www.drinky.org.uk - Linux Myths

Linux Myths

Things you may have heard about Linux and whether they are true or false

Installing Linux is hard

Common one this one. Firstly, most distributions take as much of the headache out of Linux as possible. Installation isn't too different from installing Windows but there are is one big diffference.

The main hurdle which puts people off Linux is disk partitioning. Linux uses a minimum of 2 partitions, preferably 3 or 4 to separate data to ensure if one partition fills it won't affect the rest of the system and also if something nasty happens to one of your partitions, you won't lose everything. This is very different to the Windows approach where there is one partition with everything on it, which leads to fear in people new to Linux. The easiest route is to put a spare hard disk in your PC and get your Linux installer to automatcically partition it for you. If you prefer a bit more control over this, you can do so. I recommend Mandrake Linux as a first Linux installation, it has a very good installer, certainly no harder than installing Windows and has the best partitioning tool I have come across.

Linux doesn't support much hardware

The next hard part is the hardware support. Basically, Linux support has only recently started to come forward from hardware vendors. People like IBM, Hewlett Packard, 3Com, Intel, nVidia, ATI have quite a good record of either providing drivers or assisting the community in producing them for their hardware, others have been less helpful. The main problems areas are winmodems, soundcards and graphics cards.

Winmodems or software modems are generally internal PCI modem cards that are cut down versions of hardware modems that require special drivers to emulate the functions of a hardware modem that are not present in the software modem. This is usually done to keep costs down and they are known as Winmodems as these special drivers are generally only available for Windows. Manufacturers are unwilling to assist in the production of Linux drivers as they fear giving away their design secrets. The situation is improving with most vendors realising that Linux is the fastest growing OS market at the moment, particularly in the the commecial sector and therefore seeing an important revenue stream is their hardware is supported under Linux.

Sound cards are generally ok, particularly if you have a common card from a helpful manufacturer. Creative Labs Soundblasters and clones are usually fine, but there have been problems with Via AC'97 chipsets that come on many motherboards with Via chipsets.

Graphics cards are the other main problem area, Lets face it, at a push you can live without sound but can you live without graphical output? No. The problem here is that owing to market size, most hardware vendors will produce Windows drivers for the product release and then worry about Linux drivers later. These can often take 6 months to a year. nVidia are very good and ATI are not bad, but most often your card will work with the standard VGA driver that comes with your distribution, though you probably won't get 3D gaming out of it. If you have an nVidia card you should definitely look at the drivers provided by nVidia.

Check with your Linux distribution's hardware support pages to see if they support your hardware.

Linux is hard to use and maintain

Linux is a complex beast from the outside, but on the inside it's actually a lot simpler than Windows when it comes to design. The theory of complexity comes from the fact that with Windows there's a magic button that makes everything happen. In Linux there are configuration files. You can edit them by hand, but most new distributions like Mandrake, Red Hat, SuSE and Knoppix come with some kind of control centre where most settings can be changed using graphical applications.

Actually using Linux for normal desktop stuff is usually problem free, web browsing, email, instant messaging, office software, photo editing and multimedia players are all catered for and you may be spoilt for choice. There are gaps however, video DVDs use a proprietary encryption that cannot be open sourced or used without paying a license fee due to copyright. For this reason there is no open source DVD player software. Linux is also a little behind in DTP and multimedia production software (like WYSIWYG html editors, animation, sound and video editors), though these areas have projects gaining ground fast. Gaming is one area where Linux can be erratic. Few games companies produce Linux versions of their games, though some do, but Linux suffers from the problem mentioned above regarding 3D graphics. If you are using an nVidia card or one from a well supported manufacturer like Intel you should be able to get 3D performance, but you may struggle in with other cards.

Free Software isn't very good quality

Aahhhh a popular one, most commonly spread by Microsoft as part of it's FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) tactics, but also a misunderstanding of the terms freeware and free software.

Microsoft likes to tell everybody that Linux is substandard and has described it as a cancer. Seriously, in those words. Linux is a cancer. Said by Mr Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft. Don't believe them, it's not true. Without going into a major explanation of the social benefits of Linux (I will be writing a page on why Linux is good news for everybody in the near future), Linux is free and is an alternative to Microsoft products. Where do you think Mr Ballmer's opinion is based?

The other aspect of this is that the term Free Software is often confused with the term Freeware. Free Software is the name given to softeware where the user has access to the source code that the program is made up of and is free to alter it to his or her own needs. The word free in the term Free Software refers to the freedom to read, change and distribute the source of the program at no charge to the individual. These rights are ensured under the terms of the GNU Public License (GPL) and other Open Source certified licenses.

Freeware is software that is provided by it's developers at no cost. The source code is commonly not available and the software is usually simple, low quality and of low interest. An extension of freeware is shareware, which is where software is available at no finacial cost, but usually contains a trial period, advertising or some other feature which restricts the use or appreciation of the software to encourage users to pay for a full version.

The difference between is distinct. Free Software is production quality software provided with full source code to allow for further development, improvement and peer review.

The Linux, Open Source and Free Software communities have been resposible for much software that is currently in use in many large organisations in the world or forms the developmental basis for popular products.

The Mozilla web browser provides the backbone of Netscape Navigator. I have a page on Why You Should Be Using the Mozilla Browser.

Open Office.org is a free office suite similar in functionality to Microsoft Office and forms the basis of Sun's Star Office. If you don't have or can't afford Microsoft Office, get Open Office.org.

Apache is the most popular web server in the world. It runs 60% of the world's websites.

Do these sound like sub-standard products? No. These run on Linux, other UNIXes and there are also Windows and Mac versions.

In addition to this, many of the worlds largest computing companies (with the obvious exception of Microsoft) have begun invesrting billions into Linux development, support and moving their own software to Linux. Notables include IBM, Hewlett Packard, Sun Microsystems, Intel, Oracle and Novell. In particular, Sun and Novell have begun to produce their own Linux distributions and Novell have bought SuSE, one of the most popular and successful Linux distributors. Would such large multi-billion dollar corporations waste their money on shoddy software? No. Nor would major organisations like the Munich city local government, Disney, General Motors (it may have been Ford ; ) and others who have moved their entire operations from Windows to Linux, or the Peruvian, Brazilian, Chinese and Israeli goverments amongst others who are reviewing Linux solutions with a review to replacing existing Windows solutions wholesale.

Do not make the same misunderstanding that most people make and more importantly do not listen to what Microsoft say.

Didn't find what you wanted eh?

If you really need help try joining your local Linux User Group, thats what they are for - asking questions and giving and requesting assistance from your peers. There are lists for the UK at http://www.lug.org.uk/ and worldwide at http://www.linux.org/

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