What are the disadvantages of a Linux computer?

Answer 1

Advantage #1 - Stability

If you have used other operating systems, once you have made the switch to Linux, you will notice that Linux has an edge over Windows here. I can remember rebooting Windows many times over the years, because an application crashed, and I couldn't continue working. Linux can crash also, but it is much harder to do. If an application crashes in Linux, it will usually not harm the kernel or other processes.

Advantage #2 - Free Software

Most software can be obtained without cost for Linux. For example, one thing that has kept people from Linux is the lack of office software. That has changed with Open Office, and now you can edit documents and presentations from the popular Microsoft software. The conversion isn't 100% perfect, but it has worked remarkably well in allowing me to correspond and use documents that people send me via e-mail or the web.

Advantage #3 - Runs on old hardware

If you have an old 386 or 486 laying around collecting dust, you can use this to run Linux. I remember running Linux just fine on a Pentium 100 with a 1 GB disk drive, and 16 MB of memory. One use of an old machine like that could be a file server. Just go to your computer store, buy a large hard disk (as long as your old stuff can support it), and you can make a great storage server. With all the digital pictures and movies around today, this could be a great use for Linux. Look into using Samba, a server application for Linux that allows you to make your machine share the disk as a Windows share.

Advantage #4 - Security

Linux has the advantage of the code being in the public domain. This can be a double-edged sword; while you can look at the code, and developers can fix holes rapidly, it also means hackers can find bad code. I have been very impressed with the security of Linux, and the programs that run on it. I think having the code out in the open, and the ability to fix things yourself if necessary is a big plus. Who likes to work blind? With some distributions, on installation the computer will ask you what levels of security you would like for your system. You can be very trusting, or you can be paranoid. Linux gives you this flexiblity.

Disadvantage #1 - Learning curve

I won't lie to you; Linux is going to take some time to learn. I know that our society likes to be instantly gratified. Learning Linux is definitely worth your time, but to really master it, you will need to spend some good time in front of your machine tinkering with things. Don't expect to be an expert after reading something like "Linux for Dummies". If you are contemplating this for your company, you will need to budget some money for training and learning time.

Disadvantage #2 - Equivalent programs

While I gave the example before of an office suite of programs that is working well, there are still applications that do not exist in Linux. Thankfully, this list has become much more narrow in recent months. You will want to think carefully when you switch to Linux about what programs you currently use, and if they have Linux support for them. It may not make sense for you to switch if you are going to spend tons of time converting databases and application data.

Disadvantage #3 - More technical ability needed

You will want to make sure that you train someone in Linux really well. Alternately, you could hire someone who has experience with Linux. A good Linux administrator needs to be on hand as you start to migrate your systems over. This is a disadvantage financially, at least in the beginning. You may find over time, however, that you only need a temporary administrator to handle the routine tasks.

Disadvantage #4 - Not all hardware compatible

Some of the latest and greatest hardware that is being produced is not compatible with Linux. At least, not yet. The people that contribute program code and drivers to the Linux kernel are great at including support fairly quickly. Until that time, not everything you buy for hardware in your system may work. I've had to rely on third-party drivers and other means to make hardware like a new Ethernet card work. Eventually, the support will be built in. One thing you can do is before your purchase, ask if the hardware vendor has support for Linux. Some manufacturers do write their own Linux drivers and distribute them with your purchase, making it very easy to integrate with your existing system.

Answer 2

The main "disadvantages" of Linux are primarily social / political, not technical. Because Linux is not as widespread on the desktop market, manufacturers are reluctant to produce drivers for relatively common pieces of hardware, and won't release technical specs so others can write drivers without restrictive NDAs, which violate the spirit of freedom that Linux wants to support.

For similar reasons, software developers often don't make their programs available on Linux. If a person or company comes to rely on a certain program, then they can't switch to Linux, despite Linux's many advantages.

Finally, there is a certain [perceived] lack of user-friendliness of desktop Linux distributions. Most GUIs on Linux work very differently than they do on more common interfaces like Windows or OS X. If a person is not used to the interface, they will not know how to accomplish a task and will thus consider Linux "hard" to use.
The question itself is flawed. linux is the kernel of a collection of operating systems. These operating systems can range from crypto like terminal stuff (arch linux, blacktrack) to more or less homely operating systems that is similiar to windows and mac os x(ubuntu and linux mint)

The drawbacks of using the more user friendly linux based operating system is most importantly the learning curve it represents.. Even if it is super user friendly, it is still not windows.

Another drawback is the software compability, some stuff might run on linux, (either natively or wine) but don't expect to much... Wine is still much in it's infancy. and install stuff with winetricks can be a bit of a headache..

But don't be discourage. ultimately Linux based operating systems has more advantages then disadvantages.

sincerly

Answer 3

Disadvantage #1 - Learning curve

I won't lie to you; Linux is going to take some time to learn. I know that our society likes to be instantly gratified. Learning Linux is definitely worth your time, but to really master it, you will need to spend some good time in front of your machine tinkering with things. Don't expect to be an expert after reading something like "Linux for Dummies". If you are contemplating this for your company, you will need to budget some money for training and learning time.

Disadvantage #2 - Equivalent programs

There are still applications that do not exist in Linux. Thankfully, this list has become much more narrow in recent months. You will want to think carefully when you switch to Linux about what programs you currently use, and if they have Linux support for them. It may not make sense for you to switch if you are going to spend tons of time converting databases and application data.

Disadvantage #3 - More technical ability needed

You will want to make sure that you train someone in Linux really well. Alternately, you could hire someone who has experience with Linux. A good Linux administrator needs to be on hand as you start to migrate your systems over. This is a disadvantage financially, at least in the beginning. You may find over time, however, that you only need a temporary administrator to handle the routine tasks.

Disadvantage #4 - Not all hardware compatible

Some of the latest and greatest hardware that is being produced is not compatible with Linux. At least, not yet. The people that contribute program code and drivers to the Linux kernel are great at including support fairly quickly. Until that time, not everything you buy for hardware in your system may work. I've had to rely on third-party drivers and other means to make hardware like a new Ethernet card work. Eventually, the support will be built in. One thing you can do is before your purchase, ask if the hardware vendor has support for Linux. Some manufacturers do write their own Linux drivers and distribute them with your purchase, making it very easy to integrate with your existing system.

Answer 4

• The traditional command line shell interface is user hostile -- designed for the programmer, not the casual user.
• Commands often have cryptic names and give very little response to tell the user what they are doing. Much use of special keyboard characters - little typos have unexpected results.
• To use Unix well, you need to understand some of the main design features. Its power comes from knowing how to make commands and programs interact with each other, not just from treating each as a fixed black box.
• Richness of utilities (over 400 standard ones) often overwhelms novices. Documentation is short on examples and tutorials to help you figure out how to use the many tools provided to accomplish various kinds of tasks.

Answer 5

Let me start by making it clear that I *LOVE* the Linux OS. I first used UNIX over 25 years ago and have used it extensively throughout my career, including development of commercial software for HP-UX. I started using Linux about 5 years ago and continue to use it daily. It has overtaken both Solaris and HP-UX as THE dominant OS in my industry.

As is true with any software, Linux has drawbacks, some of which only become apparent with extensive use. I suspect some of the drawbacks I've experienced on PCs will also become issues on mobile handsets. It seems completely inevitable that the existence of Android as an open-source handheld solution will spring Pandora's box wide open when it comes to porting Linux to any/all cell phone platforms.

Here are a few Linux drawbacks to start this thread:

- Hardware support: Specifically, the difficulty in getting good quality drivers for all the hardware in a particular computer. Do I hear the sound of a "Linux on Cellphones" site being constructed as we speak?

- Configuration control: One of the biggest issues we have in my industry is the issue of "What is the configuration of any given computer?" This is particularly troublesome when software is not functioning properly. Sure RedHat (and others) specify standard platforms for distribution, but once it gets into the customer's hand, who knows what they will install/configure. So we have them dump a list of the version numbers of the 2000+ packages installed and then try to find the needle in the haystack from there. The existence of various package managers on different platforms is my evidence of the existence of this issue.

- Incompatible kernel version/subversion: On several occasions we have needed to update the kernel to take advantage of some new feature, only to find out that some driver/application is not compatible with the new version. What to do then?

I'll stop there with the most significant issues. Feel free to add your "favorites" to the list. While I realize that these criticisms COULD be leveled against ANY OS, I will say that these seem to be significantly more troublesome for open-source OSes like Linux than they are on commercial OSes like Windows or MacOS.

I'm expecting that these issues will not be overly troublesome for those of us getting the G1, since much of the recent development and testing has been/will be done on this platform. But that situation is likely changing rapidly, as the OS is adapted to many different platforms, both by commercial developers and by hackers around the world.

Answer 6

Depends what you use it for. Obviously the inability to use Windows programs is going to be unwelcome for newcomers, as well as having to adjust to the new UI (this could also be argued against Windows 8, however).

Linux does not, at this moment in time, have all that many AAA games out for it. Sure, it has Steam, and the number of decent games is growing but for now this still applies.

The above is also true with professional-grade applications. However in some cases there are near-drop-in replacements like GIMP is to Photoshop and Blender is to Maya.

Finally there are a lot of Windows nuances and shortcuts that do not apply to Linux, such as manually downloading apps from third party sites as the defacto way to get software (Linux has used the App Store approach for years now). Thus someone transferring over with those in mind may have to adjust. However, Linux does have a much larger roster of shortcuts and quick tricks. For example, downloading VLC Player becomes as easy as typing sudo apt-get install vlc into command-line. This however, like all quick tricks, takes some getting used to

Answer 7

The security is better, software is free, its all open source and you have complete control over your computer.