I was listening to a video from Chris Pirillo, and I am really getting frustrated with certain perceptions which have perpetuated in regards to Linux…

I agree with Chris that competition for Windows is a good thing…  Particular because Windows market share is eroded in the process.  I work in an IT shop every day where the architecture of Windows and its 20-year legacy cause endless issues with clients.  Much of the problem revolves around third-party applications being written to an old or incomplete specification.  But I digress…

The following items are misconceptions which, like bad email hoaxes, never seem to go away:

  1. Kernel Compilation: Please do not believe that you have to compile your own kernel.  For nearly every distribution out there, the kernel probably supports 99% of the hardware in any given system.  The more high-profile a component is, the higher chance it will be supported.  If you choose to purchase (for example) a cheap $30 widget that is found in the clearance bin in your local electronics store, you might have some problems.  While there may be a Windows driver, it might be hard to find a replacement driver if you lose the CD it came with.  For SATA controllers, CPU’s, webcams, digital cameras, printers, and more, the Linux kernel provides the drivers.  Also, the folks at various distributions work very hard to package the kernel to interact nicely with the rest of the system.  As an example to the hardware argument, I will discuss my laptop.  I purchased a Lenovo z61m (Intel Core 2 Duo, 1GB RAM, SATA HDD, Intel video and wireless, Fingerprint reader, etc).  Without recompiling my kernel, I have used all of the internal system components as well as a bluetooth adapter (Kensington), digital camera (Sony T1), webcam (Logitech STX), a Nintendo Wii Remote, Wireless presenter remote, external mouse and keyboard.  The only piece of hardware which does not work completely is the memory card reader.  The SD portion works, but the xD portion (which I do not use) has no driver available for this device.
  2. Linux Installation: Again, Ubuntu has been a shining example as to how easy a Linux distribution is to install.  Fedora, SuSE, and Debian are not that far behind.  In fact, modern Linux distributions are better than Windows during the installation at finding drivers for hardware.  I have had more hardware missing drivers with a freshly-restored system (from the restore partition) of an HP or Gateway laptop than from any of the last ten or so Linux installations.  To me, the lack of proper hardware support (at least for the network adapters, to enable the retrieval of additional drivers) is rather disturbing.  As an aside, the old argument stands in many ways.  The overwhelming majority of computer users already have a system administrator to manage or install the operating system (company IT, “that kid who knows computers”, groups like Geek Squad, etc.).  While I appreciate the desire for an easier install, I also would mention that Windows users have learned as much about their operating system as Linux users have about theirs (from a systems administration perspective).
  3. Linux Support: The age-old question of how to get support for Linux…  First of all, see above.  Most people (regardless of operating system) seek advice from someone “smarter with computers” than they are.  For those folks who appreciate the technology and have learned more than the basics, what do you do when you have a problem?  That’s right, you turn to Google, discussion forums, and the user community.  Guess what?  Linux has many of the same support structures.  Countless how-to sites, forums, chat rooms, blogs, and e-mail mailing lists (all indexed by your favorite search engine) provide an insight into the solutions to a given problem.  In addition, Linux can often add a layer of community support which Windows users have seemed to have left behind, the User Group.  Across the globe, thousands of Linux user groups meet (weekly, monthly, or annually) to discuss new technologies, new software, the community itself, and supporting each other.  One item that tends to put some people off, however, is the attitude of some communities to new users.  All most of those communities ask is to invest something in your own problem.  Often, new users will enter a support forum and ask, “How do I get “foo” to work?”  While that question isn’t a bad one, it reveals to the community that this person has not even run a single Google search to have an idea where to start.  If the same user were to ask, “How do I get ‘foo’ to work?  I have seen that I have to look at my syslog, but I’m new at this and don’t know where to start,” the response will often be warmer.  Of course, if someone would insist on some hand-holding and cannot afford to spend some time learning, then they should pay a support provider (Red Hat, Canonical, Novell, or a member of a local LUG) to provide that assistance.
  4. Application Compatibility: This one has got to stop… now.  Let’s examine Windows.  Should someone need an application which is native to Windows, you just grab it and install it.  What if you want to run Linux/UNIX software on the machine?  or Macintosh?  Cygwin is a product which provides much of the support to run Linux/UNIX command-line and graphical applications on Windows.  It is free and open-source and maintained by Red Hat.  Or one would find cross-platform support.  Some of our favorite tools in the community on Windows are cross platform.  Firefox, Pidgin, Gimp, and OpenOffice.org come to mind.  Of course, all of these will work on Windows and Mac, in addition to Linux.  To compare, the same tactic can be applied to running Windows applications on Linux using Wine.  Of course, the ultimate solution for the best compatibility is to run the tool in its native operating system.  With the advent of free virtualization software, anyone can run the operating system of their choice as a virtual machine.

With all that being said, I believe open-source software (with Linux having lead the charge) has won and will continue to push aside proprietary software.  We see (or more importantly don’t see) Linux in all sorts of places.  Early usages of Linux in a commercial environment (e.g. TiVo) provided a catalyst by which Linux began to be used elsewhere.  From web servers to routers to search engines, Linux is everywhere we go today.  With the quirks of the Windows operating system, its no wonder that people are flocking to OS X.  Never mind that users are trading one proprietary software company for a proprietary system company…  Ultimately, the open nature of the software I choose to use everyday enables a better life for myself and those around me, and I couldn’t imagine living with the shackles of Microsoft restraining me from making the technology do what I wish.