The Pros and Cons of Using Linux 💻

▶️ Open Source

What is it like when you buy a car? You don’t know how the car and its components work; similarly, it’s the case when you use a Windows System. However, in contrast, Linux is an open-source project. This means that you can look at the source code of a Linux Kernel; I know most people don’t care about this openness of Linux, but to me, this is the most essential feature of using Linux. Windows Might be a target of a lot of bugs, and this is because Windows is a closed-source OS, but on the other side, Linux’s Code Might be available for everyone to see, even to hackers. Linux Users are more secure because If 1 Hacker scans the code for bugs, ten people might search for bugs to patch it as soon as possible to find and solve the same Bug.

▶️ Security

Let’s face it: Windows is vulnerable to attacks (or hacks). However, Linux is not as vulnerable as Windows. It sure isn’t invulnerable, but it is a lot more secure. Although, there’s no rocket science behind it. Just the way Linux works makes it a secure operating system. Overall, the package management process, repositories, and a couple more features make it possible for Linux to be more secure than Windows.

▶️ Old Hardware 

When an OS gets updated, it becomes heavier and resource-heavy. This could be a problem for people using older hardware and want a safe and reliable OS for their machine. Here, Linux comes into the picture. With Linux, You can run tasks with even less than 300 MB of RAM, Which is insane. On Average, your computer might have 4GB to 8GB of RAM. This means that you can use your RAM for your tasks rather than using it to run the Windows OS.

▶️ Programming & Coding

Linux supports almost all major programming languages, including Python, C/C++, Java, Perl, Ruby, C#, and many more. Moreover, it offers a vast range of applications practical for programming purposes. The Linux terminal is superior to Windows’s PowerShell or Windows CMD. You would find many libraries developed natively for Linux. Also, many programmers point out that the package manager on Linux helps them install things easily. Using package managers helps them never worry about updates or newer releases because the package manager automatically takes care of it, saving time and making your day more productive and straightforward.

▶️ Flexibility

As We All Know, Linux Can Run anywhere from supercomputers to Raspberry pie’s, And Linux can even run on your toaster, too. In IoT, Linux is booming. An open-source OS, Linux can be customizable to your needs and requirements. This makes Linux very lightweight and highly flexible because of Linux’s Feature that the Internet is running. Over 60-70% of the internet is run on Linux Apache Servers. Microsoft uses its cloud services platform, Azure, and even Amazon runs Linux on AWS. Amazon also has its own Linux flavor, Amazon Linux.

▶️ Software Support 

What do you look for in an operating system? For most people, the answer might be ease of use and compatibility. Linux might be a compact system, but compared to Windows 10, In terms of software support, Linux doesn’t even come close to Windows 10. You can never natively run Microsoft Office or Adobe CC Software on your Linux machine. You can find ways around this by using 3rd party software, which may be buggy or only support limited hardware.

▶️ Community Support

Sure, it might be significant, but compared to the Windows 10 community, The Linux community can be represented by a Pea Pod in a Jungle. I’m sure there are Linux experts who could guide you when you run into some problems, but In Windows, If something goes drastically wrong with your Windows machine, you have several avenues open. Microsoft offers live text chat and telephone support, while every PC repair shop technician in the country is familiar with the operating system and how it works.

▶️ Driver Support

Windows 10 typically gets new drivers first, closely followed by macOS. Linux-based systems are lucky if they receive any drivers. The upshot is that the Linux community develops open-source drivers that ship with Linux distributions. Linux's open-source philosophy might only let you use the free and open-source drivers, which can lead to a terrible experience. There are ways around this, but navigating through the forums can be challenging if you’re a newbie.

▶️ Gaming

Gaming is the main reason gamers and e-sports players prefer Windows 10 instead of Linux despite its Advantages. The Visual Drivers, such as NVIDIA Graphics Drivers, are closed source, which is against the Linux ideology and makes Linux users have a hard time gaming, which promotes them to switch to Windows for gaming and driver support.

▶️ UI/UX Interface

One of the main reasons why Windows users use Windows 10 is because it has a great UI compared to Linux. For many users, creating bootable USB drives or installing CDs is bewildering. Of course, Ubuntu is one of a new slew of apps available in the Windows Store, so that should help make Linux more accessible. But if you’re not running Windows 10 or want to run a non-Ubuntu distro, it’s as challenging as ever.