Linux Myths

Myth 1: Linux is too difficult for ordinary people to use because it uses only text and requires programming.

The truth: Although Linux was originally designed for those with computer expertise, the situation has changed dramatically in the past several years. Today it has a highly intuitive GUI (graphical user interface) similar to those on the Macintosh and Microsoft Windows and it is as easy to use as those operating systems. No knowledge of programming is required. This ease of use is evidenced by the fact that more and more people, including elementary school students and others with no previous computer experience, are starting to use it every day. Moreover, once people become familiar with Linux, they rarely want to revert to their previous operating system.

In some ways Linux is actually easier to use than Microsoft Windows. This is in large part because it is little affected by viruses and other malicious code, and system crashes are rare.

Myth 2: Linux is less secure than Microsoft Windows because the source code is available to anybody.

The truth: Actually, Linux is far more secure (i.e., resistant to viruses, worms and other types of malicious code) than Microsoft Windows. And this is, in large part, a result of the fact that the source code (i.e., the version as originally written by humans using a programming language) is freely available. By allowing everyone access to the source code, programmers and security experts all over the world are able to frequently inspect it to find possible security holes, and patches for any holes are then created as quickly as possible (often within hours).

Myth 3: It is not worth bothering to learn Linux because most companies use Microsoft Windows and thus a knowledge of Windows is desired for most jobs.

The truth: It is true that most companies still use the various Microsoft Windows operating systems. However, it is also true that Linux is being used by more and more businesses, government agencies and other organizations. In fact, the main thing that it preventing its use from growing even faster is the shortage of people who are trained in setting it up and administering it (e.g., system engineers and administrators). Moreover, people with Linux skills typically get paid substantially more than people with Windows skills.

Myth 4: Linux cannot have much of a future because it is free and thus there is no way for businesses to make money from it.

The truth: This is one of those arguments that sounds good superficially but which is not borne out by the evidence. The reality is that not only are more and more businesses and other organizations finding out that Linux can help reduce the costs of using computers, but also that more and more companies are likewise discovering that Linux can also be a great way to make money. For example, Linux is often bundled together with other software, hardware and consulting services. The most outstanding example is that of IBM, which has invested more than one billion dollars in Linux and is already making substantial profits from it.

Myth 5: Linux and other free software is a type of software piracy because much of it was copied from other operating systems.

The truth: Linux contains all original source code and definitely does not represent any kind of software piracy. Rather it is the other way around: much of the most popular commercial software is based on software that was originally developed at the public expense, including at universities such as the University of California at Berkeley (UCB).

Myth 6: Linux and other free software are a kind of socialism and they destroy the free market and intellectual property.

The truth: No, quite the opposite. Free software helps prevent software monopolies, which destroy the free market and result in high prices and shoddy quality. It does this by fostering competition among products and companies based on quality, features and service. Free software, which is also called open source software, is software that is free both in a monetary sense (i.e., it can be obtained by anyone at no cost) and with regard to use (i.e., it is permitted to be used by anyone for any purpose, including modifying, copying and distributing). Interestingly, some of the harshest critics of free software actually incorporate it into some of their products.

The truth: Actually, there thousands of application programs already available for Linux and the number continues to increase. Also, the quality of these applications is typically as good as, and often better than, their commercial counterparts, and most of them are free. Moreover, some of these applications are so popular that versions have been developed for use on Microsoft Windows and other operating systems. For examples, see Best Open Source Applications for Microsoft Windows.

Myth 8: Linux has poor support because there is no single company behind it, but rather just a bunch of hackers and amateurs.

The truth: Quite the opposite: Linux has excellent support, often much better and faster than that for commercial software. There is a great deal of information available on the Internet and questions posted to newsgroups are typically answered within a few hours. Moreover, this support is free and there are no costly service contracts required. Commercial support is also available, if desired, from major computer companies such as Red Hat, Novell, IBM and HP. Also to kept in mind is the fact than many users find that less support is required than for other operating systems because Linux has relatively few bugs (i.e., errors in the way it was written) and is highly resistant to viruses and other malicious code.

Myth 9: Linux is obsolete because it is mainly just a clone of an operating system that was developed more than 30 years ago.

The truth: It is true that Linux is based on UNIX, which was developed in 1969. However, UNIX and its descendants (referred to as Unix-like operating systems) are regarded by many computer experts as the best (e.g., the most robust and the most flexible) operating systems ever developed. They have survived more than 30 years of rigorous testing and incremental improvement by the world's foremost computer scientists, whereas other operating systems do not survive for more than a few years, usually because of some combination of technical inferiority and planned obsolescence.

Myth 10: Linux will have a hard time surviving in the long run because it has become fragmented into too many different versions.

The truth: It is a fact that there are numerous distributions (i.e., versions) of Linux that have been developed by various companies, organizations and individuals. However, there is little true fragmentation of Linux into incompatible systems, in large part because all of these versions use the same basic kernels, commands and application programs. Rather, Linux is just an extremely flexible operating system that can be configured as desired by vendors and users according to the intended applications, users' preferences, etc. In fact, the various Microsoft Windows operating systems (e.g., Windows 95, ME, NT, CE, 2000, XP and Longhorn), although they superficially resemble each other, are more fragmented than Linux. Moreover, each of these systems is fragmented into various versions and then further changed by various service packs (i.e., patches which are supplied to users to correct various bugs and security holes).

Myth 11: Linux and other free software cannot compete with commercial software in terms of quality because it is developed by an assorted collection of hackers and amateurs rather than the professional programmers employed by large corporations.

The truth: Almost all software, including that at large corporations, is created at least in part by people who might have beards and look slightly unconventional. However, Linux and other free software has been created and refined by some of the most talented programmers in the world. Moreover, programmers from the of the largest corporations, including IBM and HP, have, and continue to, contribute to it. For more information, see Incentives to Develop Free Software.

Myth 12: Linux is free at the start, but the total cost of ownership (TCO) is higher than for Microsoft Windows. This has been demonstrated by various studies.

The truth: A major reason (but not the only one) for Linux's rapid growth around the world is that its TCO is substantially lower than that for commercial software. This has been demonstrated time and time again. Reasons that it is lower include not only (1) the fact that it is free but also that (2) it is more reliable and robust (i.e., rarely crashes or causes data loss), (3) support can be very inexpensive (although costly service contracts are available), (4) it can operate on older hardware and reduce the need for buying new hardware, (5) there are no forced upgrades and (6) no tedious and costly license compliance monitoring is required. The only studies that show that Linux's TCO is higher are those sponsored by Microsoft.

A major reason provided for the supposedly higher TCO of Linux is that Linux system administrators are more expensive to hire than persons with expertise in Microsoft products. Although this is generally true, it overlooks the fact that Linux systems administrators are usually much more productive because there are relatively few viruses to deal with, security patches to install, system crashes to cope with and licensing issues to contend with.

The truth: Today, installing Linux is actually easier than installing Windows. Of course, most people don't install Windows themselves--rather, it comes preinstalled on their hardware, and that's an option with Linux too, if you're in the market for a new machine anyway.

If not, however, the best thing to do is first try out the distribution you're interested in via a Live CD or Live USB. Then, once you decide you like it, you can either install it in dual-boot fashion, so that both Linux and Windows are available to you all the time, or you can install Linux instead of Windows.

Either way, installation has become extremely simple over the years, particularly on distributions such as Ubuntu, Fedora, Linux Mint and openSUSE. Most include a step-by-step wizard and very easy-to-understand graphical tools; they also typically offer a way to automate the process. A full installation will probably take no more than 30 minutes, including basic apps.

The truth: Vendors of proprietary software love to strike more fear into business users' hearts by painting a picture of the Linux user alone at sea, without anyone to ask for help. Once again, completely false!

First of all, every Linux distribution has an online community with excellent forums for getting help. There are also forums dedicated to small businesses and for newcomers in need of extra explanation. For those who want even more assurance, commercial Linux versions such as Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop come with vendor support. It's entirely up to you which route to choose.

The truth: There are very few instances of hardware and software remaining that can't be used with Linux. One of the operating system's many advantages, in fact, is that it's designed not to hog resources, and so doesn't require the latest, cutting-edge hardware. Most peripherals are compatible as well, particularly in distributions such as Ubuntu.

On the application side, it's also rare to find a problem. If there is something your business needs that can be run only on Windows, however, there are packages like Wine and Crossover Linux to make that happen. There are also countless comparable and Linux-friendly alternatives that can be easily installed, including all basic productivity packages.

The truth: If you're using a Mac or Windows, it goes without saying that you are intimately familiar with crashes and downtime. Part of that is due to those systems' vulnerability to malware, but part is also simply inherent in the software. That's a big reason why Linux is used so heavily on servers--it almost never goes down. Imagine a day in the life of your business with no downtime!

The truth: This is another myth that scares a new user. Using command line for an operating system? That could be a nightmare for many.

Linux has a powerful command line interface, there is no doubt about it. In fact, you can use Linux entirely in the command line.

But this is not what you have to do while using desktop Linux. If you know a few commands, it will help you troubleshoot issues you may encounter (like in any other operating system). But you don’t have to know commands or become a command line ninja for that.

At worst, if you find some issue or if you are trying to install software in Linux, you might come across commands suggested by people on the internet.

Using those commands is very simple. Open a terminal and copy-paste the commands.

However, basic knowledge of Linux commands will help you at this point to avoid using dangerous Linux commands that might harm your system. Linux command line is like a very sharp knife. You can do wonder with it but you can also cut yourself. It depends on how you handle the knife.

The truth: This myth holds some water if you are a hardcore gamer. But for casual gamers, Linux still have a comfortable range of games.

Popular gaming distribution platform Steam has over 3000 Linux games. Steam believed in Linux so much that it created its own gaming console running on Linux.

In addition to that, there are some companies that bring popular PC games to Linux. Take a look at the best Linux games of last year. You’ll get games like Mad Max, Lara Croft, Hitman etc. These premium games might not be available at the same time as Windows, but sooner or later you get to play some of them, if not all.

There are websites and stores where you download Linux games, both free and premium ones.

The truth: Linux is an excellent choice for servers, clouds, internet of things or what not. It’s the dominant choice for supercomputers. But it’s not good enough for average computer user? Give me a break!

I consider myself an average computer user. I have been using Linux for last 8 years or so. And what do I use it for? Web surfing, listening to music, watching movies, watching Netflix, do some work on documents and presentations, a little bit of programming etc.

I don’t play games on it because I have the option of Play Station available to me. I don’t do editing work because I don’t like it but I know there are plenty of options for image and video editing work.

You may argue that I am perhaps an expert Linux user (I don’t believe I am) but remember I started using Linux when things were not that rosy but I still continued using it and I have never looked back. What’s your excuse?

The truth: I suppose the mentality here is "Linux is free, so Linux users must be penny-pinching, budget-conscious, open source-loving people who expect everything for free, right?" Not according to Dawe.

"As the owner of a website where 99% of what we write about is actually proprietary paid-for software, I'm aware of how much people do actually buy," Dawe says. "Linux users get extremely excited about some of the top new releases, we constantly get emails from people to request us to highlight new games and so on. [Additionally] our partner programs with GOG and Humble Store show a lot of Linux users buying games.

Though it's no longer updated, the Humble Visualizations project gathered research that illustrated how Linux gamers actually spend more money on their games compared to Windows and macOS users. Between 2011 and 2016 and tallying more than 20 million transactions, the average purchase amount for a Humble Bundle was $6.29. Broken down by OS, the average payment for Windows users was $6.09, while the average payment for Linux users was $9.26.

While this is only an isolated stat, it does take 5 years worth of purchases into consideration and these Humble Bundles were predominantly from larger publishers.

My impression thus far is that Linux users are passionate about their platform and about the software which is available for their platform. They're perfectly happy and willing to reach into their pockets to get what they want.

There's a company that's selling USB sticks to rejuvenate/retrieve info on an old or broken PC:

https://www.xtra-pc.com/

I think it's about $35.00 a crack.

Back in the late 1990’s we started to make linux kernel changes for our project. We found a defect in kernel code. I reported it on a Wednesday. I was sent a kernel patch from Germany on Friday evening. We tested it for the developers during the weekend and they added it to the standard kernel early the next week.

That was great support and it wasn’t even for anything critical.

I dual boot Linux.

The games I play don’t run on Linux.
The software I know isn’t Linux software and I don’t feel like relearning it.

If you use Linux, you know that you will have to go to the command prompt and search the knowledge base sooner or later and the answer may be that your peripheral will simply not work with Linux. Ask me about Kodak printers.

It is a decent operating system but it is still not ready for the general public.

I loaded Ubuntu on one of my computers a few years ago, used it every day, or tried to.

It's pretty good, but I got tired of all the little inconsistencies, all the things I had to install and upgrade all the time. I had to spend too much time dropping out of the GUI and into the command line, which meant looking up a never ending series of "cheat sheets."

The biggest thing I didn't like was all the times that Google told me more than one way to solve whatever issue came up, and I couldn't tell which was the "right" way, where "right" meant "which way has the best future prospects given what I am using my computer for.

Eventually I went back to Windows. I don't have enough interest and motivation to learn a new OS, with all its details and idiosyncrasies. I'm trying to do something with my computers, write software to do things. The OS is just a detail to me.

MYTH 21: Linux is Free

The Truth: Only if you don’t value your time

I dual boot Kali Linux and Windows 10. Kali was more of a challenge to get running properly.

This is the supposed "Truth" as an answer to Myth #9:

whereas other operating systems do not survive for more than a few years, usually because of some combination of technical inferiority and planned obsolescence."

We still have customers running GCOS 8, a mainframe operating system. It was developed in the late 1970's and first shipped to customers in ~1980. We still support it and make system changes to fix bugs. I would suggest that this is more than a "few years".

We no longer have the ability to build HW with the original GCOS 8 machine instruction set, but we emulate the instruction set on commodity Intel processors.

Customers can run COBOL programs which were compiled in 1975 on our platforms with NO modifications. Many customers have simply lost their original source code. We even run the proprietary IDS/II CODOSYL database from that time period.

I use both windows and linux on a daily basis.

While its true that the beginner distros like Mint equal or exceed Windows in ease of use for ordinary situations the second you stray a foot off the beaten path you are in for a wild ride. Picture hours trying to find a way to pin an icon to the taskbar. Linux is still essentially a command line with a gui pasted on top and the philosophy of the system and the mentality of the people that help you will be oriented toward going down the rabbit hole of obtuse man pages and spools of arcane commands.

Genuine advantages Linux does have compared to windows imclude freedom from its ecosystem and spying and greater power and compatibility with programs for more technical use cases. You might not be able to game as much in Linux but if you need to use certain technical or scientific programs its often the only game in town.

Now in terms of politics Microsoft and Linux honchos both promulgate the soc jus cult mentality so they seem about equal in that respect.

I installed Linux manjaro and Windows 7 in a duel boot configuration. You’re required to install Windows first then Linux. It took me one week to figure out how to do a basic install Windows 7 (recently. Will not use Windows 10) a few minutes to install Linux manjaro.

It is true that most companies still use the various Microsoft Windows operating systems.

Most of the desktops are probably using Windows, but I'll bet most of the processing and storage is using Linux. Including at Microsoft.

I’ve been running it trouble-free for years now. I still keep a Windoze computer but I hardly ever turn it on because my Linux Mint box does all the things I normally need to do with one exception; Skype. I’m not real big on using it so...

I can leave my Linux box running for months at a time without needed to be rebooted. Best thing I ever did was make the jump and it really wasn’t that much of a learning curve. Mint almost mimics Win7; the last good Windows OS.

Android uses a Linux kernel, and is certainly quite popular. It’s only arguably a flavor of Linux, but shows it’s possible to create a Linux for the masses. It’s helpful to have the financial resources that Google has, though.

Or you can use Tails, which is Debian based and free.

https://tails.boum.org/index.en.html

They’re both pretty slick but I like Tor anonymity.

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