Linux, Not for the Faint of Heart

Linux, Not for the Faint of Heart: A lot of technical evangelists are spreading the good news about Linux these days. On how it has become so easy to use and how it could replace Windows as “the” operating system(OS) of choice on most computers.

I agree to the preachers of the so called “Revolution OS” because i have tried and used several distros myself . I began using Linux about a year ago and have easily become quite comfortable and productive with it as I'm already an experienced computer guy (geek for short). I love it for it's 3S's : Speed, Security, Stability. But is Linux ready to steal the hearts of the more than 90% computer users with Windows on their machines?

Not yet. For me, there are only two reasons why not: One, is hardware compatibility issues. It is still a common problem with most Linux distros. Fixing it would require configuration file editing that will take most your time and patience. Two, is the lack of gaming software. Almost all of the popular games are made for Windows. Here in the Philippines, majority of the people are using computers via internet café with the usual gaming and internet services. I hope that you are getting the picture.

The point is Linux is not for everyone. However, if you are intrigued with it and want to try it out I would suggest using a Live CD first. If you like it and want to install it on your hard drive be sure that you know what you're doing as some problems might come up during the installation. You can always Google first before messing up with your computer. I recommend Ubuntu because it is aimed at beginners and is known to work on most hardware configuration. It works a like a charm on my wife's old Prestigio 109 laptop with 1GHz VIA Nehemia processor and 256MB RAM. She's happily using it for surfing and word processing, but that's another story.

With these things to consider, Linux is absolutely not for the faint-hearted. Sorry Grandma.