As I was organizing all my various notes and clippings that illustrate, contain or refute various myths about Linux, I was struck by just how many myths about Linux there are, and how varied, and nuanced, they are.
Why should there be so many myths? I have pondering that for several weeks now, and I have yet to come to a satisfactory conclusion. I came up with several theories, but each of them seemed inadequate. I want to share them though, since they seem to be some of the bigger, more often unspoken, myths about Linux that I encounter.
Linux is too sophisticated, leading to confusion
Perhaps the Open Source software model, or UNIX style systems, or just Linux itself is too complicated for the average computer user. Maybe because of that, people just get confused and unintentionally repeat erroneous information. This can’t be it though, since in places where cost matters, plenty of people are using Linux right now.
Reporters rush to write about Linux
Perhaps the culprit is the press itself. In their rush to write about the hip new technology topic - Linux - reporters just get it all wrong, and don’t bother to fact check anything.
I suppose that this could be partially true, but in general, reporters are doing just that; reporting what someone else has told them. Most of the articles I have here that include myths have a reporter clearly quoting someone else and the myth is not presented as journalistic fact, in most cases.
Evil rumors are spread by competitors
Maybe then all of the misunderstandings and misinformation is malicious. Maybe big bad Microsoft started all of these rumors to discredit Linux before it could ever get a foothold on the market, and potentially upset their near-monopoly. While it might be comforting to think that, I truly doubt that it is the case.
Sure, there have been some high profile cases of Microsoft FUD, but to think that they are responsible for every myth out there about Linux is really giving them too much credit. They may not like Linux, but I doubt that they have whole divisions within the company that spend all day “astro-turfing” Linux.
Linux is more than engineering
Perhaps the problem is that Linux is more than just computer engineering. Perhaps it is a movement, a philosophy, a political platform, and without buying into that, it is nearly impossible to understand it.
See, not any one of my ideas so far accounts for more than a handful of myths. Perhaps taken together and mixed into some unholy communal stew of misinformation the majority of Linux myths can be explained by one (or more) of these, but I am still not sure.
These are the ramblings of 