Linux has become more popular than before, it is no longer what it was in the nineties of the last century. Linux is present nowadays on Android phones that you use in your pocket, on server systems that allow you to surf the Internet, and in infrastructure systems that serve companies and organizations and even your government that governs your country.
Notwithstanding, despite all this, there are still numerous rumors spread in the Arab world about the Linux system, which are repeated by some from time to time, and it is essential to show that they are wrong and that they are untrue.
1. Linux is for servers only
Maybe this is one of the most widespread rumors; Where some think that the Linux system is not designed to work on steady computers such as laptops and desktops, but rather works on servers only.
This is not true at all. Yes, Linux controls more than 90% of the server market for the most popular million websites on the Internet, but that does not mean that it is only there.
Just the presence of distros like Ubuntu , Linux Mint , and Ubuntu is dead enough to actually blow up these rumors; Because these distros are suitable for a new user of Linux and they also come with tons of software and settings suitable for steady computer users.
Linux Mint, for example, comes with an appealing graphical interface, and more than twenty different applications to cope various aspects of the system that you may need such as managing software and updates, backups, file sharing, formatting USB flash drives, managing hardware drivers and much, much more.
All this has nothing to do with servers, but rather they are total distros used by millions of people and are intended for the average user.
2. Linux comes with a command line interface only
These rumors follow the previous rumor, as some think that Linux does not have a graphical interface, but only a command line interface intended for programmers and professionals only.
This is also a misinformation, because there are more graphical desktop environments on Linux than any other operating system in the world:
- GNOME desktop surroundings.
- KDE desktop environment.
- Mate desktop environment, which is derived from GNOME 2.
- Cinnamon desktop environment, which is derived from GNOME 3.
- An Xfce or Xfce desktop surroundings, which is traditional, light and beautiful.
- The Unity interface, although abandoned by Ubuntu, is still supported.
- Lots of other interfaces and window managers to suit all tastes.
Each of these options has its own aesthetics, advantages, and disadvantages that differentiate it from the other, and you can most of the time install any of them on any Linux distribution you want to use, then modify its options and adjust them to become the optimal form that suits you.
Compare all of these options to the limited virtual desktop that users have on Windows systems, which they do not have, and then the rumor comes out that it is Linux that does not have a graphical interface!
3. Games do not work on Linux
This rumor used to be common in the past ( possibly 10 years ago), but it’s not true at all today.
There have been several changes regarding gaming on Linux:
- There has been more interest from hardware companies in the system, which has improved the quality of graphics card drivers and increased their performance.
- Steam owner Valve has launched Proton, a technology that allows games for Windows to be played on Linux directly from within Steam itself, which means you can enjoy nearly all Steam games on Linux (check Protondb.com to see which games work and more).
- There are more games that support Linux by default than in the past.
- There are utilities that increase the performance of games or allow you to adjust the processor or graphics card options to obtain a greater number of frames per second (FPS), such as CoreCtrl , GameMode , and others.
Yes, you may not find the latest games released this month on Linux, but in the end you will find fairly a lot of high-quality games on the system, which you can use to have a good time.
4. Windows applications cannot run on Linux
There is some truth to this rumor. Yes, you can’t run .exe Windows applications directly on Linux, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.
There is a very popular application on Linux called Wine , which is an interoperability layer that allows Windows applications to run on Linux and other Unix-like systems, and it is totally free and open source software.
All you need to do is install Wine on your distribution, then use it to run any .exe file you want. It is a method that can be used to run the most prominent software that you may need in your daily work, such as Microsoft Office or Adobe software for graphics and others.
Just right-click on the desired file, then click “Run with Wine” and you will find the program will open with you just like any normal program on Windows systems.
Of course, some software may not work with you through this method, but you can say that the huge majority of them will work without problems, and even those that do not work. You can contact the technical support providers of the Wayne program to request adding support for this program or seeing the reasons for not working.
There are also other Wine solutions that are much easier (albeit implicitly) like PlayOnLinux and Bottels , which are easy-to-use graphical software that allows you to install specific applications you want on Linux with the click of a button.
Another option that you can rely on is to run Windows as a virtual system inside Linux via a virtual system software such as VirtualBox , which will allow you to keep all the Windows applications you want on your computer and use them when needed.
5. Linux is difficult
Linux system is not as difficult as some painting it, the difficulty is relative. Provided you are a non-technical person who hardly knows how to use a computer, Linux may not be the correct system for you.
But other than that, anyone can easily download the system and burn it to a USB flash drive and then install it on his device alongside Windows in less than half an hour , which is not a difficult process at all, and thousands of explanations are available on the Internet from articles and videos.
It may be difficult for Linux later to adapt to the new system and the way it works and the most prominent concepts in it, such as the concepts of repositories, packages, powers, desktop components, etc., but these things you understand once and then you will not need to study them every day, but you will use your computer usually as any other user.
The author of this article, for example, downloaded Linux on his machine a very long time ago when he was only 12 years old, and installed it on his machine alone without any help from anyone. Whether young people of this age can install and use Linux on their own, you can probably do it too
Finally, we want to remind you that Linux is totally free, and that you have nothing to lose by trying. You can download Linux and install it alongside Windows so that you do not lose your data and files, then provided you like the system and want to stay on it, you can use it as your primary operating system, otherwise you can return to Windows whenever you want.