Linux Know-How provides a collection of introductory texts on often needed Linux skills.


Linux sux etc.

If you don't like Linux, then do not use it. You are not doing anybody a favor by using Linux. GNU/Linux is free and powerful software, but only for those who like or need it. There are alternative operating systems for you to choose from and they may better match your requirements. Although most Linuxers enjoy the growth and welcome new users, some are not very happy about it because "the crowd and commerce can spoil the hackers' paradise we created." Therefore, you really aren't doing anybody a favour by using Linux.

In this context, it may be worthwhile to briefly summarize Linux strengths and weaknesses: Linux is owned by its fans (your piece of ownership comes free with your free subscription to the fan club), definitely very powerful and feature-rich, highly configurable, as flexible as you want it to be (comes with complexity), low on the cost of hardware, comes with any networking bell-and-whistle known to man, requires a computer literate administrator, some essential desktop applications are still behind commercial offerings on other platforms (e.g., spreadsheet and word processing), a number of excellent end-user applications come "standard" and free with the operating system, the graphical user interface is very nice but still not as polished as Apple or MS offerings, Linux is highly standard (POSIX UNIX), open file formats used all along, thousands of programs available for free download (although the ease of use and quality of these varies vastly). And most of all, Linux is enjoyable!


Last Update: 2010-12-16