LinuxLinks has kindly given me space for a semi-regular blog about open source, Linux, Windows and whatever else catches my attention. The views and prejudices are my own.
You’ve bought a lovely new computer. Fast processor, decent screen, plenty of memory. Naturally, that gets Windows. Linux gets the laptop in the drawer with the dead battery and a fan that sounds like a bathroom extractor.
Then you tell everyone you’ve given Linux a fair try.
Linux enthusiasts help create this ridiculous situation. Ask how to get started with Linux and “install it on an old laptop” is almost guaranteed to appear. Sensible enough for an experiment, especially if you don’t want to disrupt the computer you rely on. Rather less helpful when we’re trying to persuade people it deserves to be their main operating system.
Stop selling it as a rescue service
Keeping old computers useful is worthwhile. Nobody should throw away working hardware simply because Microsoft has decided it no longer qualifies. For someone who cannot afford a replacement, a suitable Linux distribution can make a real difference.
But listen to our sales pitch. It runs on ancient hardware. It barely uses any memory. It costs nothing.
You could come away thinking the main qualification for using Linux is being skint.
Where’s the enthusiasm for running it on something good? Why does Windows get the expensive machine while Linux has to prove itself on whatever survived the last clear-out?
Your lightweight desktop cannot perform miracles
Put Linux on a struggling laptop and it may feel much better. Open a browser, load demanding websites and start a video call, though, and the hardware still has to do the work.
A lighter desktop cannot fix an awful screen or a worn-out battery. Yet these things shape someone’s impression far more than how little RAM the desktop consumes immediately after booting.
They return to their newer Windows computer because it’s nicer to use. We explain that the comparison wasn’t fair. Perhaps we should have thought of that before recommending it.
You’re allowed a decent computer
Mention buying powerful hardware for Linux and someone will announce that their twelve-year-old ThinkPad still does everything they need.
Good. Keep it.
Their shopping requirements don’t dictate mine. Virtual machines, compiling software, editing photographs and gaming can all justify better hardware. So can wanting a responsive computer with several applications and a pile of browser tabs open.
There’s no prize for tolerating the slowest computer you can bear.
Give Linux the good machine
Check compatibility before buying. Test the applications you need. Keep a fallback while you settle in. All perfectly reasonable.
But stop treating Linux as something that must earn its place by rescuing a struggling computer.
I want a fast, quiet, comfortable computer running an operating system I actually like. Linux belongs on that computer from the start.
Does Linux get your best machine, or just the one Windows no longer wants?
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