The Beauty of Linux
22 July, 2019
Yes, Linux is beautiful. I know a number of people who disagree with that statement, but I know better. The beauty of Linux isn’t skin deep, either.
The beauty of Linux was brought home to me a few years ago, in (of all places) a report about an Apple press event. At the event, an Apple exec stated that there are 600 million PCs that are five years old or older. He added that it was really sad, to which the audience laughed.
In parts of the world, there are countless people who can’t afford to buy a computer — the cost of a PC, even an older one, is more than they make in a month or a year. And there are people everywhere who can’t afford to upgrade regularly. They have no choice but to get by with older hardware.
For many people, even in the developed world, paying the rent and feeding the family is more important than buying a shiny new gadget. I make a fairly decent salary. I’m not rich, but I’m far from destitute. I could never afford to upgrade at Apple’s desired pace pace (assuming I wanted to step on to that particular treadmill).
So, what’s the beauty of Linux that I mentioned a few paragraphs ago? The number of distributions that not just run quite nicely on older hardware but which also breathe new life into that older hardware.
Take, for example, my former burner laptop (which found a new home a while back). That laptop ran Ubuntu Mate. When it gets older and creakier, its new owner can easily install a lighter Linux distribution that will keep it running until the hard drive or processor or other component gives up the ghost. The same goes for the System 76 Galago laptop I bought in 2015 and which I used to write this post.
I don’t need to, and I can’t be compelled to, upgrade my hardware on someone else’s schedule. I don’t need to, and can’t be compelled to, do that deed on someone else’s whim. I can do it when I can afford to or when I actually need to. No sooner, no later.
That, to me, is one of the many things that makes Linux beautiful.