Linux Pros & Cons
Submitted by lukeprog on Sun, 10/16/2005 - 07:09
Tags:
- Pros:
- Free as in free beer. (Except for Linspire, the easiest to use.) Most programs are free, too.
- Free as in open standards and absolute customizability.
- Stable; barring hardware failure, you might as well run it for years without rebooting. My WinXP PC crashes a 10 times a week.
- Safe from viruses and other vulnerabilities due to core OS design, not continuous, messy patches. Linspire forfeits some of these safety measures for ease of use.
- Responsive: for example, a single text command can erase the entire file system!
- Excellent tools and environment for developers and specialized fields like astronomy, physics, linguistics, etc.
- Compatibility with most Microsoft & Apple protocols and files.
- Freedom from backdoors, invasion of privacy, forced upgrades, proprietary file formats, product registration, and high software prices.
- Same as Windows, there's plenty of free support from users, a multi-user & multitasking setup, GUI, documentation, etc.
- Some ability to run Windows programs through solutions like WINE.
- Cons:
- Not user-friendly; for example, accessing media from removable drives is tricky, the "default" applications are not as intuitive and elegant as programs like Notepad, Calculator, Windows Media Player, etc., most complex system administration can only be done through cryptic text commands, and more. The $50 Linspire is addressing these problems.
- Some hardware incompatibility due to most systems being designed specifically for Windows (winmodems, etc.).
- Lack of much high-cost-development software, like games and Photoshop.
- Very slow boot up.
Author Comments:
I recently installed Fedora (free Red Hat) on an old PC. I'm just beginning to learn Linux, so my opinions about it may change with experience. Most of the pros/cons will be in comparison to Windows. Most significant issues for the way I use Linux are in bold.
Update: I switched to Linspire. It's as easy to use as Linux should be, but forfeits a few of Linux's core strengths. Frankly, I'm for it. I have better things to do with my time than recompile the kernel.
Discovery of the day: while GNOME is totally lacking is administration and customization GUIs, KDE handles it quite well, especially through the "Control Center." It's also got better config screens for its taskbar, etc. Forget GNOME.
Any other Listologists use Linux? (I promise I'll post my problems to the proper forums and not bug you a bit.)
HolyShitIJustInstalledLinspireAndItFuckingRules.