Dispelling the fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) about Linux
It's been written about a lot over the past year - that the operating system market is set to shift in the future. Different "experts" have estimated different timeframes for the shift and while I've not found a figure I agree with; I agree that the shift is coming but before that can happen - this overwhelmingly common feeling of FUD needs to be dispelled. I've been continually writing about how usable Linux is becoming and think that there's too many ill-founded concerns as to why Linux isn't ready for the big time.
#1 - It's hard to install
Since when? I'm an XP user and I've installed a load of different distros and all of them follow the same road. These days you boot into the LiveCD environment to give it a try without installing - there's then an option to install from that. Click that and it'll guide you through the installation process in a way that's no more complicated than XP. Your partitions are managed automatically, boot loaders are installed at your request (well, the installer prompts you with a [yes] [no] option). Where's the margin for error? Where's the difficulty? You click install. It installs and needs comparable levels of information to XP upon install (location, keyboard layout etc). Latest releases of Linux are not difficult to install - you don't need any computing experience to click "next" several times.
#2 - You need to use the command line (terminal) lots
I can't remember the last time I needed to use the terminal in the most recent releases of things like Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS or SimplyMepis. Sure, some things will need the terminal but these are complicated procedures that you're not going to be doing UNLESS you understand the terminal. You don't need to use it for normal use.
#3 - Stuff is hard to install
I now find stuff harder to install in Windows because you need to source it first (and pay for it if you're so inclined). In Linux you have the joys of Synaptic Package Manager - an online catalogue of free applications that you can mark for installation. So if you want Application A, you mark it for installation; it downloads and installs (if any pre-requisites are required those are downloaded and installed too) and you're notified when the installation is complete. Application A is now in your "start" menu. It's that simple. No browsing for apps, no faffing around with illegal software or serial numbers; just click it and it's done.
#4 - I like media, Linux doesn't
Sorry to disappoint but the latest distros like I mentioned earlier all have excellent media support. Ubuntu Feisty Fawn will download and install missing codecs on demand, PCLinuxOS comes with many preloaded (as do others) meaning that out-of-the-box media support is equivalent to several hours of faffing around in XP. Playing videos on Linux is becoming an increasingly mindless task - which is excellent.
So that's 4 common FUD explanations, let's now look at a couple of negative points about Linux...
#1 - Hardware support
A disappointing aspect but a fair one when you look at it objectively. Expecting hardware that works with Windows to work with Linux is like expecting your Windows hardware to work on OSX too. There are incompatibilities (notoriously ATi but things are improving). However you do need to research hardware configs to ensure they work with Linux because some just don't. Yes it's annoying but it's not unfair.
#2 - Gaming
I was tempted to mark this up in "dispelling the FUD" but gaming is still a nightmare in Linux (although not as much as it used to be). The reason for this is because games developers don't support Linux - not the other way around. Fortunately gaming isn't a lost cause. Read this article for more information but I know that World Of Warcraft works, as does Counter Strike (I was recently fragged by a chap playing on Gentoo). So it's not ideal but it is improving.
Two notable bad points... So what about the good ones?
#1 - Free!
Yup, Linux is free. Pretty easy to see the benefit of this.
#2 - Pretty
Have a look at what Beryl can do to your desktop here (it's a Youtube video) and see how laughable you find Vista's "aero" afterwards.
#3 - Freedom of choice
Not everyone needs their computer for the same things so it's not beyond belief that there's different operating systems for different things. Either way, however you look at it there is a nice freedom of choice in Linux (even in the mainstream ones) so you can try a few Live CD's and find an operating system that you like the look and feel of.
#4 - Regular updates
Ubuntu for example gets a new version every 6 months, so rather than wait 8 years for a new Windows you can get drastically new systems every few months (and upgrade rather than reinstall).
#5 - Performance
You'll get more performance out of a Linux distro than you would Vista (typically). You can get a Gnome system running quite happily on 256mb of RAM. I ran Ubuntu Breezy Badger on an Intel PII 333mhz machine... Case and point.
#6 - Dodge the nanny state
Linux doesn't watch every move you make. There is no Windows Genuine Advantage to contend with. You're free to do whatever you like - Mepis isn't going to enforce DRM's on you anytime soon - can the same be said for Vista? OSX?
Conclusions
True this is a bit of a biased review of the situation but the point remains - there's a lot of silly FUD that's based on Linux of yester-year. Now things are improving so much the argument of "it's difficult to use" is now as void as ever. I've looked at many of the new distros (as you'll find the reviews on this site) and the basic functionality is getting so much more intuitive than Windows. So please, before you write Linux off as difficult please give a LiveCD a go and see how difficult it really is - you'll be surprised.
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