triple) negatives with the options in ``enable'' or
``disable'' format. For example, one setting was
Disable machine account password changes, Enable or Disable
Setting this to 'Disable' means that machine account password changes
are enabled. How's that for a mental gyration to perform at 3:00 am
while configuring a system during 'off peak' time to be ready for
the next normal business day? Another is the Disable Last Accessed
setting for performance tuning the file system; one needs to set this
to ``0'', meaning ``Don't Disable.'' To me, at least, it is
quite clear why Windows is difficult to configure properly for either
proper operation or for security.