Linux is an open-source operating system that sits squarely on the edge of mainstream awareness. Having more options when it comes to operating systems is not a bad thing – more competition keeps the current leaders a bit more on their toes, even if they are light-years away – but Linux is a big commitment. There are other operating systems on the market too, although few are as well-known.
So. Is Linux right for you?
Pros
1) It Has a Bunch of Free Alternatives to Popular Programs
Because Linux is often treated as a Windows alternative for people who are ticked off at Windows (for any reason) there are many great work program alternatives that are open source and free! GIMP art program is a popular recommended substitute for Photoshop, for example, and LibreOffice has robust work programs for Linux too. Many of the ‘cool kid’ apps like OBS and Signal have Linux versions available, and many of them are free (with options for donating, if you so please).
If many apps swapping from one single purchase price to a subscription is bothering you a lot, Linux is one answer.
2) It Updates Less Often
If that’s not enough, Linux itself also allows for a different user experience. I won’t say it’s better, because it might not be better for you. But, if you’re like me, and you like your buttons being in the same place and your UIs and settings not constantly shifting around you like the hallways in House of Leaves, Linux might be a more enjoyable experience for you. It doesn’t update as often!
Why? The fundamental motivator behind services shifting things around, hiding buttons only to un-hide them in a different update, changing icons, moving stuff within ribbons, et cetera, is ultimately monetary. Better products are undergoing constant updates, ergo updates will make more money. Idle talent and labor are wasted potential, so idling must be eliminated. Efficiency on the tech team is paramount, never mind what happens to the product that is constantly being changed, the shareholders have declared it. The most visible changes available are changes made to the UI of a given product. Even if it adds friction, even if nobody really wants to make this change, they have to make it or they will be replaced by someone who will thanks to long-term patterns inside companies.
Because Linux is usually free to download, the motivations behind changes are much more direct: users complain about some things and not about others, so the things that get complained about might eventually get changed around in an update, or not, and the things that aren’t getting complained about don’t get tweaked. Yes, it’s less hands-on, but it would be difficult to match the current Windows methodology when it comes to tweaks and updates.
2) It’s Not Windows
Speaking of which, it’s not really trying to do that! Linux, because it is open source, has eyes on the code. There are people actively looking at updates who will raise an alarm if something inside it might cause problems. A while ago, I had to learn about an update that could wipe my computer’s SSD if I moved too much data around via Tumblr of all places. But, since Linux is closer to a community project with managers than a corporate entity who will simply try to fix things as quietly as possible before anyone important notices, things like that end up on their forums pretty quickly.
Additionally, the actual features themselves are not geared to the same audience. Linux projects seem largely uninterested in AI. If you want it, you’ll need to make room for it on your specific device. Meanwhile, if you don’t want CoPilot on your Windows device, you have to actively go out of your way to avoid it, disable it, and quarantine it.
Where Windows sometimes vaguely waves to features that you don’t want, that will roll out some time between now and two years from now, Linux knows its audience! Linux will not try to give you a CPU hog that also makes you extremely vulnerable should someone untoward get access to your device, like Recall had the potential to do. It’s written in plain language because it goes out to an audience that picked Linux and deliberately downloaded it.
So, all of this sounds nice. But there are downsides that you must consider before you make yourself miserable. It might genuinely be a better option to stick with Windows, after all.
Cons
1) The Choices Are Limited
As mentioned in the intro paragraph, Linux is a different operating system. While this is fine for some purposes, it’s not great for others. For example – Linux notoriously cannot load a lot of games. Work programs have substitutes, not direct ports, and a Triple-A game is not going to get a substitute. Indie games sometimes have a Linux version available… sometimes. A Linux device will almost never have a premier option for a given program, and this is what makes it such a tough choice to recommend. Yes, other open-source projects like to cooperate with each other, so OBS, Signal, LibreOffice, et cetera have Linux versions, but not everything you may need will, especially the fully branded Office products if you for some reason have to get the name brand.
Linux will ultimately leave you needing to look for specialty software for the rest of the device’s lifetime, or until you swap it back to Windows. There are very few ways around this.
And it doesn’t stop at just the apps – depending on the flavor of Linux you pick (and you have many options) you may have to manually update your device yourself, too, or set up a program to automatically download updates as they become available from the project you chose. In a worst-case, your project might be abandoned, although that’s less likely for the larger branches.
2) It’s Open Source, For Better or Worse
Being an open-source project, Linux is also not completely invulnerable to viruses, and by the nature of Linux, there are fewer antivirus programs available for it. Being the less popular options means that most people writing malware will be focusing on the more popular options, but it’s a lot like the Apple OS in that regard: the odds are not zero just because it’s rare. Apple phones can still get viruses, so can Linux devices.
3) It’s Not Beginner-Friendly
Additionally, there is a skill floor for downloading an OS onto a device. For someone who only needs an internet machine to run Youtube or Netflix on the TV (in browser), sure, Linux is a viable option. But, then, that person who only uses their computer for the internet is going to have to look up a lot of tutorials to get Linux downloaded, and if they run into an edge case where Linux will not boot properly for whatever reason, they might find themselves stranded and unable to describe what exactly is preventing it, requiring a trip to a professional and possibly another wipe of the computer.
And again, once installed, some flavors will require manual updates. This doesn’t sound annoying until it is!
To Summarize – Linux is Not For Everyone
If you’re worried about the retiring of Windows 10 this year, and are eyeing up Linux as a possible option, there are other ways to patch security holes, although many of them will cost a bit of money. Especially in a business setting, Linux may even cause more headaches than a slightly out-of-date device would! Extended security updates might be an option for you if your device (like mine) won’t take an update to Windows 11 because of a bit difference, but you don’t have the expertise to update to Linux by yourself. It’s certainly daunting!
There are antivirus programs available that will do their best to keep up. Ultimately, the fear with an operating system’s retirement is that its Zero-Day exploits simply won’t be patched by the company that made it. Zero-Day exploits are bugs within a system that were there when it was made (or introduced by an update) and have not been ‘discovered’ by the company, and may not be caught by antivirus programs for whatever reason. Since Windows 10 has Extended Security Updates as an option, it seems they aren’t fully abandoning Windows 10 yet, but it’s better to swap to something else, enroll in updates, etc. before you get hit with a Zero-Day that takes out all of your data and wrecks your computer.
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