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Linux Desktop Myths Examined
Call Me Black Cloud writes "NewsFactor Network has an overview of the $95.00 Gartner report titled, "Myths of Linux on the Desktop". It's a good look at several points from the perspective of a corporate user, not a home user."
Linux is ready for the desktop
We all know that's not true!
One of the biggest wails heard by the most vocal and fanatical zealots in the Linux community is that Windows and most of the programs that run on it are bloated and slow, while screaming about how fast and "un-bloated" Linux is. Where this myth started I do not know, but it is obvious that it is a deliberate effort by Linux fanatics to tarnish the good name of Microsoft and Windows and to lure Linux newbies and those curious about the OS into making the fatal mistake of installing it on their computer. The fact that this alleged truth seems to go unquestioned shows how reluctant most Linux advocates are to admit that their once lightweight OS has degenerated into nothing more than piles and piles of spaghetti code and a huge mess of cheesy, mostly unused apps that is characteristic of most Linux distributions these days.
Now to dispel the myths:
Myth 1.) Linux is good for old computers.
This Linux Lie is often perpetrated when a newbie wants to try out Linux, but is reluctant to install it on his or her main computer (with good reason) Others replying to his question will say that it is fine to erase the hard drive of his old Pentium 166 with Windows 98 SE to prepare it for the Linux revolution, but the fact is that Linux performs horribly on slow computers in comparison to Windows. Sure, Linux may turn an older computer into a feeble server or a router, but try running things that you could run fairly quickly under Windows such as anything GUI, particularly an office app or a web browser, and Linux crawls, stutters, grinds the hard drive for 10 minutes, and generally eats up all the RAM in your poor machine's system like an obese glutton.
Myth 2.) Linux is lightweight
Once, yes, but now it couldn't be further from the truth. Linux has quickly snowballed into a gargantuan assortment of apps and bloated libraries that have been stitched together by the slaves of Tux. No amount of RAM will satisfy Linux, it will eat it all until there is nothing left to do but start swapping. Many Linux purists will say that is not true, but since they choose to only use the command line or maybe blackbox or windowmaker they have no say. The very fact that they would be torturing themselves with such rubbish just goes to show that they find straining their eyes and wrists on the geeky command prompt or configuring their blackbox using text files less torturous than suffering through the unbelievably slow load times and bloated programs found in KDE and GNOME.
Myth 3.) Windows is bloated
This absurd statement is the most fictitious, and is spouted over and over again by the Linux faithful in the hopes that they will brainwash themselves into believing this most grievous of the Linux Lies. My computer, an Athlon 1600+ w/ 256 mb RAM running Windows XP, takes merely seconds to start, the whole system taking about as much time to load as KDE by itself takes to start up in Linux. Even on my old 166 Mhz IBM Aptiva Windows 98 SE runs very well, is quite snappy, and is just as featureful as KDE, even considering that Windows 98 is a four-year-old OS. None of this speed or functionality was even remotely matched by any Linux GUI I ran on it. The lie spouted by many Linux users that Windows 9x is an unusable crap OS is something that perplexes me, as I had far more stability/mysterious problems on RedHat 7.2 and KDE than I've ever had in Windows 9x (for instance, one time konqueror started freezing for 5 seconds every time I started it or clicked on a directory, and this went on for a week until the problem mysteriously disappeared) Linux users often compare uptimes like penis size, but unless you are running a server or like wasting energy to keep your box on 24/7 this is irrelevant. I should note, however, that on my computer Linux locked up every 5 minutes after starting GNOME, which I found out the problem was due to a four-year-old bug in the Linux kernel (so much for open source fixing bugs quickly) that caused it to corrupt memory and lock up X windows on my nvidia card. I managed to ge
You have a Linux machine at your house, tucked away from sight, running all of the mission critical applications needed to make sure your living room doesn't start hemoraging cash.
You're running complex applications like "filing system", "Email", and "DNS/DHCP". Holy Shit. You're a computer god, and I bow before you. None of those services are available from any platform other than Linux. None of those services can be administered remotely on any platform other than Linux. None of those services will run on a $20 flea-market pentium-class computer on any platform other than Linux.
STFU, troll.
Slashdot is jumping the shark. I'm just driving the boat.
Wait a second... $450 per user for software, for a year? Are you smoking crack? Have you ever purchased software?
You are aware that a computer needs more than just an operating system to be useful to most people, right? And you are aware that Linux is just an operating system, right? And you are aware that software license for an operating system is almost never where the expenses are in running a computer, right?
So how the hell is your bright "only spend $450 by using linux" idea going to help companies get more work down for less money?
Or don't you have a clue what TCO and ROI stand for? STFU, troll.
Slashdot is jumping the shark. I'm just driving the boat.
There's plenty of documentation on the APIs for windows, the only thing hidden is the source code itself - which is irrelevant.
.NET is much superior than jerking around with ancient return codes from command line apps.
Whether you're scripting OpenOffice or MS Word, you assume that the methods and objects you work with perform as documented. If it doesnt you expect the authors to fix it (at least you do when you pay for it, if it was free you just cross your fingers or write some kludge to get around it)
Scripting in a world where virtually everything you want is exposed through ActiveX/COM and now
UNIX is as inflexible and unweildly as it was in the 70s.
I don't need no instructions to know how to rock!!!!
Except more maybe RedHat which seems to be getting worse.
/freaky/crap/mozilla/ why does redhat insist that whatever the default install of popular apps is they need to modify it in order to confuse and drive their users nuts?
you want examples?
mozilla.. redhat installs it INCORRECTLY and in a place where if you install mozilla from mozilla.org... it doesnt work.
Open office is also butchered.
Why doesnt the redhat people stop screwing with the apps and let them install where they want to?
you dont see microsoft trying to force netscape to install in
this is why I am completely switched to Slackware (back to my roots) and Debian..
Redhat = let's make everything messed up for the fun of it.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Yeah, I guess if you want anything on windows you have to buy it, NOT. Ever heard of freeware?
On windows this amounts to games and a few odd utilities. Most are not really freeware, but shareware/nagware/spyware/whatever. NONE perform the functions described above.