Linux Made Easy

Today I came across an old article on OreillyNet written by Kevin Bedel about how we should all migrate to linux. It was written during the MSBlaster outbreak a while back and talked about how, all in all, it would be easier for many people to switch over to linux rather than having to battle worms and apply patches and such.
I don’t fault the intent of the article, I believe we’d all be better off using linux. In fact, I’m writing this on a 2.6.4 kernel laptop right now. However, the agony of reading the article is that it was titled “Linux Made Easy.” There’s something we need to get straight right away: Linux is hard. Period. There’s a lot you can do with it, it’s a better operating system than any other, it stable and productive, but it’s hard - and it’s not going to change.

Why is linux so hard?
The power of linux comes from it’s unique approach to computing. It has a philosophy behind it that is different from the old Mac days and Microsoft Windows at any time. Here are a few of the core philosophies behind linux:

• durable code
  If you’ve followed the releases of linux distributions you’ll notice how slowly they come out. It’s not that there aren’t enough people (though many are volunteers and cannot be held to a schedule) but most linux software creators do not distribute software that is imperfect without specifically warning people about it’s drawbacks. Almost all software used on GNU/Linux (the official name for most linux operating systems) is released under something called the GPL. It’s basically a legal document outlining that everyone has the right to use and modify the software. (for more info: the GNU project) This is unlike most windows software which is closed-source and consistently full of holes.
• one program - one use
  If you ever get your hands on Linux and start playing around, you may be struck by how many little programs come with it. If you’re running it right now you can go to a terminal and hit the ‘tab’ key twice. The system should then tell you how many possible programs you can run. On my system I have 3065 programs that do everything from emulating Microsoft Word to calculating free hard drive space. The reason for the large number of programs is that there’s an old Unix axiom that required every program have precisely one function. That way in lieu of writing several programs that were each a grab-bag of mediocrity programmers could hone individual pieces of code to perfection.
• command-line interface
  And now we discuss the real reason that Linux is hard - the command line. Almost all of these thousands of programs written for Linux require that a person type the program name and then some options for the program at a command prompt. There are GUIs (lookup on Google) for a few programs that allow you to interact with the mouse, but mostly you have to access them through typing.
  The command-line interface is one of the greatest strengths of Linux because you can run programs from other programs easily - but it’s also the primary reason that Linux is just plain hard. Linux will one day take over the desktop market, but not in it’s current form. Not until people can do everything with their mouse.

So to Kevin Bedel (Editor in Chief of LinuxWorld Magazine) I say quit with the deception. Linux is wonderful, Linux is powerful, Linux is the future, but Linux is hard.