Linux Cons

The Cons of Linux:

There are far too many different distributions:

"Quot capites, tot rationes", as the Romans already said: the more people, the more opinions. At first

glance, the amount of Linux distributions can be frightening, or ridiculous, depending on your point

of view. But it also means that everyone will find what he or she needs. You don't need to be an

expert to find a suitable release.

When asked, generally every Linux user will say that the best distribution is the specific version he is

using. So which one should you choose? Don't worry too much about that: all releases contain more

or less the same set of basic packages. On top of the basics, special third party software is added

making, for example, TurboLinux more suitable for the small and medium enterprise, RedHat for

servers and SuSE for workstations. However, the differences are likely to be very superficial. The best strategy is to test a couple of distributions; unfortunately not everybody has the time for this. Luckily,there is plenty of advice on the subject of choosing your Linux. A quick search on Google, using the keywords "choosing your distribution" brings up tens of links to good advise. The Installation HOWTO also discusses choosing your distribution.

Linux is not very user friendly and confusing for beginners:

It must be said that Linux, at least the core system, is less userfriendly to use than MS Windows and

certainly more difficult than MacOS, but... In light of its popularity, considerable effort has been

made to make Linux even easier to use, especially for new users. More information is being released

daily, such as this guide, to help fill the gap for documentation available to users at all levels.

Is an Open Source product trustworthy?

How can something that is free also be reliable? Linux users have the choice whether to use Linux or

not, which gives them an enormous advantage compared to users of proprietary software, who don't

have that kind of freedom. After long periods of testing, most Linux users come to the conclusion that

Linux is not only as good, but in many cases better and faster that the traditional solutions. If Linux

were not trustworthy, it would have been long gone, never knowing the popularity it has now, with

millions of users. Now users can influence their systems and share their remarks with the community,

so the system gets better and better every day. It is a project that is never finished, that is true, but in

an ever changing environment, Linux is also a project that continues to strive for perfection.