6 reasons why the Linux operating system often fails

Many people have used GNOME for a long time. But when they switched to the Elementary OS, they gradually loved this minimalist Linux-based operating system, and maybe you should try it too.

But that has changed. The number of errors that users encounter with this operating system has increased over time. For many people, such as a freelance writer, the only thing they need is a well-functioning laptop. If it is not reliable, they will have to waste time fixing a tool that their job requires.

This is not the first time this has happened. Sometimes Linux distributions work quite smoothly during the first period of time, but suddenly fail after a month or two. The question is, why?

1. Not enough manpower

The effort of Elementary OS developers is very remarkable. But currently only a few people work on this distribution.

While these developers are also doing other visual design tasks such as fixing errors, writing code for new applications, attracting developers, marketing and doing any work. other projects need. A lot of work to do. That prevents someone from spending all the time they have to complete and maintain a single software. The founder of Daniel Foré will not go alone, but there are too many different things to care about for the project to continue.

The Linux world is built from the efforts of many small groups. Solus is a good example of how much depends on the effort of a single person.

Larger, more established distributions are still affected by this problem. Ubuntu is available all over the world and it has a large community of people who use it - but Canonical uses a relatively small number of people to maintain the operating system. Fedora and openSUSE have been around for decades, but still lack the type of manpower to create commercial desktop versions like Windows and macOS.

2. Financial deficit

Most open source software is free to use, but that doesn't mean it's free to create. Whether someone has paid a developer, donated to a project, or spent time volunteering to write code, the end result is still paying a certain cost. With very diverse and often unreliable donor models, attracting talented people can be a problem for Linux distributions and applications.

Maintaining a distribution comes with a lot of unavoidable costs. Groups must host the site, provide download and distribution versions of the software. If contributors live in different parts of the world, it will cost thousands of dollars to travel when it comes to direct collaboration. If fixing a bug requires access to certain hardware, the problem can be ignored until a developer is ready to take on this task. And sometimes it never happens.

For those who have used Windows long enough, there is a fact that everyone knows that having money is unlikely to overcome all the errors. However, without money, it will definitely make things more difficult.

3. There is no direct relationship with hardware manufacturers

As mentioned, bugs that affect a specific laptop model are very difficult to fix by a developer, unless someone gives them a similar computer. But that is only part of the problem. The error not only comes from the developers but from the hardware. And manufacturers do not care if their machines work well with Linux.

Unless your laptop comes with a pre-installed Linux operating system, no one will be interested in testing whether Linux works well on that computer. The manufacturer may have used a Wi-Fi card that lacks compatibility with Linux, making it impossible for users to access the Internet. The manufacturer may also have chosen a graphics card that does not yet have binary files of Linux, which gives users the amazing basic features and experience.

In that case, isn't your desktop environment full of errors? It's like you're trying to run software on hardware that wasn't originally designed to run this code. Sometimes Linux developers can come up with a solution, but that doesn't always work.

4. Depends on other projects and software

Most open source programs depend on the software that others have implemented. Linus Torvalds, author of Linux, doesn't create any interface you see on the screen. They come from a group of collaborators in some remote place. Applications you run inside that interface may come from another developer group.

People writing code must interact with the software that they may not fully understand. Source code can be open, but who has time to learn how every component works? And if they discover the problem, they must contact the person responsible for the component and hope to integrate the fix.

5. Not focused

Microsoft has created Windows kernel (Windows kernel), desktop environment and default applications. This gives Microsoft a similar degree of control over all the experiences users will encounter. If the experience is not satisfactory, Microsoft may decide to delay the release until the employees have fixed all of the errors. Linux distributions are also trying to do so, but these errors may be out of the reach of the development team.

This lack of concentration also leads to other problems. While Windows and MacOS only have one main package format, Linux has a number of different formats. Developers may have to experiment with different rounds to ensure that their software works with each distribution, and the amount of work can be too much for an individual to do. And this is not the only example to see how developers have to 'turn off the dark side'. Linux has many audio frameworks, display servers and window managers. Quite a few components of the system can be swapped for another component, causing the application to fail.

6. Fixing errors is a boring job

Creating interesting software. That's part of why there are so many duplicated projects in the open source world. Starting from the beginning and doing it in the right way increases excitement rather than relying on existing code and giving weird ideas.

On the contrary, using errors is tedious and time consuming. A developer may take hours to fix the problem but 'cure a healthy pig into a lame pig'. Then, even if the error is fixed, the application does not have interesting new features. It is simply more stable. This is an important job, but since developers are not paid, it is difficult to expect them to do this quickly and excitedly.

What can you do to avoid errors?

Ignoring all of these things, Linux is more stable than Windows. If this open source operating system is chosen for most of the world's supercomputers, it can also handle your laptop. You just need to find the right distribution.

No single option is suitable for all users. That depends on different factors, from the hardware you are using to the applications you plan to run. But a well-established distribution from a group that is able to keep things going will be more reliable.

As part of Red Hat's huge Linux ecosystem, Fedora is one of the most supported distributions. GNOME may not be as compact as Elementary OS, but it is quite close and one of the oldest open source desktop environments on Linux, the user community can detect significantly larger errors. In addition, Wayland in Fedora 25 is quite fast.

As mentioned above, there is no best option for everyone. openSUSE is another distribution with many financial support. If you want to use a Linux operating system without the backing of any company, you can choose Debian. Ubuntu (based on Debian) is the most famous version of Linux on the desktop, so when errors arise, you can often find fixes after a certain time.

If you really want to solve the problem, create a report file about the error you encountered. Even if you can't fix it yourself, it is helpful to write a detailed description of the issues.

Which Linux distribution do you use? What error did you encounter? Do you have any advice for other Linux users? Leave comments in the comment section below!

See more:

1. 6 reasons Linux makes "give up" Windows
2. 10 reasons your child should use Linux
3. 10 reasons you can't not "love" Linux Mint