A few years ago Linux promoters bet that in a few years Linux would spread and enter many people's homes, instead of the expensive and full of Windows viruses. The facts and the time have denied fans of open source and Linux so much that the market share compared to Windows and Mac has remained at very low percentages (we are talking about home users and not companies).
The problem is related to fears of switching to Linux, difficulties, the possibility of not finding the programs needed to work or having to constantly fix things.
Switching to Linux has many advantages and also several disadvantages as for every operating system and it is worth seeing how difficult it can be to start using it instead of Windows and, above all, if it really pays.
The pros of the Linux operating system are at least 5:
- It is free in the sense that there are no licenses to be purchased since it is open source and can be used for free also for commercial reasons, in the office or in the company.
- It is super customizable
- Helps you learn, much more than other systems, how a computer works.
- There are many distributions and you can choose the one you like best.
- Thanks to some very light Linux distributions it is possible to go back to using an old computer that with Windows was no longer good, as if it were new.
READ ALSO: Best Linux distributions
As for the situation of programs and applications, I would say that there is not much to worry about.
On any Linux distro you can install any type of application for free and find valid alternatives for almost all your favorite programs.
There is an Office suite similar to Microsoft Office, there is the image processing program, the music player, the video editing program and so on.
There are no more recent programs related to web applications such as Spotify, Evernote, iCloud, Google Drive and others.
Even programs like Skype on Linux are much lower than the same on Windows and even the Flash plugin for Linux is hardly updated and has poor performance.
Linux installation itself is quite easy, although every problem cannot be solved with two clicks as you do on Windows.
Installing a Linux distribution like Ubuntu or Linux Mint is much easier than installing Windows.
Indeed, not to risk, you can install Linux on a USB stick or an external drive and try it first as a secondary operating system in order to see if everything works well on your PC and then to learn it and get used to the change.
Ubuntu can also be installed as a program on Windows for testing.
The problem is that if you use a computer with a particular hardware configuration it can be painful and it will take changes to configuration files that are not at all simple using the command line.
In Windows, there is always an options screen to configure everything while in Linux special needs cannot be met without searching for step-by-step instructions.
Also to install some programs it may be necessary to write command lines in the terminal, which for many can be an unbearable anguish.
We must also bear in mind that even a popular Linux distro like Ubuntu has bugs and problems, more than Windows or OSX have and to solve these bugs it will take several hours of research and configuration.
Linux is not for computer beginners, unless you have a son or a friend who sets us up well, venturing alone in Linux without being a little capable of computer science is a leap in the dark that I personally advise against and it is better do not..
Despite this, Linux is not bad at all as a system and you must at least try.
READ ALSO: The simplest Linux versions to learn and easy to use
As mentioned several times, Linux is perfect for resurrecting a disused or old-looking PC .
For example, I installed a very light Linux version like Peppermint on the old EEEPC, making it go back to working as it should, attaching it to the TV to watch videos on the Internet from the TV.
I also keep the Puppy Linux distro on a USB stick ready to use in case my Windows PC no longer boots, to recover data and correct problems.
READ ALSO: How to create a USB stick with Linux
In the end, Linux is a great free operating system and you have to experiment to do many things, even without using it on the main PC.
If you really want to replace Windows with Linux, then you have to study and dig in depth trying to get into the perspective of a very different system than Windows or OS X.
For some, the younger ones and those who want to understand more about computer science, knowing Linux is also worth it on a professional level, while for others the transition can be really frustrating and complicated finding many shortcomings of those comforts that have made Windows the system most used PC operating system in the world.
READ ALSO: 10 mistakes to avoid if you use Linux
