Linux – a riddle wrapped up in an enigma?
The answer to this is definitely no. When taking a
closer look at the whole thing you will quickly find that Linux is no more
cryptic or difficult to understand than Windows, but instead unfamiliar. The
main problem that transpires here can very well be found whenever something
new or unfamiliar is encountered: One needs to find more about it –
unfortunately this proves to be a significant inhibition threshold all too
often.
Thus one sticks oftentimes with the old and familiar, because one knows this
sufficiently well and has learned to deal with any quirks of the known, instead
of getting into the new and unknown. In some matters this may be perfectly
viable, because it protects one from bad surprises – however, there are
situations in which this kind of behavior proves to be counterproductive.
As soon as one overcomes his dread of the unknown, one is going to find out
that Linux doesn't turn out to be some sort of monstrosity nor represents a
blackbox of which one doesn't know what's happening inside. Anyone who does
just a bit of research is going to turn up a bunch of information concerning
Linux, and virtually every circumstance is documented one way or another, be it
in form of a description, manual, the source code or even forum discussions –
there are no limits to obtaining information.
And as soon as you have taken the first step, you are going to find out that
you can work with Linux at least as easily as with Windows (although the
usability of Windows 8 on a PC leaves a lot to be desired and one has to go
through quite a rigmarole to achieve an improved usability). Additionally Linux
can be installed on the local box with a few clicks and a bit of input without
normally incurring any problems. In those few cases in which things do go
haywire, it is due to exotic hardware or such whose producer does not support
Linux (yet) and for which no third-party drivers are available, but that's a
stark exception.
There are instructions on the installation and operation
that aid you in installing Linux in the twinkling of an eye. Virtually no
in-depth knowledge is required.
Interaction with other systems
If necessary you may even install Windows and Linux on the same box. The only thing you need is a spare partition on the harddisk of your box – or you plug in an external drive on which you install Linux. The only thing you have to do is tell the computer where the system can be found.
Installing Linux and Windows in parallel has yet another significant advantage: In case something has lodged into Windows, thereby rendering the system inoperable, you are still able to launch Linux and attempt to get it working again from there. Here Linux is nice enough to provide the necessary drivers that grant access to the Windows partitions so that you are able to inspect and clean them up. Unfortunately this doesn't work vice versa, because Windows doesn't provide any drivers for the file systems used by Linux – which again is advantageous, because a possible malware cannot access the partitions used by Linux this way and so cannot wreak any havoc there.
Linux even works with the recent generation of computers that use a completely new BIOS (called UEFI), however, it depends on the distribution being used whether or not this actually works. This applies to Debian which I am using (however, for some reason SecureBoot is failing so you have to disable it), however, other distributors are going to follow suit sooner or later.
Information wanted – information found
Because there are things under each system that cannot be solved by the press of a button or aren't necessarily intuitive, this site is going to aid you in solving various problems. In case Linux poses questions, you can find answers here – and in case you don't find them, you may send me a message. I'm then going to deal with the problem.