We have read thousands of outrageously stupid reasons why one should move to Linux, reasons like – Linux has GIMP so shift to a completely new platform! Off course there are some authors who really know what they are talking about and make compelling arguments about the FOSS movement and why one might contemplate a switch. However, I personally don’t find weight in most arguments and still prefer Windows and I guess will do so for years to come. So, lets list a few reasons why Linux is not worth the hassle.
- Too Many Choices:
When you are new to Linux the first question that you ask is which distro should I go for. There are gazillions of different distros of Linux, I don’t think even the Wiki entry on the same lists all the ones available. If that’s not all there are two different Window Managers – KDE & GNOME, each with its own fan-following. So basically when you are new to Linux the first problem is selecting a distro out of the millions – Fedeora, Ubuntu, Mint, SuSe, Slax, Debian, Slacware, Arch, Mandriva, Sabayon etc. etc. and then you select a Window manager of your choice.
The troubles don’t end here. If you were to choose, let’s say Ubuntu and you wanted to play mp3s out of the box, there will be some wise ass that would say, why did you go for Ubuntu you should have gone for Mint or Ubuntu Studio edition if music & video is your thing. Then there will be another smart ass who will say why did you choose GNOME, KDE is much better! I mean WTF!
The problem continues, if you were on GNOME & a friend on KDE, if you were to work on his computer, you would be dealing with a completely different GUI.
Also, depending on the distro & WM you choose, the packages for applications also differ. The applications for Ubuntu are not the same as that for Fedeora. If you were to use an application on Fedeora and only the Ubuntu version was available for simple installation, you will have to compile the application for Fedeora.
Too many choices, too little consistency.
- Community Based:
Some say its a good thing, but I find it a rather stupid thing. I need to join a community or search on the internet to find solutions for a problem. This has a major drawback. For one I need an internet connection, which we shall come to later. But, community based means, search for content where people have already faced a similar problem, then go through what they faced and what others suggested. Foolishly time consuming and utter time waste.
If you were not able to find or comprehend the so-called solutions you found, you start your own thread and wait for someone to reply. Wait for sometime and you get a reply, it worked, lucky you, if it didn’t, wait again, wait some more and the wait continues till some community expert helps you out.
- Drivers & Incompatibility:
On the outset, I am not blaming the Linux devs for this, but like it or not this is a huge hinderance for Linux and will continue to be. One can’t run half his hardware because the distro either doesn’t come with bundled drivers or the driver disc does not contain Linux drivers. Here you are at the mercy of the hardware vendor whether they have Linux support or not. Even if you were to get the drivers, rest assured the path won’t be as easy. Again if you weren’t to get the drivers you need to go back to the communities. Quite a few times you will find the drivers for another distro and then compile.
Then there are the software incompatibility issues. You will have to search for an application that suits you and does what you want. It also does not support the world’s largest online media distributor – iTunes. Content bought from iTunes such as movies will not work under Linux as Linux does not support DRMed content.
- Internet Connection Must:
Linux has this repository system, where it collates most of the applications available for that distro and you can download them. You will need to download a lot of stuff as most of the applications are dependent on some library or another which your Linux distro will not be bundled with. Point 2 & 3 also depend on this. So if you don’t have a working Internet connection, forget support – for you and your hardware.
- New Environment/Still CLI:
This is a huge issue, 7 out of 10 people who buy a computer or upgrade aren’t actually looking for learning but want the damn thing to work. KDE or GNOME, Fedeora or Ubuntu, they are equally alien to most users and you will have to learn to adjust, learn to adapt to the community way of getting support, learn to compile applications, learn to use CLI commands. Unfortunately, Linux distros still heavily depend on the CLI interface for doing most things, though some may argue it gives more control, it isn’t exactly what one considers user-friendly. Arbitrary commands for mounting disks, retarded commands to install drivers and compile software. Now, why does one need to do all this?
The hardwre requirements of Aero and that of Compiz are left for another post.
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I don’t find having too many choices a problem. It just requires a bit more research on the consumers part to decide what he/she wants.
Also the community point is kind of an exaggeration. The same would be the case for any OS or software.
I agree :)
Life is filled with choices where everything has its pros and cons, and life is lived best when one takes advantage of all the pros he can find.
Thats what I think , anyways :P
I have no idea why, but vista crashes after 2-3 hours of heavy computing.. I used many softwares for freeing ram (tweak Ram etc) and spent days troubleshooting and stuff. But none fixed the problem, and it slows down a lot when I open 30+ tabs.
Just for that sake, when I browse and do regular stuff I go to linux. It has smoother operation there and I love the flashy-ness the compiz thing gives. so its both entertaining and gets the work done.
And then when theres some things to be done which are easier and best done on windows, I go there and do it.
All In all..personally speaking, I wouldn’t recc. anyone to be blinded by a single choice. Its like how they keep those eye patch things to horse to see only in one direction.
Let the person know of all the choices and once s/he experiences them all, they are free to choose whatever they want.
Linux not having a central organisation is one of the main reasons for all this confusion.
Plus I don’t dig the interface too much.
I actually expected something a lot better than this. I am using windows but if you read your post its just a bashing up of linux in general that everyone on the blogosphere does.
You could have researched and come up with more grueling arguements than the ones you have presented.
Some points such as the ones where you have written about active internet and community is actually relevant to any OS and not just linux.
And any new user given any OS can learn it without having any preconception about it. I mean someone who never used Windows will be able to learn any flavour of Linux if he sits and learns it and mind it I am talking about people who take atleast 10 minutes to move the mouse from one point to another on screen.
As someone said its all about preference. Some people like BalckBerry OS and some like Symbian OS. Its just a persons taste.
See I am a windows user but was not convinced by your post. If you had spent time to make it better than the rest of bashing up posts on blogosphere it might have made a difference.
Trust me when I say this, I am not bashing Linux. If I were to write a post with bashing Linux in mind, it would have been something totally different. The above reasons are keeping in mind a normal user and not making the post a technical differentiation of how things work on Linux and how they do on Windows. And why games run on Windows and not on Linux, if I were to put in all that it would become a rant/hate/bash post.
This post is based on a Windows user trying Linux with honest intentions of having it as part of the multi-boot setup.
Agreed that too much of research was not put into it as amatter of fact no research was put into it and the post is only what I felt when I tried out the Linux distros for myself.
I have spent years (12 or better) doing professional support in IT, mostly Windows centric.
Yeah, I made that switch some years ago (to Linux), but I am a computer geek for some 25 years now. I do like to teach people about Linux as an option, but I don’t push it on everyone. For some it is not the right fit. But for many casual, non-technical users, it is actually a better choice. Once I set it up, it tends to stay working. NO internet? No updates… but… it stays working and does what it needs. From the standpoint of your friendly neighborhood geek-friend (the one everyone turns to), it is a lot easier on me when I don’t have to do free tech support every other lovin day because windows is being stupid. And I find the “less technical” people actually seem to take to the alternate interfaces more readily than those with some “ingrained” windows knowledge. I guess they found it challenging enough to learn Windows so they dread any re-learning. The newbies are at ground zero no matter which way they go, so it’s all the same for them.
Now outside of being the techie for others, the whole community thing you really misunderstand. Trying to get help for Linux is SOOOO much easier. I have pulled my hair out over Windows problems countless times both professionally and privately, and getting answers for Windows problems is like hunting for needles in haystacks then pulling teeth to extract them. How many times have you searched the internet for you answer, to find your EXACT problem on windows, only to find you have to PAY or SUBSCRIBE or otherwise sign up to get the answer?
Real, solid, technical answers to Windows issues are treated like the king’s jewels and jealously guarded. There’s gold in them their answers, best keep a lock on that info. Really.
Now in the Linux world it is totally different. You may have to hunt a little, but the answers ARE there to be found. If you don’t understand some technical aspect of linux, IT CAN BE LEARNED, ACCURATELY, FOR FREE! Knowledge is not considered something to be hoarded; it is freely traded. The whole ethos is different.
With Linux you have community. With Windows you just have the unwashed masses churning around the doors of the cathederal, yearning for light.
At least that is my experience. I don’t mean to tear down your whole article, but you are really misrepresenting the difference that community can make. And don’t prop up jerks as couter-examples. Jerkdom and OS preference have NO correlation. I’ll find you just as many windows loving jerks in a heartbeat. Many people have gone out of their way to help other Linux users, time and again. The dedication of some is amazing. There are folks who spend half their day helping strangers on IRC at times.
The drivers issue is skewed and not realistic. In truth there is better driver support overall in Linux. Now there are certain exceptions for some of the newest stuff, but it usually rides around chipsets and such, so you can learn pretty quickly what your options are. Maybe these scanners dont’ have good support using chip A, but chip B works fine. You have to do a little more homework; but by and large stuff works fine and is getting better all the time. Same can be said for mac people. They have to buy Mac versions of lots of stuff, even if their computer takes the same cards now or has the same plugs.
Games cost a lot to produce, and make more money than a lot of Hollywood films. Sometimes they cost on par to produce. The problem is that there is not a critical mass of linux boxen out there for it to be economical. Mac people have the same troubles, really. Windows is the easy target. But the game makers are far more interested in audience than anything else. You give them an audience, they will make games for you.
If games are your thing then stay on windows, dual boot, or just get a console already.
Too many choices? Well, yeah it can be confusing at first. Especially after you get so used to a monoculture. Windows, Office, Outlook, Exchange (sometimes Notes), Photoshop, Visio, SQL Server or Oracle, oh my. Most the application genres on windows are dominated by one or two players at best. So even though there is arguably more software for Windows, it comes down to some pretty standard fare for the most part. It used to be a much wider field. And it has not always been the “best” that won. Money interests rule, just as an old betamax user could tell you. (Th’at’s a superior VCR format, for you youngins, that lost out to VHS).
Once you get over the sensory overload of so much choice and just sit and talk (or chat) a few people in the Linux community you can get some good guidance to get you started. You will learn that there are a few “families” of linux distros with much in common, and only more surface differeneces between them. It is not the chaotic mess you might portray.
There is one thing though: Many bring a consumer mindset to computing. They are there to be spoon-fed everything; all major decisions made for them. Linux offers you the chance to be a little more involved. You can learn to feed yourself. With that you may find a healthier diet for yourself, so to speak, than the junk food sold on every street corner.
Linux rewards those who are genuinely curious and adventuresome. And, of course, power is nothing without control (as a favorite wallpaper on my computer says). Some people drive cars, some people pimp them, other people are mechanics, a few are engineers, and there are those who can mill and machine their own parts to build their own engines and chassis from raw metal. Computers have their counterparts. And just like one car does not fit all, same with operating systems.
I totally agree Mojo.
Thats about the best post I’ve ever seen descriping what linux really are. Good job!
Wow, I’m impressed. Trolling’s reached a new low.
#4: Linux sucks because you need the Internet to download it?
Oh, OK, let’s solve this. We should have door-to-door couriers distributing CDs. No, wait, you should have a 1-800 number you can dial and hold the phone up to your monitor. Hmmm, well, maybe we can start a partnership with Netflix and you can get packages in the mail.
Hey, wait a minute! All proprietary software needs to be online as well, for registering your 24-digit purchase code so they know you’re not a pirate! Whew, what a relief, proprietary software is just as “behind” as we are!
Thanks, tball; I wasn’t going for a pulitzer or anything there but appreicaition is well received!
And yeah, Penguine Pete, the article can be viewed as a troll. Though I don’t think the author necessarily set out to do so consciously. Maybe he did, I don’t know. But regardless it’s an opportunity for one to illuminate the issue and address the misconceptions and misstatements made by said trollers. The author surely could have given a much more considered opinion if he had one. But he admits in commentary this is just his impressions. It might have been a little better if he were more clear about it being a cursory view up front. Hopefully his intentions were to engage people in discussion so that he may learn something himself. If so, I would have preferred he present it as such. But it’s certainly not worth getting bent about, in my humble opinion.
Peace
Mojo
I’m going to rebut some of your points. Don’t take it personally.
1) Too many choices
This is just silly. It’s like saying there are too many kinds of cereal for you to choose from. You try a few or talk to other people about what kind they like, or you choose based on the color of the box. Whatever you like. You have a brain. You can choose what you like.
When the USSR fell, many Russians claimed that they wanted communism back because there were to many choices and they couldn’t handle it.
2) Community Based
You have a choice between free community support or paid telephone / e-mail support. A telephone doesn’t need an Internet connection.
3) Drivers
Some hardware under Linux is supported. Some isn’t. This is no different than any other operating system. You just need to check that your hardware is compatible. Some stuff will never have a Linux driver. Some stuff (especially pre-2006) will never have a Vista driver, either.
4) Internet
This is the age of the Internet. Linux was born on the Internet as a network-aware OS, unlike the NT line, which had it all shoehorned in later.
Despite this, you CAN use Linux without internet. Debian has over 10 CDs of software that you can install without a connection.
Oh, yeah, and there’s telephone support.
5) Unfamiliar Interface
Not everything has the same interface. Cell phones are all different. TVs are all different. Your Dish Network and your Digital Cable have different interfaces.
The interface is still WIMP. It’s dead easy, and it’s more consistent than Windows. New and casual users will find it easier. Geeks won’t care. The person who has spent ten years perfecting the Windows’ interface probably will, though.
You obviously have no desire for Linux. That’s fine. Your reasons are personal, though, and don’t project them onto everyone else in the world.
Good point, Daeng Bo, in number 5 about the unfamiliar interfaces. WIMP for those who don’t remember when the acronym was popular, means WINDOWS, ICONS, MOUSE, and POINTER interface. Nice examples in the Dish guide vs Cable Guide, cell phones, etc. They all follow some basic conventions. Besides, Firefox on Windows runs almost exactly like Firefox on Linux. Even for KDE and GNOME people. So a few things are different about the environment, but the basic operation of the programs is the same. I think people fear change with a knee-jerk mentality sometimes. It’s not so blazing difficult, really. All you need to do is be willing to try, and accepting. You might find you like the differences of one particular interface. Obviously many KDE and GNOME users do to the point of zealotry. Must be something in there good to get people so hooked.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itseslf!”
Peace
Mojo
Wow, I’ve got to say, you’re a much better blogger than I am (which isn’t really a great compliment, but there you go). :)
The article is spot on. Well, for the most part anyway. I do take an exception to the fourth point—having a permanent Internet connection. Seriously, how many people do you know who’ve tried Linux and do not have an Internet connection, and a broadband one at that?
You just cannot label the requirement of Internet connectivity as a drawback against any operating system. Even Windows and Mac OS X are pretty boring and useless if you don’t have an Internet connection at your disposal (not as much as Linux, I know, but still).
Apart from that, all the other points are hundred percent valid and it’s a great read.
Enjoy. :)
Although, yeah, Windows is useless even with an Internet connection (and, in most cases, due to it). ;)
@Mojo I need to say, you are a rare creature in the FOSS world and there need to be many like you. This was not meant to be a hate post as I said before and I thank you for considering that.
I see that a lot of people seem to find the Internet Connection point as a bone of contention. The thing is that, call it bad karma or whatever, when I tired Linux a number of times, my internet connection was acting real bad. I tried Ubuntu and it turned out that I couldn’t play .mp3s without downloading certain codecs. People will counter saying that Windows either isn’t very friendly to divx, but mp3 playback is something not having really seems weird. And at the same time there was too much downloading that I had to do, an internet forum that I am a member of was even surprised at the fact I went as far as learning how to compile applications. Download their tar.gz versions and then use Terminal to compile them, then there was some library that wasn’t there so go download that.
Another problem that I did not mention, I wonder how I forgot it, is the 6-8 month update cycle. I mean what is the need of coming out with new versions every 6 months and updating Gutsy to Hardy isn’t something that is advised, they say go for a fresh start. Which again means that you will have to set up your applications etc. all over again. 6 months is too small period to go through all this.
@Aayush, thank you.
Thanks, manan, for the personal reply. I’d like to think I’m not so alone in the FOSS world. But with so many things in life, your mileage may vary.
One should bring a little sense of adventure with them when exploring Linux. And also be prepared for some culture shock here and there.
Linux is just an operating system and not political in and of itself. But free software is a legal status issue, and users of FOSS programs have more reason to be acutely aware of political and legal issues in the computing world.
Ubuntu is supported by Canonical, a company which has to consider legal issues. Frustration that Ubuntu can’t be shipped with MP3 codecs pre-installed should not be focused so much on aggravation with Linux or Ubuntu or Canonical. They are playing by the rules. MP3 files are patent encumbered. This is one of the hidden costs rolled into your proprietary software everywhere. They include it because it is licenced. That costs money. The FOSS community gave us Linux gratis. They typically don’t charge money, so it is not fair to expect them to pay all the petty patent dictators out there. Deal with the hassle and realize along the way where the responsibility truly lies.
Ubuntu and Linux in general can be sold commercially, but at their heart and soul are non-commercial creatures. It is not fair to treat them as if they were proprietary, monied, contracted, cross-licensed, paid agreement bound programs. You have been paying for your MP3 creating abilities when you pay for your proprietary software. You want to play with free software, you take the responsibility on yourself to either pay for the privelege of using patented and copyrighted materials or you take the personal responsibility for installing them yourself.
One facet of an adventure in FOSS is an education in the politics of patents and copyrights.
I am eternally grateful to all the outstanding work offered for free by the FOSS community. MP3 patent issues in NO WAY take away from the kindness and accomplishment of these programmers.
Linux, being so incredibly flexible, offers many options. There are ways to deal with most issues. Your updates don’t have to be done on the internet. You can obtain CDs with package updates. You don’t HAVE to update every 6 months. Windows XP has been out for HOW LONG and is only on it’s third major update (service pack). Many companies are only NOW getting SP2 installed. The bleeding edge is not mandatory to play. But if you want to be at that edge, be prepared for a little blood and sweat.
I guess the most exasperating thing is that people are so into the mentality that surrounds proprietary software that the approach FOSS as if it were the same thing. And that is not fair. Apples and Oranges are both fruit, sure, but they are not the same thing.
Peace,
Mojo
I enjoyed Reading comments then blog post :P
aww…many has justified much before me.
1. Yeah, but it doesn’t require a rocket scientist to decide.
2. Community is made by users generally and its the single point of support and the bugzilla, sourceforge etc are in congruous. Community rocks in the sense that you can really have a voice to make some feature added and you also have a ground up talk with developers etc.
3. Yeah thats bloody bad, but what say each OS has its woes in this department.
4.IC is a must for updated softwares and distros which are in compliance with GPL. You know we don’t listen to mp3 without paying a royalty to its founder.
So there are ways, i mean much wide possibility of getting a disc at your disposal by mail (even free) and DVD which contains everything (proprietary too)
5. I still see many peeps telling some resgsrv or something for windows CLI to the user in panic by virus infection or boot problem.
So yeah everything starts from code and then we do a cosmetic makeup.
But i prefer to run scripts and commands than clickity clickity each time to reach the deep down option. Though its visually appealing but highly inefficient.
CLI in linux is powerful tool. I never found it easy to make a list of file in a folder and some other works.
I agree with a lot of what is said here. Computers are confusing enough for the average user. Adding multiple distros and window managers to the mix alone will be enough to get most people to give up computers altogether.
Most people want to just plug the computer in, turn it on, and get to work. They don’t want to muddle with all the ancillary stuff.
Linux is great for people who want to learn about computers or for experienced people. But for average users it’s the wrong choice.
1.) Regarding the first point i.e too many choices, I think that variety is the spice of life. Its great to have many choices in life. Just think about this that you’ve many girlfriends in life :D
2.) The community thing is a good thing everywhere in the world. I myself see communities of Windows users also. So community is a great thing. The community users help you out with various topics, you’ve more than one solution to your problems.
3.) Don’t start this driver thing with Linux. Most of the Linux distros work out of the box with most of the peripherals. They automatically detect your graphics card, sound card, display and printer. And Windows, install sound driver, reboot, install graphics driver, reboot, install network driver, reboot, install printer driver reboot even installation of bluetooth drivers is required.
4.) Internet connection is also must in Windows. Wanna update your anti-virus, either download it from internet or get it from friend. Oh.. shit.. windows doesn’t plays this XviD file, download the codec pack from Internet or get it from a friend. Still getting it from friend also requires internet.
5.) CLI is something for those people who know it. If you don’t know anything about CLI then you need not worry. My 49 year old dad also works on Ubuntu since last 1 year and I haven’t seen him using command line.
I don’t intend to make this into a fight club section, becasue that will render Mojo’s attempts for a rational dialogue futile.
However I will say that “variety is the spice of life” is a rather lame reason or justification. And when I talk about Internet conx, I don’t mean regular updates but making things work and install on the machine.
@Mojo, I was aware of the legal issues but that was just an example. If you see I have not spoken of it in the post and neither have I mentioned anything about games, because it is now considered as a fact that if games is what you want, Linux is not for you.
@Gary: If people use their heads rather than making stupid comments like “I hate DRM and I support piracy.” There is room for a rational debate on the issue.
Of the 5 I think the first two and the last one are actually benefits to using Linux or OSS in general. The comments on Internet requirements are completely wrong. Go to Best Buy. They’re stocking Ubuntu now with phone support.
I would agree that drivers tend to be a problem, however, I’ve not yet found a PC that all the more standard parts don’t work (drives, graphics cards, sound cards, etc.). If you go out and buy an obscure device that doesn’t have drivers written by the manufacturer, don’t expect it to work. No matter what you are told, thing don’t “just work”.
y@: Please do not live in that state of fallacy.
Your first point is a bit absurd. Yes, there are many distributions and window managers. What you need to see is that people are different. I run Arch Linux, which starts out with nothing but a command line. I use the minimal dwm window manager with no panels. This setup works for me. However, I doubt whether most people reading this article would like it. People make decisions before buying a car, a toothbrush, or anything else. Why should software be one-size-fits-all when nothing else in life is?
you expressed what most people feeling is.humans should only use microsoft products.microsoft is always correct. open source bad linux trollbolts must be hanged altogether.linux holes are the reason why many people thinks bad of microsoft.
below blog is subsidiary of manan blog.the author shows the problems with linux and how to save sanity :
http://www.shelleytherepublican.com/category/education/technical/linux
we should boycott linux. it is bad .
Great article, simple to understand (except for the kids posting comments, obviously). Hopefully soon Linux will start moving in a practical direction (a merge in the desktop enviroments could be a milestone to that).