{"id":191410,"date":"2017-01-05T12:56:32","date_gmt":"2017-01-05T10:56:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=191410"},"modified":"2017-01-05T12:59:00","modified_gmt":"2017-01-05T10:59:00","slug":"these-linux-myths-need-to-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/software\/191410-these-linux-myths-need-to-die.html","title":{"rendered":"These Linux myths need to die"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Reddit user recently started a thread<\/a><\/strong> in which they asked which myths and misconceptions about Linux annoy users the most.<\/p>\n

The post spawned a lively discussion with points being raised for and against Linux.<\/p>\n

The prominent\u00a0myths raised in the Reddit thread, along with several which have been doing the rounds for a while, are listed below.<\/p>\n

\n

Linux is developed by volunteer programmers<\/h3>\n

This creates the impression that Linux distributions are not high-quality software, which is not true.<\/p>\n

While there are many developers who work on free and open source software in their own time, there are many developers working on Linux who do so professionally.<\/p>\n

\n

Linux is\u00a0unsupported<\/h3>\n

When this myth is brought up, it feels like a\u00a0catch-all for the idea that human resources focussed on\u00a0Linux are rare and costly.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for professional third-party support, companies like Canonical, Red Hat, and SUSE are available.<\/p>\n

\n

You must\u00a0do everything in the command line<\/h3>\n

Many Linux users prefer the command line for certain tasks, but popular distributions are built around graphical desktop environments.<\/p>\n

Software such as web browsers, image editors, video and music players, and office suites work in much the same way as on Windows and MacOS.<\/p>\n

\n

Linux is only free if your time has no value<\/h3>\n

This quote from Jamie Zawinski<\/a><\/strong> dates back to 1998.<\/p>\n

Linux distributions have become much easier to install and update since then.<\/p>\n

\n

Linux is for everyone<\/h3>\n

Just because Linux can address an array of home and corporate needs does not mean it\u2019s for everyone.<\/p>\n

Sometimes it\u2019s a matter of preference, software support, or business realities – but a Linux distribution is not necessarily the best operating system in every situation.<\/p>\n

\n

Linux sucks for gaming<\/h3>\n

While Windows is certainly the path of least resistance when it comes to PC gaming, playing video games on Linux is not the mess it once was<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Thanks to support from companies like Valve, the number of titles available on Linux has exploded.<\/p>\n

\n

Linux is difficult to use<\/h3>\n

Whether switching from Windows to OS X, or Windows to a Linux distribution like Ubuntu or Fedora Core, the learning curve is roughly the same.<\/p>\n

\n

Lack of accessibility tools<\/h3>\n

In the Reddit thread, Linux users with disabilities detailed their experiences using the\u00a0visual features available in distributions to assist people with impaired vision.<\/p>\n

However, for those who require a text-to-speech converter, Linux does not have tools available.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cThis is the year of the Linux desktop\u201d<\/h3>\n

This line is a joke\u00a0mocking\u00a0Linux proponents who believe\u00a0that Linux distributions will overtake Windows as the dominant desktop PC platform.<\/p>\n

Despite Linux\u2019s failure to unseat Windows, Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth closed the distribution\u2019s\u00a0Bug 1<\/strong><\/a> in 2013 – \u201cMicrosoft has a majority market share\u201d.<\/p>\n

The argument is that with the rise of smartphones, desktop operating system market share has become less relevant. Android, a Linux-based operating system, is the most popular smartphone platform in the world.<\/p>\n

\n

Now read: Skype for Linux gets SMS messages<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Misconceptions about Linux never seem to go away – here are the most prevalent ones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":136880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[397,35,1799,36626,8045,807],"class_list":["post-191410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-software","tag-android","tag-headline","tag-linux","tag-macos","tag-reddit","tag-windows"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191410"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191410"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192488,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191410\/revisions\/192488"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}