In: Random
4 Dec 2006I was reading an “I switched to Linux” article I found on Digg today. Being a multiple OS person myself I really have to take a stand here. I love Linux, but I really like Windows and Mac OS too! I think everyone has room to play in the same sandbox. I think it’s only fair that we take a moment to create a few OS profiles in our head, and admit, probably grudgingly, that each OS has clear advantages and shortcomings. (Bring on the hate mail)
Microsoft Windows XP (And soon Vista)
Pros:
Cons:
I am sure the comment thread will soon be rife with thousands of cons, but lets be realistic about this. I want to make one statement, and I want it to be the clearest of this post:
If you think Linux is setup and forget for the least common denominator, you are delusional. Consider that Windows often fails at the hands of a novice user. A capable user (such as myself) has several Windows XP SP2 Installations that operate flawlessly every day, I haven’t had a virus or virus warning in probably three years and my browser, usually Firefox, but even Internet Explorer is running just fine. You can’t blame a user’s inexperience on the operating system. Considering that just about everyone that installs Linux, even Ubuntu, is a relatively savvy user, it’s no wonder it’s more stable than a broad scape of Windows installations that range from Power users to grandmothers and 7 year olds.
Mac OS
Pros:
Cons:
Now keep in mind, I love my Macs. I love OS X. This is just being honest. Software choice is limited. I will admit the bundled software blows the doors off Windows bundled software. Linux will come with a lot more installed, but loads of it you would never use. Apple hardware only, that’s a drag. Buy a new PC or don’t use it are your basic options. Most importantly to me, if your video card fails, hard drive controller fails, really anything fails or you want to add the latest hip gadgets to it, they probably aren’t going to work. A lot of vendors still do not provide Apple support (But it is growing).
Linux
Pros:
Cons:
Now I know a lot of people are mad. But let me clarify these cons. Even in Ubuntu there are things that you cannot completely configure with the GUI. I had a hell of a time getting Ubuntu to play nice with my widescreen monitor. I was creating custom modelines based off of monitor refresh rates and scan frequencies and all sorts of things you can never expect a user to figure out.
No commercial software support. With the exception of some enterprise level applications and servers, you can’t really argue this one.
It’s a grass root effort to adopt new hardware so there is a lag. Don’t expect to get the latest USB device working the day it comes out.
I use Fedora, friends use Ubuntu, Debian, Red Hat, SuSe, Turbo, Mandrake, the list goes on and on…what package manager do you use? What is the command? Yum? Apt? what? There has to become standards in package managers, window managers, etc. Do you use KDE? Sorry, this app is for Gnome? Did you install Ubuntu or Kubuntu? Edubuntu? Scibuntu? Kitchensinkbuntu? There is just too much.
Now let me say this again. I love Fedora. I love Linux. I would shoot myself in the face with a crossbow before I would even attempt to get my dad to use it, and my dad is pretty savvy too. I wouldn’t want the headache of, “How do I do this?” all the time. It’s just not always intuitive.
An average user can install Ubuntu no problem. An average user can go a long way on the bundled applications, they are fantastic. But what happens when time comes to really play with it. Some things just still aren’t intuitive. I had a hell of a time playing with themes, they come packaged differently depending where you look. Standards is really the key.
I don’t think this won’t change, I just think that all these people that say, “I hated Windows, it was so terrible, I moved to Linux and the grass is greener, the air smells sweeter and now naked honeys make me breakfast every day.” are misleading people.
Do not stop evangelizing Linux, that is not the point of this post. I think it’s a great operating system with loads of uses, but it cannot replace Windows for all users. Neither can MacOS. There is a place for all of them.
So that’s it folks. Love your Windows, treat them well, and they will treat you well. Same goes for everything else.
* If you are a reasonably intelligent user, don’t visit crazy sites, don’t install everything that says download…it IS stable. My work and home PCs are proof. I can’t remember the last time they just “crashed”.
** If you were walking around the country looking for leaders to bash for Iraq you would probably pick George Bush. He is the biggest target. It wouldn’t do you much good to create a smear campaign for your local mayor. Same goes for spyware/malware/viruses. If you want to cause damage, you go for the biggest target. Imagine if the I love you virus had attacked Linux Desktops….it wouldn’t even have made the news.
*** If you can get your Window manager set up properly, install 3rd party things like Compiz or beryl, it’s gorgeous. By default, it doesn’t look any more impressive than Windows XP with a classic theme.
****The standards for package management can cause great confusion. A Tutorial for how to install an application for one Distribution may be completely wrong for another.

Jason Burns is a technology enthusiast, Microsoft guy, photographer, musician and all around geek. This blog is the general rambling one, check out the links for the specific ones!

8 Responses to Why does "Love Linux = Hate Windows"?
SHRIKEE
December 4th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
whee!
Finally someone who agrees that every OS has its pros and cons.
I think that in their own way/field every OS is as good
*sorry no hatemail*
GreenLantern
December 7th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
Hello! I’m the guy who wrote the “I switched to linux” post that was mentioned in the first part of the article. I just wanted to clear up any confusion over my article. I didn’t mean to come off as though I hate Windows. I just think that Linux is better for me than Windows. Maybe it’s because I’m up for the challenge of learning something new, or maybe it’s because I’m sick of the same old thing, but it’s not becuase I am a Windows hater. Windows has been very good to me over the years, and I appreciate it, but for me it was time to move on.
I will say that there are a lot of Linux users out there that do hate windows, and I can see their side fo the fence too. I mean the two OS’s are virtually complete opposites, so you would expect their users to also be incompatable right?
Anonymous
December 23rd, 2006 at 5:59 am
I like Linux, but i saying Windows XP and OSX is 30% better than Linux.
But there are something i do not like about Linux is all the “I hate windows” website.
Because some of the errors in windows like the typical BSOD is not bill gates fault.
Is the microsoft developer teams fault
Daniel
May 4th, 2009 at 3:00 pm
I have windows and i don’t really like it. I’m sorry, i don’t. now i didn’t even know that linux was free, and mac osx is too expensive. i just now decided to download xubuntu, and i am sure that my computer will run faster. windows does suck, I’m sorry. I run programs that tons of people run like imgburn, dvd shrink, and cyberlink powerdvd, and all these programs have crashed before. how many programs crash in os x and linux?
also, just now, I removed 2 recently used program shortcuts from the windows start menu. when i right hand clicked the second one and removed it, my computer started running as if it was reading the hard drive and it brought up that explorer.exe needed to be shut down. why the hell would it do that? of course it started it up again, but I am an advanced user. like really advanced. and i don’t do anything to this computer. that happened for no reason. i know that windows isn’t good at all, it’s not that i don’t understand all of it because i do. i know that it has tons of problems.
now another problem that just happened while i was typing this comment. go to this website and see the screen shot:
http://download751.mediafire.com/i9mynbdzgnhg/nrzk3zcj2dt/windows%20glitches.bmp
btw, it took Paint 10 seconds to open so i could paste and save the screen shot. yes, paint.
and i just want to let you know im not a windows hater, i just understand why its like this. its still an operating system that i can use, even if there are some problems along the way
Daniel
May 4th, 2009 at 3:04 pm
oops sorry, the last paragraph should be:
and i just want to let you know im not a windows hater, i just don’t understand why its like this. its still an operating system that i can use, even if there are some problems along the way
Jason Burns
May 4th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
@Daniel: I think we must have different opinions of what an advanced user is. Regardless, I think you might be in for a big surprise if you think that your Linux/OS X installs won’t crash. Software crashes, it’s a fact of life. It’s also a fact for all three that how the user treats the computer determines how it will run. Constantly installing and uninstalling software? Expect any of them to run like garbage. Same with constantly swapping hardware. I use Windows and OS X every day, and Linux some although for a few years all the time. I can tell you they all screw up, and if you maintain a Windows machine properly it’s just as secure and stable as either of the others.
Daniel
May 4th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
no dude, i’m not constantly uninstalling and installing software. my other computer which goes insanely slow isn’t even connected to the internet or a network. yet even with 3 hard drives, it is very slow and the hard drives aren’t very full.
You said: “Considering that just about everyone that installs Linux, even Ubuntu, is a relatively savvy user, it’s no wonder it’s more stable than a broad scape of Windows installations that range from Power users to grandmothers and 7 year olds.” why do you think that those people are installing linux? it is because they are already tired of windows instability, not because they want to promote linux’s stability and help with the “war against windows”. it was just as unstable when they had windows too.
when i was saying i was an advanced user, i was referring to this, that i actually know how windows works and i can say that it is unstable, not that i don’t understand it. and, because i am moving to linux, your quote already classifies me as an “advanced user”.
how about this–i will actually try out linux for a few days (because i haven’t installed it yet), then i will reply in a few days and rate linux if it is as good as ppl say it is. i don’t really know yet, so i can’t exactly testify to how good linux is myself. but in a few days i’ll be back
Daniel
May 19th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
Ok, now that I’ve tried out linux, i can give you my opinion of it. Basically, I think that if you are willing to take the time to submit yourself to a new operating system, then linux is great. you are constantly learning with linux. On the outside, it seems alot more like windows than it really is. after a week or two of using xubuntu, i can say that it is very different from windows.
first off, it is way more customizable than windows or os x. i love the multiple workspaces option, and i don’t see why it isn’t seemingly integrated into windows and os x, but it is alright to live without. i also do agree though that it is difficult to learn how to use linux, but if you like doing that type of thing (like i do) then linux is awesome. there are a few problems with linux, however, they don’t happen randomly. if your computer freezes, it always will freeze in whatever you did to get your computer at that state. one thing that i noticed with my computer is that it doesn’t have openGL (i’m pretty sure that was it) and i’m gonna take care of that. but certain apps which use openGL will do the weirdest things and if you try interacting with the app, it will crash which i think is funny to see because it is so different from a windows crash–your screen will show colorful static that changes like once every half second for like 5 times and when you press a button it does it again until you turn off your computer. i first noticed this with certain screen savers.
the only real trouble i had with linux is that there’s no help file that covers all of linux. yeah i can look it up online in the ubuntu community, but often times even that won’t suffice my quest for knowledge. i found myself using the forums sorta often. like when i was trying to figure out how to connect to a wireless network, the icon at the top i closed early on bc i didn’t think i would want to connect to the internet, but eventually i found i needed to. so looking up the community documents and wiki didn’t find what i needed, i used the forums, and after 5 replies or so, someone finally told me to go alt+F2>nm-applet. why couldn’t that be in the wiki?
another small thing was that i didn’t know you could only change files in your home folder of your user.
my last disappointment is that there aren’t really any self-executable installation files. at first i was completely confused on this, i was looking for a wizard like windows. however, i am now getting really good at the terminal and I’m not sure I regret it so much.
anyways, i still am a pro at using windows, i completely get it, and can do anything i want with it (pretty much). so i find myself using XP still. (plus the computer i installed xubuntu on is not very advanced–900 MHz Celeron processor lol with 256MB RAM and a plain old CDROM).