The days when there were two and a half operating systems – Mac for creative types, Windows for everyone else and Linux for the weird kids in the corner – are well and truly over. For a start, OSX and Windows both owe a debt to Linux; Microsoft is courting Linux for its Azure cloud service, for instance, too. It\u2019s been awhile since Linux was the sole preserve of bitcoin-waving digital mountain men. It\u2019s coming to business; time to get to grips with it.<\/p>\n
Linux Myths
\nThe biggest Linux myth is that it\u2019s too difficult to start using. Unfamiliarity and the sense that there\u2019s a steep learning curve vie with the feeling – based on nothing, usually – that you\u2019ll have to learn a whole new suite of apps and basically, you\u2019d rather just stick with XP, please. But many of these ideas are false. Let\u2019s let some light in on the Linux debate.<\/p>\n
Myth: The interface is unfamiliar<\/p>\n
Leaving aside for the moment the fact that OSX, Apple\u2019s flagship operating system, is built from the same Unix base as Linux, don\u2019t you jump from OS to OS all the time? Even iOS and OSX are different; throw half-a-dozen Windows variants and a couple of Androids into the mix and you\u2019re an OS jetsetter. What\u2019s one more? And like every modern OS, Linux is based on 60s research into the way children with learning difficulties absorb new information. It\u2019s pretty intuitive.<\/p>\n
Myth: Solving Linux issues is too difficult and unintuitive<\/p>\n
First, Linux is pretty difficult to break and when it goes wrong (which is rare) it\u2019s easy to fix, thanks to comprehensive log files and a simple troubleshooting system. Compare that to Windows, which breaks all the time, and OSX, which is really hard to fix (see you in the Console?) and it comes out favorably.<\/p>\n
Myth: Linux doesn\u2019t support the apps I need<\/p>\n
OK. This isn\u2019t Linux\u2019 fault, but it is sometimes kind of true. It\u2019s more to do with software companies shunning cross-platform support, though that ship has now well and truly sailed and three-OS Windows\/OSX\/Linux support is increasingly the norm. As Linux user numbers creep up, though, app licensing will catch up. Meantime, you probably spend 70% or more of your time in a web browser anyway, right?<\/p>\n
Myth: I\u2019ve never installed an OS before<\/p>\n
Again,this one is half right\u2026 for the wrong reasons. The majority of computer users haven\u2019t done an OS install, because they normally just upgrade when the new Windows comes out by buying a new computer. But that doesn\u2019t mean they can\u2019t do it. And a lot of those upgraded from the ill-fated Windows 8 to Windows 10, so they now know how to install a pretty substantive upgrade, even if it\u2019s not technically a whole new OS. Besides which, installing an OS isn\u2019t hard. Linux in particular is about as easy as installing an app, especially one of the more user-friendly variants like Mint.<\/p>\n
Open source, agile, and easy to use: maybe it\u2019s time to give Linux a shot?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The days when there were two and a half operating systems – Mac for creative types, Windows for everyone else and Linux for the weird kids in the corner –…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-technology"],"yoast_head":"\n