Ever wondered what Linux is and how it really works? Many of us have asked this question, especially when you are densely populated around with Redmond fans and none of your pals have tried Linux ever! Some people in areas surrounded by FOSS, go ahead with full potential without any issues and for those trying out or curious about GNU Linux then here are the 5 main misconceptions about it.
Only CLI all the time
That is totally and entirely and universally FALSE for many of us who are not developers or administrators. So if someone comes up to you and says “CLI era is outdated bro! Go get a Windows 10 copy if you want comfortability”. Make sure you smack that dude and sigh, so he doesn’t try to plant false information on your head next time.
Actual fact
Most of the tutorials on the website demand a user to launch their terminal program and execute some bizarre commands. Well, that’s because Linux is built to succeed at text-mode environment while Windows is built primarily focusing on Graphical User Interface. But that’s sliding away slowly on GNOME, KDE or Cinnamon because they have built many GUI front-ends to accomplish a task that only needs user input through mouse hover and clickable icons where earlier that was otherwise.
Not user-friendly or no GUI
Again entirely not true and it all depends on you too. Maybe someone told you Arch Linux is freaking awesome! And you without minding to research some basic facts about it (for instance: installation) proceed ahead. Yeah, dude, that’s where you are going wrong. Importantly, most of the website links Ubuntu and Mint as the most user friendly Linux distro available. Go ahead try those and then when you get the hang of it, you can proceed to dig down to Slackware, Arch or Gentoo.
Actual fact
Usually, Windows users tend to struggle migrating to Linux for two reasons: Not familiar with GNOME and software management. Fortunately, this is no longer the issue because almost all full-blown Linux distros have a software manager and for those familiar with start menu at the bottom left, KDE and Cinnamon environments are the best if you still really hate GNOME (though unique!).
Poor ecosystem
Uh-huh, Linux has a rich ecosystem where thousands of developers+contributors work hard to improve the stability, security, etc and integrate new features in it every second! A typical Ubuntu usually gets new updates every single day and a new major version is released at least every six months. Compare that to Windows that takes years or decade (in the case of Win XP). Linux Mint, a Ubuntu-based distro follows along with Ubuntu.
No productivity programs
You probably know what I’m going to throw here ‘not true’. Thousands have focused on providing alternatives programs for productivity use. So you have LibreOffice that is alternative to Microsoft Office Suite and GIMP for Photoshop-alike. Also Read – 50 Essential Linux Applications
Above all developers have top-notch tools without any hassle. While there’ll still be some issues with Computer Engineering students who rely on Multisim and certain yada yada but beat it. Plus there’s no such thing as pirated edition 🙂
What free? Really?
Here’s the funny side: All great tools given for ‘free’ as in free beer. Yes, that’s correct. So here’s where some point out “Linux is open source, that means anybody can hack and OPEN source is bad news”. Flash news, malicious users tend to spend most of their time tinkering on popular OS. That means, Windows being a closed source Operating System, those extraordinary guys still find a way to exploit flaws in it. And imagine there are literally thousands of Linux distributions. There’s no guarantee that a specific Ubuntu is used worldwide though it still ranks as the third most popular Operating System in the world.
Conclusion
There you have it. I probably have cleared your 90% doubts rather than bringing on deep unexplainable questions into your mind. The truth is you have to make it do what you really want out of Linux. Choose a distro and then consider your hardware, eventually selecting a Desktop Environment.
