Linux FUD Pattern #2: Linux is not “officially” supported.

When you hear the phrase “official support,” what comes to mind? Informative user manuals? A well-staffed call center? But what makes it “official”? This is the second item on my Top 10 List of Linux FUD patterns: the lack of “official” Linux support. The goal of FUD based on this notion is a mixture of fear and uncertainty, to make you believe that using Linux means having no place to turn when a problem occurs.

In this installment of my series on the Top 10 Linux FUD patterns, I address two patterns that have more to do with software packages that run on the Linux platform than with the Linux OS itself. As I stated in a previous post, every believable piece of FUD has some element of truth behind it, and these two are no exception.

Linux FUD Pattern #3: With Linux, you cannot access old files or share new files with others.

Linux FUD Pattern #4: There are no good software titles for Linux.

"Design Patterns in Ruby by Russ Olsen is an introduction to Design Patterns. It covers 14 out of the 23 patterns of the GoF Design Patters: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software book and adds three Ruby-related patterns. The book examines each pattern in general, shows how it applies to a dynamic language like Ruby and explains when to use or not use the pattern..."

Will the use of Linux void the manufacturer’s warranty of your computer hardware? This is one fear that prevents some people from making the leap to Linux, which is why it is on my Top 10 List of Linux FUD Patterns. The short answer is, it depends; however, there are steps that you can take to increase your probability of receiving service under a warranty.

Every once in a while, an article or post will appear, claiming that Linux is just not good enough for everyday use. The reason?

Shell programming is heavily dependent on string processing. The term string is used generically to refer to any sequence of characters; typical examples of strings might be a line of input or a single argument to a command. Users enter responses to prompts, file names are generated, and commands produce output.

Old FUD patterns are claimed to have returned and be used against Free Software selection.

A few days ago, Walter Mossberg, writing in the Wall Street Journal, offered a verbal peek at the Mac user interface ... I'm not a Mac user, but from reading the article, it seems that the initial learning curve for switching from Windows XP to Linux, is less than that for switching to Macs.

I often see the sentiment expressed that desktop Linux is “too hard” for the average PC user. These arguments seem to completely overlook the fact that an average PC user will never install his own operating system.