Matthew Helmke recently posted and article entitled What is the coolest thing you can do using Linux that you can’t do with Windows or on a Mac? This is chalked full of fallacies that are quite common in the Linux advocacy world. I am going to take a look at each one of these items and explain what I think about them.
1. Upgrade to the newest version legally and without paying money
I can not argue with this, most Linux distributions are 100% free. Great start
2. Have the latest version of the operating system run faster than the previous version on the same hardware
Are you saying that my 10+ year old computer is going to run the latest and greatest version of Ubuntu without any problems? And its going to run it faster than any previous version? Wow, I had no idea.
3. Easily install and run different graphical interfaces if I don’t like the default setup
Who besides geeks actually care about doing this? Giving the average computer user this choice is just plain confusing. Having a single option for most people is almost always the best option. By giving most non-technical users a choice you are just creating pain for the person who has to support them. Oh wait, you totally forgot about supporting users. That’s right, you did not think of actual end users needing support.
4. Install twenty programs with one command
Why does the average computer user need to do that? Being a geek I can understand the need to install a bunch of things at once. For the normal non-geek this option will not be used.
5. Have the system automatically update all my installed programs for me.
Very valid point. Only problem, what about software not in the software repositories? It will update most of your software, but not all in that case. (Yes, I am reaching here, but it is a very valid point.)
6. Install the same copy of my OS (Ubuntu) on multiple computers without worrying about license restrictions or activation keys
This is the same exact point as number one.
7. Give away copies of the operating system and other programs that run on it without breaking any laws, governmental or ethical or moral, because it was all intended to be used this way
Once again, same as number one and six.
8. Have full control over my computer hardware and know that there are no secret back doors in my software, put there by malicious software companies or governments
Are you actually auditing all of your software to verify this? Yes having open source software will give you the option to verify that it is not backdoored, but do does the end user have the know how to actually do this? Some will argue that the software being open source will allow others to audit the software. This is very true, but has nothing to do with control on your computer.
9. Run without using a virus scanner, adware/spyware protection, and not reboot my computer for months, even when I do keep up with all of the latest security updates
I don’t run any of that software myself either. On the Windows side I know how to browse safe and on the Mac side it is not needed either. The end user does need this kind of software on a Windows machine, but not a Mac.
10. Run my computer without needing to defragment my hard drive, ever
This too is a Windows only problem. There is software to defrag both Linux and OS X, both are useless.
11. Try out software, decide I don’t like it, uninstall it, and know that it didn’t leave little bits of stuff in a registry that can build up and slow down my machine
Once again, the registry is a Windows thing. OS X is actually cleaner than Linux when it comes to most software. All of the preferences are stored inside the application install directory and therefore when you remove the software it is also gone. To remove software from OS X you just drag the folder which looks like an application into the trash.
12. Make a major mistake that requires a complete reinstallation and be able to do it in less than an hour, because I put all of my data on a separate partition from the operating system and program files
Since OS X is based on UNIX you can do the same thing. It is not the default as that is just confusing to anyone without some *NIX background. Heck, its kind of hard to even do that in Ubuntu as they’ve hidden the setting in the installer for the same reason.
13. Boot into a desktop with flash and effects as cool as Windows Vista on a three year old computer…in less than 40 seconds, including the time it takes me to type my username and password to login
Not without some major tweaking. Linux by default is the slowest booting OSs around. You can certainly speed up this process, but it is not by any means speedy. On my test vista box the bootup time was about 30 seconds including 5 seconds of waiting for grub to time out.
14. Customize anything I want, legally, including my favorite programs. I can even track down the software developers to ask them questions, contribute ideas, and get involved in the actual design/software writing process if I want to
Who actually does this outisde of geeks? No one. Having all of these options are great, but they are time consuming and confusing.
15. Have 4+ word processor windows open working on papers, listen to music, play with flashy desktop effects, have contact with a largely happy community and have firefox, instant messaging, and email clients all open at the same time, without ever having had to beg someone for a code to make my os work, and without the system running so slow it is useless
What I’ve got open at this very second on XP: Firefox with 7 tabs, Thunderbird, MS Word 2007, Pidgin, VLC playing music, 2 ssh sessions open via PuTTY. This computer is speedy and using very little resources.
16. Use the command “dpkg –get-selections > pkg.list” to make a full, detailed list of all software I have installed, backup my /etc and /home directories on a separate partition, and you are able to recover your system any time, easily
All this really means is that you’ve got too much software installed on your computer. If you can’t easily remember the software that you have installed then you clearly have too much. Its also mentioned that this is used for reinstalling after a reformat. With timemachine on Leopard all of the software is backed up and you can restore everything during the install. It is a fairly slow process, but I did it a few months back just to test it. Worked perfectly.
17. Run multiple desktops simultaneously, or even allow multiple users to log in and use the computer simultaneously
I see the benefit of this as a geek, but can the average person set it up? Most people would rather spend the extra money to buy another computer than to figure this out. You still need a keyboard, mouse, and monitor for this to function correctly. Why not just take the extra step get the computer?
18. Resize a hard disk partition without having to delete it and without losing the data on it
gParted will resize an ntfs partion and you can do the same thing in OS X.
19. Use the same hardware for more than 5 years before it really needs to be replaced…I have some hardware that is nearly 10 years old, running Linux, and still useful
See number 2.
20. Browse the web while the OS is being installed!
Now this is stretching if I have ever seen it. Installing an OS using a live CD is actually slower than using a text based installer. Since the computer has to process all of the graphics for what you are doing instead of focusing on the install it slows down the process.
21. Use almost any hardware and have a driver for it included with the operating system…eliminating the need to scour the internet to find the hardware manufacturer’s website to locate one
The current trend in computing is to smaller and smaller devices. Most users spend more time on a laptop than desktop. Now lets say one of these users wants to have 5.1 surround sound when they are at home. The problem is that almost all laptops do not support this, you need some external piece of hardware. The first logical option would be to get a USB sound card that supports surround sound. Wait, there is almost no support for USB audio in Linux.
22. Get the source code for almost anything, including the OS kernel and most of my applications
Once again, who does this? Having the source code is great if you are a geek and you actually know how to program. For someone who is neither that does this matter. Most Linux advocates state open source as Linux’s huge feature. The problem is the majority of people just don’t care. Almost every end user I talk to wants one thing, ease of use. And that right there is the problem with Linux. For the average computer user there are just too many options when it comes to Linux.
Linux is a timesink and a real problem when it comes to productivity. You have all of these different options and it just takes a bunch of time to set anything up. I gave up running Linux on my machines as I was spending way too much time trying to tweak every little setting to get it just right. My primary home machine run OS X and it allows me to get things done without having to think about every little thing. I actually find XP to be better than Linux when it comes to productivity as it does have fewer options to tweak with than Linux.
Hello, great post. I agree with all of that above. I’ve been using some sort of *nix for years now and much prefer it to other types of Operating systems.
(one slight correction to #11, on OS X some of the programs actually put files in other places on the system. There are programs that delete them… but it’s not always as easy as trashing an app)
It is true that #11 isn’t exactly 100% accurate. According to the devel docs from Apple it should be. As with any guideline it is not followed 100% of the time, which is why working with MS software on OS X is just plain wrong.
I’ve yet to find a valid reason why you have to actually install MS Office instead of just dragging the app into the Applications folder. If I remember correctly you have to install Pages in the same way, so I must be missing something in there.
There are Linux zealots and Windows zealots (Macs zealots are known as bigots). It appears you are none of these… which is a good thing.
I run Linux at home as my main OS. I have Windows on a separate drive that I can reboot into if the need arises. I used run exclusively Mac computers and I will do so again next time I can afford a new computer.
I am not blind to any of the flaws of any of my operating systems. They all have flaws. After adding up all the flaws, I found that the ones in Linux bugged me less than the ones in Windows. The ones in Mac OS X bug me even less than the Linux ones.
That said, I was a little disappointed with not finding anything I would describe as “the coolest thing you can do using Linux that you can’t do with Windows or on a Mac?” in either Matthew’s article or yours.
Compiz doesn’t really count because Mac OS X had Expose years ago and Vista has fancy effects too. Not the same fancy effects but still fancy effects.
apt-get doesn’t really qualify on the “cool” part. It’s kinda cool for geeks but try explaining this to your girlfriend or your mother and watch how quickly they tune out.
Pretty much anything on the command line can be run under Windows with Cygwin and on a Mac natively. In fact, apparently you can even run KDE under Cygwin.
Verifying the source code to not contain bugs, security flaws and backdoors is all well and good but fails, again, on the “cool” criteria.
The most important feature of Linux: knowing that it is free (as in freedom) and cannot be taken away from you is the main reason Richard Stallman gets up in the morning… and therefore is not cool.
It looks like the only thing you can do as a Linux user that you can’t as a Mac or Windows user is this: http://xkcd.com/272/
Yeah, fanboys of all camps are just plain scary. The definition of a fanboy to me is someone who thinks that a company can not do anything wrong. For example, someone saying that Vista is the best OS ever released without some sort of disclaimer.
“In fact, apparently you can even run KDE under Cygwin.”
I actually did run KDE in cygwin many a moons ago before I switched over to Linux on my old laptop. If I remember correctly it was the fall of 2003 because I was taking a Cisco networking class.
Today for most of my Linux needs I switch on a virtual machine and get the job done. For me I do not see the need to have a dedicated desktop for Linux as nearly everything I want to do can be done elsewhere.
The very best part of Linux in my opinion is the sheer number of developers creating wonderful free software. Developers love Linux. In the security arena there are many pieces of software that will only work on a dedicated Linux box. Kistmet is one example. Someone did create Kismac, but the original is far superior.
Another thing that I like about Linux is servers. I would rather sit in the command line any day than try to figure out IIS’s screwed up GUI options. Tweaking settings in a config file is just far easier, at least for me.
So, where do I see Linux in the future? The same place it is right now; on the server and a select few desktops. There is no need for Linux to explode on the desktop market, it is just too complex for the average computer user. Just look at my dad, it took me about 30 minutes on the phone to explain how to install Firefox on OS X. (a process which entails dragging Firefox.app into the Applications folder and then running it from there)
The one thing that almost all Linux users forget is actual end users.
#2: My hardware is reaching the 10 year point, and each version of Ubuntu runs a little faster on it. Well, I haven’t done any formal benchmarks, but I’m definitely not seeing speed decreases as I upgrade.
#9: On several points above you argued about end users perspective (which the article you’re critiquing is a mix of perspectives) and yet now you are switching back to a geekier perspective. Also, the end-user Mac people I know still have to reboot fairly often, but I don’t know about you. :)
#13: I just loaded a 466MHz Celeron into Kate OS (because it was the only PC off) in 18 seconds. And yes, it has compositing effects.
#15: I’m doing it 256MB of RAM, and you? :)
#17: Umm, multiple desktops require clicking between boxes on a toolbar. Even non computer savy people such as my younger brother had this one figured out in a matter of seconds.
#19: Even if the entire system isn’t old, being able to use legacy devices can be useful. Get my colorado backup drive to work on OS X and I will be amazed.
#20: I haven’t installed OS X, but this process is still much quicker than XP or Vista.
#21: Well, I didn’t realize this. I’ve only ever used one USB sound card in Linux, and it worked perfectly. I guess I didn’t realize. :-\ I always just went by the line on the Linux USB website when I was looking for a card “USB audio systems such as speakers normally comply with the USB audio class specification. If your audio device does not comply with the specification, it will not work with Linux at this time.” As I said though, I have limited experience here.
If you really hate tweaking options and that hurts your productivity, just go with a distro that doesn’t let you do as much. PCLOS comes to mind. SUSE, but not as much. For me, I’ll stick with Debian where I have my setup exactly how I like it.
Very good rebuttal. I think the one area that Linux needs to make vast improvements in is installing and removing software. Sure, you can use the command line to do this all at once, but the simple ability to double click an installation program in Windows and have it install makes it easy for end users to adopt. Until that comes to Linux, I do not think that it will become mainstream.
Actually, by default in Ubuntu you do have a software manager that makes software management quite easy. http://www.nongnu.org/synaptic/
It is actually easier to install software in Ubuntu than on Windows. This is due to the fact that you do not have to go out and search for the software, it is all in one easy to use location.
The problem with this is that how many non-geeks actually install software? Most of the people I work with are very non-technical and never install software. If they want something installed they have no idea what to do and usually and just have me do it.