Before I go into details of the Linux operating system, I want to describe what an operating system (OS) is. An operating system is a system software which makes communication between computer hardware and software. There are various types of operating systems e.g. Windows OS, Linux OS, and Mac OS. Windows operating system comes with major releases e.g. windows 7, windows 8 and windows 10. But Linux OS comes with different distribution e.g. Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Zorin OS, Elementary OS, Manjaro Linux.
Now let us discuss some pros and cons of Linux operating system.
Advantages of Linux operating system
Open source:-
Linux is an open-source OS that means anyone can see the source code and change it according to his needs. You can freely install Linux on many computers without getting paid license. If we compare this with windows or mac then they are paid operating systems. You have to get license of windows and mac to use on your machine.
No anti-virus software needed:-
In Linux, you do not need anti-virus software to be installed on your PC. Linux has fewer chances to be affected with virus. The reason for strong virus protection is that Linux has large number of open source developers which keeps an eye on virus-related stuff. If any source code needs to be updated then it is done in no time.
Text editors:-
Linux has a vast range of text editors available. If you are a programmer then you can pick any of free software packages like visual studio code, Vim, Atom etc. Most of text editors are freely available and you can use it without any issue.
Powerful command prompt:-
Command prompt in Linux is very advanced and if you are developer then you can perform most of your work using the command-line interface. You can install different repositories and packages through the command-line interface.
No reboot needed:-
If you are windows user then you have seen system reboot while you install/uninstall any software or rebooting when the system becomes slow. But in case of Linux, you do not need to reboot your system in such cases.
Low system specifications:-
If you have an old computer that has low specification then you can still run Linux. Linux has different distributions that are available for all types of computers e.g. large scale computers, servers, Pc etc.
Good at multitasking:-
If you want to do some batch works like printing a large file or downloading large file then you can concurrently perform other tasks like typing or coding any program. Linux is good in doing such multitasking and your system will not slow down.
Less disk space needed:-
If you have limited disk space then you can still run Linux. You do not need extra disk space for running Linux for a longer time.
File formats:-
Linux supports a large number of file formats. So you have to not worry if any file format does not run on Linux. You can install different software packages for specific file format and it will work fine.
Disadvantages of Linux operating system
Hardware drivers:-
One of the issues that most Linux users face is that some hardware drivers are not available for Linux. Hardware companies prefer to make drivers for windows or mac because they have more users as compared to Linux.
Learning curve:-
Getting started with windows is easy for beginners but learning Linux is difficult. You have to learn about the command-line interface and searching for new software is also little bit difficult. If you face any problem in the operating system then finding solution is problematic. There are fewer experts for Linux as compared to windows and mac.
Software alternative:-
Take an example of Photoshop which is a popular graphic editing tool. Photoshop is available for windows but is not present in Linux. There are other photo editing tools but Photoshop is a more powerful tool than others. MS office is another example which is not available for Linux users.
Games:-
Most of the games are made for windows but not Linux. As windows platform is widely used so game developers have more interest in windows.
Examples of Linux operating system
Some of Linux distributions are below:-
- Ubuntu
- Debian
- Fedora
- Linux mint
- Zorin OS
- Elementary OS
- Manjaro Linux
