Despite fantastic advances with Desktop Linux as a collective whole, there still seems to be some hurdles that this Windows alternative has yet to overcome. In this piece, I’ll examine these from my own perspective, that of a full time Linux user.

What will it take for Linux to lose the stigma that surrounds it in the eyes of IT administrators? If those particular myths could be undone, Linux adoption in businesses might benefit enormously. So what makes the myths continue?

You're a marketer who finds an exciting new product developed by some really smart people. All you have to do is tell everyone about it, and the world will beat a path to your door. But when you look more closely, you find it's not that simple. In fact, you find a set of insurmountable obstacles. Here's a short list...

Myths like “not enough software” and “must use the command line” reveal that there’s a good deal of misinformation about the GNU/Linux desktop.

The next major release of Debian GNU/Linux is taking shape - albeit without the explicit direction of a Release Manager and with some significant hurdles to overcome.

Perhaps one of the most common myths surrounding desktop Linux is the belief that modern distributions do not provide decent hardware support.

I believe that Microsoft has gained a strong hold in our minds based upon many myths and fears. These myths are fears will haunt us for ages until we openly accept and adopt the freedom of Open Source, even with some of its apparent shortcomings. Following are a few myths and facts which play a role in whether a home user shifts from Windows to GNU/Linux.

Historically, Linux was unable to play files intended to only be playable with the Windows Media Player. However, with the help of codecs, Linux can play both audio and video files that were previously incompatible. Jack Wallen introduces the major players in the Linux multimedia party.

The other day I got into a somewhat heated discussion about why Linux is a viable alternative desktop OS. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to move the other side past the rhetoric and myths that seem to surround Linux. It is because of this discussion that I am writing this…as a way to give accurate information. Let’s start by looking at some of the most common myths.