Posted on Tuesday 6th of February 2007 at 06:33 in Linux

Why it's difficult to hate Linux

Like many others I found myself reading a witty article on the Guardian from Charlie Brooker entitled I hate Macs. The article used the latest advertising campaigns in the UK as a basis for getting it's point across and it made a thoroughly good read. It got me thinking, surely it must be really hard to actually HATE Linux...

1. Where's the villain?

It's easy to hate Microsoft because you have Bill Gates to vilify, someone who sits atop an Everest of money with a metaphorical hoover positioned above your head to empty your pockets. Who is the king atop the Linux community? Is it Linus Torvalds? No, the community has so many important figures you couldn't place hatred on one of them even if you tried. If you can't label it you can't hate it. You can't hate Mark Shuttleworth specifically any more than you could hate a Microsoft developer.

2. Where's the evil?

It's all too easy to dislike stereotypically capitalist organizations that are there primarily to make money. The people who sell you buggy software and keep the source code secret are the "nasty black hats" whereas the "white hats" keep the source code open and devote their spare time to the cause. Well, this may be more true ~2001 but the notion remains the same, hating Linux would be like hating a charity who are trying to make your life better.

3. A marketing campaign to dislike?

Well there aren't any. There aren't adverts plastered over TV trying to discredit competitors for one reason or another which is good, because you can't dislike something that isn't there. Linux is what you want it to be, it doesn't attempt to market itself as being "cool" or "office gold" because it could be whatever you want. Ubuntu doesn't need to tell you these things.

4. The Community

The stereotypical image of a hardcore geek calling you a n00b for being unable to configure your resolution is as far from the truth as ever. The communities are always there for support, allowing real support from real people - rather than hours of FAQs and tutorials. People love getting help from other people, don't they?

Final Thoughts

You can't hate Linux in the same way you can Macs or Windows because not only is there no one person to vilify but what would you be hating? You would be hating a massive community of people who are trying to develop a free alternative for those who should want it. No one is trying to discredit the alternatives, no one is trying to force you to use it; they're just trying to make it better should you choose to. Isn't that something you want to embrace?

 

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