hpr-knowledge-base/hpr_transcripts/hpr1641.txt

Episode: 1641
Title: HPR1641: The real reasons for using Linux
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr1641/hpr1641.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-18 06:13:57

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It's Monday 17th of November 2014, this in HBR episode 1641 entitled, The Real Reason
for Using Linux.
It is hosted by Johan and is about 18 minutes long.
Feedback can be sent to Johan.vervloat at e-mail.com or by leaving a comment on this episode.
The summary is, The Real Reason for Using Linux.
This episode of HBR is brought to you by an honesthost.com.
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Hello Hacker Public Radio, I am Johan V. I am a Linux user since the end of 1999.
I still have to contribute to how I got into Linux episodes, but that's not for today.
I have been using Linux for 15 years already.
I've also been trying for almost 15 years to convince other people to try Linux.
And I must confess that I very often used wrong arguments doing this.
After 15 years, it is time to ditch some fake arguments and to tell you the real reasons
why you should switch to Linux.
I am not the only one that tried to convince people using fake arguments.
It's a common problem.
As an experiment, I recently asked Google, Varum Linux.
That's why Linux, but in Dutch.
I asked it in Dutch because that's what my friends would typically do.
If they were interested at all.
The first search result was a website that looked as it had been around for a long time.
It listed some of the commonly heard arguments.
But of course, Google filters its results based on what it knows of me.
So I asked that the go as well.
The first result I got was a blog post from 2012 with similar arguments.
So both pages I found were quite old, what explains why some arguments were outdated.
Yet you still heard those arguments very often and often they are wrong.
I take a look at the common ones.
So do not try Linux.
Do not try Linux because you don't have to pay for it.
You don't have to pay money for downloading or using Linux.
That's a fact, but it is no argument.
When you buy a PC, you get an operating system as well.
You pay it for the operating system that came for your PC, but that doesn't matter.
At that time, installing Linux doesn't save you money anymore.
You could buy a PC without an operating system, could you?
It's not that easy.
If you want that, I think you will have to go to a specialized supplier.
So prices might be higher than at a local discounter,
where they offer PCs with windows at low prices once and again.
Do not use Linux because Linux is faster.
I strongly doubt that a PC will work faster after installing Linux.
If you install a mainstream distribution, like Linux Mint or Ubuntu,
with default settings today, then your PC better had enough memory and processing power.
Modern Linux distributions have modern requirements,
just like this is the case with other operating systems.
It is true that you can make all PCs usable again with Linux.
But only if you have enough experience to select and configure a distribution.
If your distribution is fast and has a small memory footprint,
this will probably be at the expense of usability.
Do not use Linux because you can install it quickly.
It doesn't matter that you can install Linux quickly.
There's already an operating system on your PC.
This is always faster than setting up something new.
Do not use Linux because open source software is more secure.
Since hard bleed, shell shock, and drip a get-em,
we know that open source software is vulnerable just like any other kind of software.
I do believe that chances on errors in a source code become smaller
as more people look at it.
But the source code being available doesn't guarantee that people are actually looking.
I found shell shock very impressive.
This vulnerability has been a documented feature in Bash for more than 20 years.
During those 20 years, simply no one noticed
that this feature could be abused for unwanted things.
I often made fun of Windows security in the past,
and I was probably right at the time.
But Microsoft has come a long way.
I believe that the architecture of Windows 7 is such that you can configure it in a secure way.
But, as with Linux, a system is only as secure as you configure it.
Windows is often criticized because it's very easy to get administrative privileges.
But with Ubuntu and derivatives, the process isn't a lot different.
And imagine that you install puppy Linux
because you are looking for a quick distribution.
Then you log in as ruled by default.
If you use Linux, you generally don't need antivirus software.
Well, if you keep your Windows always up to date,
and if you use Windows with an administrator account,
and you have some basic knowledge about how the Internet works,
I think you don't have to worry about antivirus software.
Antivirus software doesn't work as good as it used to either
because a lot of viruses today are smart enough to encrypt themselves.
Do not use Linux because it is more stable.
On the server, maybe.
But most of the people you want to convince to use Linux
are not going to set up a server.
At best, they want to try it on their laptops.
But if they, just to say something,
have an Nvidia graphics card,
I dare say that the stability might be NSU.
Do not use Linux because you get free support from a fine community.
If you have a question about Linux, just ask Google.
Google usually takes you to a discussion on Stack Exchange,
and then you find the correct answer.
Chances are you do.
Chances are you don't.
It depends.
But do not tell anybody,
but if you have a question about Windows,
this approach probably works as well.
And I suspect this is also the case for Android and Apple OSs.
And although I've had many positive experiences
in open source communities,
it is certainly not always a bed of roses.
Sometimes people can be very brutal
as Leonard Puttering says in a random Google Plus.
I won't pretend that Puttering always behaves exemplary,
but even if he doesn't,
this cannot be an excuse for other's bad behavior.
Do not use Linux because you need to fight Microsoft to great enemy.
This is not really an argument from the pages
that I found through the various search engines,
but it is one that I often used myself in the past.
And in the past, I was right without doubt.
But today, this is not longer the case, I think.
The days when Microsoft has the only player on the market are over.
I just had a look on the user's pets
for the website of the nonprofit organization I work for.
Windows share is only 65%.
iOS accounts for 15%.
Macintosh and Android take both 9%.
Windows is not alone anymore.
And Microsoft knows this very well.
In recent years, Microsoft is investing more in interoperability
and open source.
In the near future,
you will be able to host ASP.NET web applications
on our Linux server with Mono.
Today, there is Microsoft Office software for Android and iOS.
A fair amount of.NET Live will be developed
by Microsoft, like entity framework,
and ASP.NET MVC are available
on their patch 2 open source license.
It wouldn't surprise me if Windows will eventually
be given away for free, as in beer, just like Android.
Granted, Microsoft is still a monster with multiple heads.
While one of the heads is friendly towards the open source
community, another head is using projects
over software patents.
Jeremy Ellison of the SAMBA project told at 2014
that he worked together with Microsoft on SAMBA 4.
But on the other hand,
he was very happy that he could come to Brussels
for wants to speak at for them
instead of having to deal with judges.
Nevertheless, I think Microsoft is slowly changing.
I hear more positive stories than before.
Microsoft is no longer the enemy to fight.
That time has passed.
The company that you should keep an eye on today
are Apple and Google.
I hear more disturbing stories about toast
than about Microsoft.
I might tell you more about this another time.
Do not use Linux because you have everything.
Thunderbird and LibreOffice.
I hear this too often.
All the necessary software is available.
For example, Thunderbird and LibreOffice.
Seriously, office and email,
is that what you need?
In 2000 perhaps, but today, I think not.
Office is just a thing that you don't need.
If you do your work in office
or in your mail client,
then I think you are doing it wrong.
What you need is a browser, a document reader,
and a decent text editor.
And if you insist, maybe a spreadsheet.
If you've got those tools, you're ready to go.
Do not put emphasis on LibreOffice.
If you are talking about LibreOffice,
people will compare it to Microsoft Office.
And Microsoft Office is more streamlined, like it or not.
But really, that's not relevant.
You don't need an office so today.
If you insist to do something like Microsoft Office,
use Google Docs.
But I think there will always be better solutions.
So should you still use Linux?
Are there still valid reasons, of course?
Otherwise, I would not be using it myself.
So here is what everyone has been waiting for,
the real reasons why everyone should be a fan of Linux.
You have access to a wide range of easy to install software.
If you install a mainstream Linux distribution,
you have access to a very wide range of software packages,
via the so-called software repository.
You can compare this with an App Store.
You want to install an application to edit pictures or audio.
You need a programming environment for any programming language.
You can download and install this automatically.
Today, there are many App Store's around.
But I have the impression that the quality of the applications
in Linux software repositories is generally higher
than the quality of, for example, AppSync Google Play.
The application in the Linux repository
certainly contains significantly less ads.
And they are easy to update.
Did you ever use Java or Flash on Windows 7?
Then you know the pop-up asking you to update.
But updating doesn't work,
because the installers don't ask for elevated permissions.
If you hate this as much as I do,
try Linux Mint and be delighted.
If you install a major Linux distribution,
you end up with a nice consistent system.
You've got a text editor, a sound recorder,
a document shewer, a web browser, and so on.
And in most of the cases, they have more or less the same look and feel.
Of course, you are free to install 100 different sound recorders
if you want to, but in a standard install,
you have one, the one that the distribution likes the most.
I wanted to mention this explicitly,
because this is not a case for Windows 8.1.
There, you have two document viewers,
one for the desktop, one for Metro,
and two sound recorders, one for the desktop, one for Metro,
two web browsers, and I could carry on.
Windows 8.1 is young.
Windows 10 will probably be more mature.
But if you want a major Linux distribution,
there is plenty of choice today.
No crapware.
Did I tell you that your operating system is installed as good as for free
when you buy a new computer?
What I forgot to tell is that very often,
a lot of other software is installed for free as well.
A lot of software you actually don't want or need.
Maybe this is less the case for Apple products,
but they are also less as good as for free.
I bet you've seen them before.
Those programs that to whom knows what and start to complain
after a certain amount of time that you have to purchase a license.
Maybe the software also provides information about you
to some third party. It's hard to tell.
A moving it is not always easy because it is often unclear
what exactly is required to use your PC and what isn't.
A Linux distribution is almost never pre-installed.
So you have to go through a tedious installation procedure.
But after that, you have this clean system without preppy software.
That alone makes up for the inconvenience of installing.
And if for any reason you need to complete re-install of a PC,
Linux is the easiest solution as well.
Download the image and you get started without having to search for a license key.
And then there is the number one reason to try Linux.
Linux is free or open source software.
The first majority of the applications that come with a Linux distribution
is free software as well.
When you install free and open source software,
then by definition you have access to the source code of the software.
This means that you can check whether that software doesn't do things you don't want.
Or if you don't like studying source code,
you can let an independent party check it out for you.
If you use software without having access to the source code,
you have to trust your supplier.
Does the software things where you're not aware of?
Does it open a back door into your computer so that instance X or Y
can check whether you behave well?
Can that instance also turn off your computer if you don't behave?
And to what extent are back doors secured against trackers with malicious intent?
Obviously, I didn't read the source code of all software I use.
I don't compile all my software myself to be sure that the software was effectively created from the source code.
But the fact that I know I can brings me some peace of mind.
Nowadays, more and more devices can be connected to the internet.
Phones, watches, home automation, cars wouldn't be heavy if my car doors could be opened
because of a hidden back door in the software.
The only way to keep an eye on the behavior of your devices is using open source software.
Unfortunately, I cannot choose which software is used in my car, but on my PC, I can.
And I'd like to defend this freedom as long as possible.
So I've made my point just as there are bad arguments that people use to discourage the use of open source software.
There are also bad arguments that are used to promote it.
I would like you to use arguments that make sense if you try to convince people to use open source.
I have a transcript of this text on my blog.
It is at joanv.org slash post slash y-linux.
That is j-o-h-a-n-v.org slash post slash y-linux.
If you have comments, you can post them into the discussion thread on the page.
Or if you prefer not to work with the evil disk system on the page, you can even send a pull request.
You can do that too if you want to correct my bad English.
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