The truth about Linux

A lot of people have always claimed that Linux isn't very good.  They have also claimed that PowerPC Linux is buggy.  This is all very wrong for the most part.

Ubuntu is really the only distro that is overly buggy, and on x86 as well.  It's the curse of the constant release cycle that is to blame for this.  For those that don't know, every 6 months they release a new version, whether it's ready for the masses or not.  No matter how many bugs exist, they just keep pushing them out.

With Debian, this is not the case at all.  The Debian developer team doesn't promote their testing builds to stable until they are truly ready.  The testing builds (currently Jessie) spend at least 2 years in that state.

The downfall for most people is that Debian is aimed at the intermediate to advanced level users.  The ones that don't need their hand held.  It comes a lot more raw out of the box compared to Ubuntu, and thats the point.  Most Linux users like to configure everything themselves.  They don't want a bloated and eye candy rich experience, because that defeats the whole purpose of running Linux in the first place.

Linux is very much a DIY OS.  It is what you make it.  Nothing more, nothing less.

There are even some people that use Mac OS who have the balls to say Linux is dead on PowerPC.  What are these people smoking?  It is Mac OS that is dead on PowerPC, not Linux.  Linux is still very actively developed for PowerPC.  When it comes to Debian it is still officially supported.  That means it's not a community development project like Ubuntu/Lubuntu PowerPC, and it's not just limited to PowerPC and x86.  There are a total of 13 CPU types with official support, including ARM and SPARC.  All 13 of these chip types get full support from the official development team.

In the end, any OS is only going to be as capable as the person using it.  Period.  That is an indisputable stone cold fact.  If the user has limited ability, then so will the OS.

Don't blame Linux because you don't have the ability to make it do all you desire.  If you cannot bend it to your will, then you need to gain more skills so you can.  Again, it will not hold your hand like Mac OS.  You need real ability that goes far beyond pointing and clicking, and you need to learn most of it yourself, or it will never sink in.  These are not things you can have spoon fed to you.  You need to learn the theory behind what you're trying to do first, and then learn the steps you need to take.  People who say that Linux isn't good are really saying that they lack ability; whether they realize that or not.

I learned all that I know on my own.  I didn't have anyone to spoon feed me all these things.  You can do the same.  If all you want to do forever is point and click, and put as little thought as possible into your computing, then you'll be stuck in that rut forever.

I understand that most of you come from the Mac OS world.  A place where you can point and click your way out of any issue or task.  This is not at all what Linux is, and it never will be.

Linux allows the freedom to do anything you desire.  All you need is the ability to use it properly; this takes time.  If you put in the effort, I can promise that you will get great returns from it.  If you just want to compute at the lowest common denominator level, then I'm not even sure why you would visit this blog in the first place.


Linux and BSD = total control, and ongoing skill advancement.

Mac OS and Windows = very little control, and ongoing skill decline.

Choose wisely!