i think the biggest misconception is that the command line makes things more difficult to do than a typical window interface. studies have confirmed this as well, the command line is more intuitive and newbies learn it quicker since

1. it resembles language
2. it's more consistent across different applications, gui apps all work differently

Beyond it's relative difficulty, I suspect the other big misconception is that there isn't enough s/w out there.

I was also told that Linux was going to be "hard". It's not hard, it's just different. I think the command line is way cool. The only reason I still use Windows if for pictures, I'm waiting for a newer camera then I won't actually need Windows for anything.

my first distro didn't have any GUI at all, so that made it a bit easier for learning the command line (as there wasn't a alternative :) ), gota love the command line once you learn it :)

i thought windows was hard to use to, when i was using win95 i kept finding new things, and soo confusing it all was ... i think linux is quite easy once you learn how to use the command line (as andredude said its more consistent)

Learning the commands is easier. Just check the readme and man pages. For those trying different GUI's, while still remembering how MS desktop works for their users is hard.

The resources required. You can run it on any old computer you've got lying around, with minimal memory and a teeny HD. Sure, just like we were told OS2 would run with 8 megs, and ditto for W95.

Bad example-- For relatively simple text files--and any office document--Open Office does a very good job of making MSOffice-format files. And--of course--there is PDF.

Two of my favorites (direct quotes): "Linux--isn't that made by RedHat?" and : "Does Linux have a GUI interface?"

I suspect that one of the major contenders is a very old mind set "If it's free, how can it be any good?"

One big misconception seems to be "Only geeks use linux"


Oh..wait. On second thought

Amen to that! :D

I recently thumbed through a book on the Windows "command line." :) There are actually dozens of them.

In my experience, many of the people who backbite Linux have never used anything other than Microsoft Windows during their entire career. Those who came from a background of mainframes and timesharing systems are much more willing to consider and to subsequently adopt alternatives.

And then there's the "Apple OS/X Conversation..."

• Wow, what a cool computer!
• Sweet, huh? It runs Unix, you know...
• Oh really? I didn't know that...
• Did you need to?
• No, "it just works." :D

I think that, as more people continue to use more different sizes and types of computers ... as they cease to associate "a computer" with a thing that sits on your desktop or with a thing about the size of a thick book ... this attitude will become even more common. Windows does not run and probably will never run on a lot of that hardware. Linux does the job very well.

I think the funniest one I heard was from a guy I was trying to convince to change to Linux because I was tired of cleaning his system every few weeks. "If you have Linux on your computer the government will arrest you for being a hacker" LMAO

I have never met anyone who seriously thinks anything of the sort! Obvioulsy if it's not the same thing then there will by definition be differences.

The biggest misconception I encounter is that Linux is perfect.

So many times I've seem posts here (and in other places) to the effect that anyone who thinks Linux has any disadvantages obviously doesn't understand it, and if they did they'd know that there can be absolutely nothing wrong with it in any way.

"There is no support for Linux".

I've actually never used the official support with any distro, not much point when you can get an answer and solution within two minutes of posting on any one of the online forums, or by doing a quick search.

Cheers :-)

In addition, I'm sure there are a few Linux vendors and third-party companies that are willing to provide you with Linux support as long as you're willing to pay up. :)