27 Good Reasons to Love Linux

[zridling]

[attach]

[parkint]

Right on.  Thanks for sharing.

[nite_monkey]

If I could get all my windows only programs to work under wine, I would remove my 7 partition, and just run Ubuntu on my laptop. (I really like to no more cost part, and no more activation)

[f0dder]

"Forget about viruses" - because the OS has small marketshare. It's not like there hasn't been enough privilege escalation and remote root holes.

"Linux: no more pirates but legality" - yeah, sure. But where's the games? And you can't really compare gimp to photoshop, or blender to the bigger suites... et cetera.

"Windows get slower day after day, not Linux!" - same old unsubstantiated FUD.

"Forget disk fragmentation" - bullshit. There's simply no filesystem that doesn't eventually suffer from fragmentation. At least on Windows, there's a bunch of different defragmenters available... for linux, the typical advice is to always keep 20% disk space free... or copying all files to another partition, wiping the fragmented partition, and copying the files back. Also, it's a lame attempt at explaining filesystem fragmentation.

"Immediate support, free and unlimited" - ah, yes. "RTFM NOOB" and "you've got the source, fix it yourself". Wonderful support ^____________^

[Josh]

I was going to comment on the support, viruses and slower day after day comments but figured I would wait for f0dder. I knew he wouldn't be able to resist this just like I cannot.

The viruses comment might very well be true but which is worse, a virus which damages your data or a root exploit which exposes all of your data to a third party, allows them to control the system, and allows access to any computer on the network which this system/user has access to? I see patches day after day for the thousands of tools and binaries on a standard Linux installation and most of them are to fix security holes.

No more pirates but legality? Really? Linux does not use commercial software? Many Linux users will not touch the commercial software, tis true, but it still exists and I do see it listed on many torrent sites and piracy channels.

Support is a sore subject for me. Trying to learn Linux, I had hoped I could use various forums or IRC support channels to learn the OS and figure out what I was doing wrong. When I attempted to install my 5 year old wifi-G card, I was told to install ndiswrapper and then rtfm on how to configure it with my drivers. I was eventually kicked and banned from a support channel because I made a comment about suggesting I read the manual for a tool they suggested when they started the conversation. Yes, doing something for one's self is the best way to learn, but when it's been done thousands of times over, why spend the time googling when someone very well might already have that answer?

[MilesAhead]

...

Support is a sore subject for me. Trying to learn Linux, I had hoped I could use various forums or IRC support channels to learn the OS and figure out what I was doing wrong.
...

Things have changed a bit since I was messing with Linux.  But I did have best luck asking for help on the usenet groups. I did notice a feeling of "I spent 3 months to get it to work so why should I just hand it to you?" on some of the groups.  But usually if you showed you were trying to do what you could to get there, you would get some pointers which direction to pursue.  Definitely not the type of hand-holding common on Windows groups.

I must have had a masochistic streak because I kept messing with Slackware distros.
I'm glad I did it but I have no real desire to go back.  I'm just too entrenched in Window type editors.  I have to think too much about how I'm doing stuff rather than what I'm trying to do. Looking through the help to find out how to delete a line or some other mundane thing every couple of minutes doesn't help.  If I started with Linux things would be different.  But going from Dos 3.1 on up though all Dos/Windows/OS2 based stuff, it's just too ingrained.

edit: btw I did try all the "Windows" style editors available at the time. The ones that come with the word processor packages, kate I guess, I didn't find appealing.  There was one decent one but I'll be damned if I can remember the name of it. The key bindings were pretty close to Windows default.. but that had its quirks.  The only one totally transparent for me was kylix ide editor.  But that's a lot to bring up just to edit a file.  Of course I leaned enough console based editors to do the scripts.  One thing I think is somewhat self-defeating, is they try to give you little applets to do everything.  The applets reflect what you do in scripts in /etc. If you never learn the /etc scripts and what does what, if the little applet doesn't save you're hosed.  To some extent the hard-asses are right because you have to do it and struggle to really learn it.  Sure the new distros you can install, boot to a window manager and use a browser and email.  But you'll never really control it unless you get into the nitty gritty under the covers.

[Eóin]

Yes, doing something for one's self is the best way to learn, but when it's been done thousands of times over, why spend the time googling when someone very well might already have that answer?

But when that someone has had to answer that same question thousands of times over, just because everyone wants their hands held, of course they get frustrated.

[Josh]

I do not want my hand held, but I also don't enjoy being told how wonderful and easy to use Linux is and then finding out I have to hack my driver by installing ndiswrapper, a windows driver, and spending 3 hours editing various files throughout the FS. If people are going to push Linux, they need to be willing to help support it. If the issue is something that common, surely a FAQ or a ?? command (IRC script) can be made with those issues. Sorry, but if Linux has to be hacked in order to get a linksys wireless card which is 5 years old to work, then it is NOT ready for primetime.

I spent a good number of hours over several days trying to hack my wifi card and get it running. If I am coming to a support group like IRC or a forum for help, it is because Google has not availed me any results which work.

[Gwen7]

the writer's english usage is charming. and some of his arguments are debatable. but it was still a nicely done article. with luck it might encourage people to actually try linux and form their own opinion rather than rely on the opinions of others.

so read this article along with the comments above.  

then go boot a live cd and see for youself if you haven't already.

linux is far from perfect. but there's still a lot to like. :-)
       

[Stoic Joker]

Yes, doing something for one's self is the best way to learn, but when it's been done thousands of times over, why spend the time googling when someone very well might already have that answer?

But when that someone has had to answer that same question thousands of times over, just because everyone wants their hands held, of course they get frustrated.

That transcends all OS's - I have to grit my teeth every time I go to troubleshoot a network only to find that once again some clown has borked DNS on a Windows domain. It's incredibly simple to setup properly - but gets screwed-up constantly by folks what don't RTFM. *Shrug* Never-the-less, I will persist in answering the question for the 9,000 time - or 10,000 (as needed) ... if only in an attempt to minimize the times I must walk into the aftermath.

Any well defined question deserves a clear answer.

[f0dder]

Gwen7: it's a shame to see unsubstantiated FUD being parroted over again and again. Linux users really ought to be better than that - especially if they're writing advocacy articles. There's enough good reasons why you might want to check it out without lies and silliness.

As for hand-holding etc., my "support" experiences with linux have pretty much been the same... some problem a little outside the trivial (like, getting dual monitors working... ), asking on an irc channel explaining what I've tried, and replies like rtfm, "you've got the source", or kickbans. I guess support mailing lists might be better, but the few times I've tried that I've been met with deafening silence.

[Eóin]

Of course if you do want some hand holding on Linux use Ubuntu, it's forums are a treasure trove of helpful people and technical advice. Personally, I've tried a number of distros, but always come back to Ubuntu.

As for hardware, well try getting the five year old Linksys to work on a brand new Mac before complaining that the people working in their free time, and in spite of obstacles from manufacturers, haven't quite solved all the worlds problems yet.

[Deozaan]

I want to get whatever distro the author of that article is using. Sounds like the best version of Linux evar!

[MilesAhead]

Took a look at the article.  Looks like advertising copy to me.  At least it led with "free" since that was going to be my reason 1 through reason 26.  Reason 27 being you can download unimaginable free programming software.  More than you could ever investigate in a lifetime.  Data bases, CORBA .. stuff that would likely cost you thousands on other platforms.

If you are going to do Linux the best way is never touch a Windows machine.  Then you won't be distracted thinking "If I boot Windows I can do this in 1/2 hour."  You'll just take the week to get it set up because you'll have to!!! hehh heh

[Gwen7]

@f0dder - hope your day gets better for you eventually.  :-)

[jaden]

I love Linux.  I started using it 13 years ago, spent 5 years as a developer at a Linux clustering company creating management and provisioning software for Linux clusters and ran it as my primary desktop OS for 7 or 8 years.  I used to try to get everyone I knew to use it.

But even I wouldn't claim that Linux currently beats Windows or Mac OS X on ease of use.  Sure, it's getting better, but I've tried and failed too many times to count to get non-technical people to use it without assistance.  Invariably, they would run into a problem that would have been straightforward on Windows but required me to help them because it was too complex.

[barney]

Of course if you do want some hand holding on Linux use Ubuntu, it's forums are a treasure trove of helpful people and technical advice. Personally, I've tried a number of distros, but always come back to Ubuntu.

Yeah ... well ... Ubuntu is my preferred Linux distro, but as far as help goes, I gave up on the forae a couple-two-t'ree years ago.  I encountered the same elitism and rtfm that has driven me away from many another forum.  It's really easy to denigrate someone else for not understanding something you consider self-evident (and boost your ego at the same time, or so you think) - a hell of a lot easier than actually trying to help.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A friend and I were speaking telephonically earlier today.  He was, several years ago, a telecom field installer and troubleshooter (MCI, pre Bernie Ebbers) - a very good one, a very good one and running a field team of thirty-five (35) to forty (40) techs.  He remarked, during the Linux/Mac/Windows OS discussion we were having, that he really missed the power of the Unix command line ... but didn't want to go back to it.  All it needed was one typo and he could take down a whole remote repeater site.

Anyone who really gets a new technology is initially gung-ho about it, but there comes a time when comfort, ease of use, is more important than bragging rights.  The one big thing MS/Windows did was to standardize software.  In the Linux arena, some stuff works on KDE, other stuff works on Gnome ... too much of the software available is distro and desktop specific ... there is no standardization save for the kernel itself.  OK, that's not comfort.  It's fun for thee and me, but it would not have worked for my late parents.  (You should have seen me trying to teach my dad how to use a mouse - he handled it as though it would break any moment, and trying to click w/o moving the [very delicate] mouse was a personal trial for him .)

Most folk who buy a personal computer want it to just work, to be able to do what they want to do without a significant learning curve.  Granted, that leaning curve will exist whether you're using any of the extant OSes, but some of those curves are steeper than others.  The Linux curve is a bit too steep for many new users, twenty-seven (27) good reasons or not .

As jaden said, more or less, the Linux problems seem to be a bit more complex than those same problems on Windows.  One of my most common go-to-guy experiences is helping someone out of a Linux jam.

[app103]

A friend sends you an email with a PDF file attached: curse, do not have a program to read it. You need to go online, find a site that will download Adobe Reader (or another PDF viewer) download, install, maybe even restart. Do you think it over?. Attached to the email your friend will find a text file format. DOC. Your Windows can not even read that. Now or go to buy a copy of Microsoft Office (€ 500), or simply download OpenOffice (free), but you'll still need to find it, download it (I hope you have a broadband connection), install, etc.

That's not how it works for me. I just click that "view" link in Gmail and view it in Google Docs. No downloading or installing needed. I don't even have to download the PDF or DOC file. 

Linux has many music players (including Amarok, Rythmbox, Banshee, etc..), And some of them are exceptional. AmaroK Take for example (see screenshot): organizes and plays your favorite music, learn what pieces you like best and automatically find their title (and text) on the Internet. If still not enough, is for you, including CD cover art and author information!

Yet, I could not find a player I liked and resorted to running Trout under WINE to get what I really wanted.

With Linux, everything is easier. Linux already has a list of a huge number of programs. If you need some new program, simply open the Add /Remove Programs "on the left are the categories, click and right you have a list of programs that category.
Click on one and get a description of the program (it is also indicated the popularity with the number of stars). If you like you do not have to do is tick the left of the name, then click "Apply and OK. All done, now Linux will download the program, install it and settle in the category of membership. Linux does everything, you just choose what you want.

Sure, if you already know exactly what you want or like playing guessing games. But if you want to make informed choices, just like when on Windows, you are going to have to Google for info and read plenty.

And no more reboots? I reboot more in Ubuntu than I do in WinXP, and it's not always about updates and upgrades either. YMMV, but my experiences have been that the current Ubuntu is about as unstable as WinME with an ATI graphics card. 

(want it to look and work like Win7 or OSX? no problem)

Yes, problem...big problem. You can not have a taskbar under Linux that looks and acts like the Windows taskbar, in all of its glory, with all of its functionality. At least I can't. And that's a feature that's very important to me.

Support is universal

Universally non-existent unless you are paying someone per incident or have a commercial support contract. Otherwise you are at the mercy of the moods and whims of unpaid volunteers on forums and IRC channels, many of which have big egos and will be quite rude with you, because their self-image, huge egos, and feelings of superiority depend on making you feel like a stupid idiot who shouldn't be using a computer at all.

Lots of luck getting and installing Linux drivers for your wireless card, and getting that to work...you are more or less on your own to figure it out. I hope you really like puzzle games because this one has a reputation of being a real whopper.

Under Windows, if I have a problem installing drivers for some hardware that came with my PC, help is just a phone call away, and I won't have to pull out a credit card to get it.


And no malware? safe and secure? really? are you sure?

http://forums.unrealircd.com/viewtopic.php?t=6562
http://www.mozilla.org/security/announce/

I am sure there are tons more ways to exploit tons more applications that run on Linux.

Just because it's open source, does not make it safe and secure.

Free software and games

Windows has that too. 

No more piracy, registration, validation, verification, or cost

Not all versions of Linux are free. Not everything open source is free. And proprietary closed source software for Linux does exist. In fact, I happen to be developing some, myself.

[zridling]

If Ubuntu is your first (and only?) brush with Linux, I urge users to consider another distro, almost any other distro. My personal problem with Ubuntu is that the team leaves far too many problems within each release, that a great distro like Mint comes along and fixes.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Also, it's easy to tell from the responses those who have actually used a good Linux distro and those who haven't in a while and are hating. The article doesn't claim exclusivity or perfection for Linux, just a list of reasons to give it a try. Guys like f0dder see that as a call to yet another flame war. Jeez, start a blog, for your rants are so tired by now.

[Josh]

I am not trying to flame anything ZR, and actually have thoroughly tried to give linux a fair chance at various points over the last several years. I have tried various distros ranging from fedora to opensuse (personal favorite) to mint to mandriva. I have tested just about every MAJOR distro out there yet I continue to run into the same issue with every major release.

I do not feel anyone here is trying to flame but more to stop the spread of FUD. When the author claimed that viruses were of no concern to Linux I had to stop and laugh.

What I do feel is that your post reinforces the belief that when someone bad mouths a product like Linux, they open themselves up to attacks, similar to yours, for voicing their opinions. I would LOVE to move from Windows, but until a platform works with the hardware I use, without requiring hours of hacking to force it to work, it is NOT ready for me. Hacking WiFi cards, printer drivers, scanner drivers and various other software packages is not something I consider fun for a system that is supposed to be used for my day-to-day.

[f0dder]

The article doesn't claim exclusivity or perfection for Linux, just a list of reasons to give it a try.

And some of those "reasons" are the same old tired unsubstantiated FUD...

Guys like f0dder see that as a call to yet another flame war. Jeez, start a blog, for your rants are so tired by now.

It's not about flame wars, it's about calling bullshit when I see it.

[Deozaan]

I already love Linux. At least the idea of it. I haven't tested out many distros besides Ubuntu because I don't have a test machine that I'm willing to deal with multiple HDD wipes and fresh installs of Linux at this time. Ubuntu can be installed and removed straight from Windows as if it were another program, so that makes it very accessible to me.

Sure, there are Live CDs of distros but (maybe this is my ignorance speaking) it's just not the same as a real install.

I can only speak for myself and my own experiences, but even though I already like Linux I have to disagree and say that some of those 27 reasons are not good reasons to love Linux.

In my opinion, there are plenty of good reasons to love Linux and it isn't necessary to lie or use false stereotypes to try to make Linux look better. Linux has many fine qualities that stand on their own.

[f0dder]

In my opinion, there are plenty of good reasons to love Linux and it isn't necessary to lie or use false stereotypes to try to make Linux look better. Linux has many fine qualities that stand on their own.

Word

[f0dder]

Btw, I've just spent some hours test-driving Mint 9, and the first impressions are pretty good - but there's still plenty of rough edges, and nothing has changed wrt. my above comments (except for dual-monitor support working out of the box and being easy to configure with this distro). I'm considering posting a review sometime, after I've played around more with it.

[MrCrispy]

Didn't see 1 big reason mentioned - Live cd's !!

Whether its system rescue,, tv recording (myth), htpc (xbmc) or a million other specialized use cases, you can find a Linux live cd for it. And they fit on a usb, boot and run faster than Windows. I'd never use Linux for a desktop os (no need really and it'd take me 3x to get stuff done as I'm not familiar) but there are plenty of Linux distro's I use.

Another reason - the regular flame wars over Linux are almost always informative