Published on 12, July, 2020
I'm half-joking because I think the superior operating system is a personal matter, but I'm also half-serious in that I personally think Linux is superior. This post is meant as an attempt at starting a humorous discussion for us Linux users to conceitedly pat ourselves on the back for being superior at choosing the best operating system because being on an autism board, surely there are other Linux users on here.
Freedom!
- You can investigate the code and adapt it however you want because no one owns it. It belongs to the people.
Control!
- Since it's free, you have control over how the operating system functions.
Aesthetically gorgeous!
- Since We can control all aspects of the system, we can make it look amazing, Look at how nice my desktop is!
Speed!
- It's super fast due to limited to no bloat depending on your setup. There are even distros for less powerful machines so that older computers are still functional and speedy.
Security!
- You have control over it. Additionally, since it requires someone to actively learn how it functions, users tend to be better educated and reduce mistakes that result in hacking/viruses.
Privacy!
- Your operating system use isn't being collected and used or sold for commercial purposes
Apps!
- There are so many apps to choose from. Have a task you want to complete? 99% of the time, someone has already created an app for it and is freely sharing it through the software repositories, GitHub, or elsewhere online.
Online support communities
- There are lots of online communities to help even the most novice users. There are so many communities, that there are multiple separate communities for nearly each distro and desktop environment.
It's cool!
- What can be cooler than controlling your machine by creating the operating system you want for yourself that looks however you please?
- Also, the name GNU's Not Unix is a recursive name that points out a paradox in our language and logic. That's super cool!
Limited drivers and gaming
- Because Linux is not commercialized for-profit and widely adopted like Windows and iOS, there is less incentive for companies to spend resources on developing drivers and games for it, so brand new machines may have difficulty with drivers and there are less options for gaming. However, I will note that there are some workarounds and emulators that help Linux users play their favorite games, such as Wine, Play On Linux, and Proton.
Can be annoying to discuss with normies
- Since Linux is a niche community, we can be annoying when the topic of operating systems comes up because people don't like to for us to point out they use an inferior operating system.
While we're on the subject, I would love to get better as using Linux. Currently, I use it similar to Windows, so I'm certainly not taking advantage of the possibilities. I'd like to learn to code so that I can personalize even more. If you have any resources on learning to code in Linux or how to really personalize it, I'd love to see them.
Never tried Linux personally, even though I build my own PCs, but I have estimated that if it is to mac and windows what Firefox is to Chrome then I'd probably like it. My cheif concern is compatibility though, my work machine has to run some pretty niche software. I can't disclose what. This machine I'm on rn is the gaming big boy.If you can tell me where to get the most inexpensive legit version of Linux though I might try it next time when the spare want's a fresh reinstall of the OS.
If you use pretty niche software for work, then Linux might not be a good idea. It's possible that there are similar programs that will complete the same tasks, but if you need to use something like MS Teams, then Linux will be a pain in the butt at best. There are workarounds, such as using Wine (a program that lets you run Windows apps in Linux), but that can come with some frustration and isn't a certain solution. You could also run a virtual machine in which you create a virtual Windows in your Linux. It's as if you were running an entire Windows machine as a program, but that will be resource heavy and slower than just running Windows.
As far as gaming, Linux has come a long way, but it won't be to the level of Windows. If you're playing the latest in video games, I highly recommend staying with Windows as the vast majority of game developers primarily focus their games for Windows systems.
You also have the option of dual-booting, which means your computer can run both, and you are prompted to choose which operating system (OS) to run when you boot the machine. This gives access to both worlds, but it comes at the cost of allocating storage space for each system. It also slightly delays booting by upto 10 seconds because of the prompt to select an OS.
If you have an old spare machine that you would like to use to test out Linux, then there are many options to choose from. As far as I'm aware, all Linux version are entirely free of charge. It's one of the main strengths of Linux. If you would like a recommendation, I suggest anything Ubuntu-based for your first distro. Ubuntu itself is quite beginner friendly and was my first distro. My favorite, Linux Mint, is based off of Ubuntu (it's basically Ubuntu with more tailoring), and pretty beginner friendly as well. Here's a link to Linux Mint with installation and troubleshooting guides: https://linuxmint.com/. If the machine is pretty old with poor specs, then any distro that uses XFCE desktop environment would be a good choice as that uses less resources. Linux Mint has an XFCE edition.
If you engage in Linux, have fun and keep me updated! It's a whole new world when you discover free and open-source software (FOSS).
Can't get more inexpensive than free! Not sure if any Linux distro is for sale? Mint is one of the easiest to use.