Linux is only free if you don't value your time - Is it still true?

hey everyone this is nick and today we're gonna tackle the infamous linux is free only if you don't value your time myth because some people seem to think that while linux is free it's also going to make you waste a ton of time to install it to learn how to use it to get running with it so let's see if there's any truth to that myth or not just like it's true that you should use today's sponsor lynode lynode is an amazing way to get your linux server up and running they've been voted top provider for infrastructure as a service by g2 and trust radius and they offer tons of one-click deployable servers for example owncast letting you run your own twitch-like streaming server with video broadcast and chat capabilities or apache guacamole which is the easiest way to get your own fully featured linux desktop in the cloud accessible from anywhere in the world if you prefer gaming you can also start your own valheim server on linux and they also have one click servers available for cs go rust arc or minecraft among others now on top of that linode is currently upgrading all their data centers with faster nvme block storage which means that every server that you currently have with them or that you plan to open with them will have access to that faster storage at no extra cost for you which is pretty freaking amazing now i personally run my own next cloud instance and only office document server both on linux and i couldn't be more satisfied i can only recommend them so if you want to give them a shot and get started click the link in the description below and you will get a free 100 credit to start your own linux server okay so first that quote was attributed to jamie zavinsky a developer back in 1998 it's been popping up ever since in youtube videos all the way until at least 2018 as a common myth that people keep repeating over and over again and back in 1998 it was true like 24 years ago the linux desktop was not the same thing as what we had today you had to configure a lot of things manually including x.org and it crashed and burned after every update and you couldn't play any games and wine was still in alpha and the programs were just not as mature as what you can find on linux today now hell i started my linux journey in 2006 and even back then things just were not easy at all so i can only imagine in 1998 how hard things must have been but things have changed a lot in the past 24 years the linux desktop has come a very long way so is that thing still true let's start with the linux's three part this one is very easy it is true linux is generally free of charge at least in a monetary sense you don't pay for it in 99.9 of cases sure you've got distributions that charge their users for a specific version for example zorin os pro or some distributions charge their users period like elementor ios which lets you define how much you want to pay including zero dollars if you think that's what it's worth but in general linux as a linux desktop operating system is free of charge now you could also interpret this part as linux being free as in you're free to do with it as you please i don't think that's what the original author intended and i don't think that's what people think about when they repeat that myth but basically yeah you could also say that linux is free to do with as you please you can break it you can tweak it you can bend it backwards so hard that you can't even recognize the thing that you started using it's it's free as in you can do with it as you please now the second part is more open to interpretation the only if you don't value your time basically tends to mean that you either don't charge for your time so you can afford to waste it or you just have tons of time to waste on something that is going to consume time to use and learn so the first question that comes to mind is is linux really time consuming to use and yes yes it is once you decide to distro hub for the 10th time this month or write your desktop again instead of doing something actually useful with your computer now jokes aside linux in itself can be time consuming when you install it you'll have to look up a few things you have to try out the os in a live usb session and seriously don't forget that step live usb it's live for a reason you have to try your hardware and your software first so many people trip up on this linus now you have to install your necessary programs you have to change the few options you want for it to work like you want it to you can also spend a lot of time choosing which desktop or distro you want to use and then you can run into issues that you will need to research to be able to fix linux isn't perfect and it still has problems with specific hardware some people struggle with a go xlr i personally fight the long war against bluetooth auto suspend and disconnection you can also spend a lot of time discovering new things learning new ways to do what you already knew how to do writing scripts to automate your stuff or create a monstrous multi-vm server with multi-gpu passthrough to use with remote thin clients to play video games with your whole family but these use cases are positive and probably not what people repeating this myth have in mind when they are criticizing linux in any case all these steps do represent a sizeable amount of time if you're used to linux choosing the distro installing it and configuring it to be ready to use is a matter of two hours now i personally moved from manjaro to fedora in about one hour and that includes downloading the iso burning it installing it and copying over my files and reinstalling all my programs one hour now if you're beginning with linux you're probably going to waste at least a day choosing your desktop and your distro and at least another day trying it out with a live usb installing it fixing the few issues you have finding the right programs it's going to be a multi-step process and a multi-day process as well so yeah linux is time consuming but is it more time consuming than the alternatives now the linux waste time myth is generally based on the assumption that other alternatives don't because people tend to assume that linux is something new you have to install on top of your computer compared to something that is already installed and that you already know and this comparison just doesn't work because the alternatives are not placed on an equal footing you're comparing something new that you have to learn and get into with something that you already spent time beforehand in the past learning and getting to work and let's be honest that thing is going to be windows so let's compare it with windows right installing windows takes longer than installing linux the install reboots multiple times it has multiple waiting screens it asks a lot of questions before you actually get to a usable system generally a linux installer won't last more than 20 minutes a windows install is more like 45 windows doesn't come with all the programs you might need just like most linux distros so you have to install your stuff in both cases installing programs is faster on linux as well because they are all inside of your graphical app store that's not the case on windows so you will have to spend time looking up those.exe files installing them clicking on next 35 times while dodging the cropware that they're trying to install in your system as well and then you have to clean up all these installers now windows also has issues to troubleshoot even though these seem less frequent than the ones linux can encounter if only because windows comes pre-installed on literally everything and so has hardware compatibility that linux can't boast off windows has updates to install like linux the difference is that linux lets you pick which and when and windows forces them upon you and they will stop you from using your computer for a long time in most cases when they don't break your system at all windows 10 had a terrible track record with updates and update stability windows 11 doesn't seem to suffer from the same problems for now and if you're not familiar with windows and the way it does things it's also going to take you a lot of time to learn how it works where to find your stuff it's it's a learning process as well the difference is most people already had that learning process with windows and they haven't with linux yet so in short if you compare linux and windows as things that you have to download to install and to learn how to use they will both waste your time so linux is free and doesn't waste your time more than the alternatives so the sentence should be as with every os linux wastes your time but at least it's free right well no that's wrong because of course people will compare linux to the thing that they already have installed and of course people who are interested in moving to linux already have a pcos either it's mac os or windows that they already know that they already spend the time to learn so in their mind it's a net negative it's going to waste some time to try and learn and install something new so the time is wasted in the end not because linux is harder or because it's worse just because it's different and you're replacing something by something else that's going to do the exact same job but that you have to reload entirely so it feels like a waste of time then there is the higher chance that some of your hardware won't work as well or at all on linux compare as to windows because linux doesn't come pre-installed on everything and so doesn't have the same hardware compatibility then there's the fact that you might not find all the exact programs you're used to so you're gonna have to find alternatives and re-learn how to use them like how does linux not have access to emul like are people not angry about this are people not using emule anymore what here is this now immule nonwithstanding you are trading off your time for the money you spent on the alternative os the important question is do you prefer paying money or learn how to use something that is generally free of charge and be able to not pay money anymore even in the future you could be free of hardware upgrades to get the latest version of an os you could be free of paying subscriptions to various programs you could be free of paying for basic features like playing dvds which surely should cost at least 15 euros right now what the linux is only free if you don't value your time myth ignores is that the time you spend isn't spent every day for the rest of your life while you're using linux it's spent once when you get used to linux when you install it when you learn about it when you set it up after that the net saving starts to shift in the other way because you don't get annoyed as much by your os it doesn't waste your time as much and you're also saving money so in the end over the span of a few weeks of a few months linux is actually saving you time not wasting it so is that myth a myth or is it true and i think it's true because linux is free if you don't think that the time you're spending to learn it to get used to it is worth anything what this statement ignores is that everything new in your life has a cost in terms of time for you to learn it if you replace your camera with another brand you're gonna have to re-learn how it works if you replace your keyboard with another one you're gonna have to spend time relearning where to place your fingers it's normal but at least on linux there's some kind of return over investment if you spend enough time with it in a vacuum if you only think about replacing windows with linux with you knowing windows and not knowing linux of course linux is going to cost you time you're going to waste time installing it researching it fixing your issues finding the programs but after you're set up and comfortable with it it's going to save you time you're not going to have to reinstall windows every two years because it's rotted in place you're not going to have to waste time waiting for updates to apply while your computer is no longer usable you're not going to waste your time with updates that break your system so yeah linux is free and linux can be a time waster but after you get comfortable with it it's no longer wasting your time it's actually saving your time and saving you money so that's it for this video it was made possible by slim book and even if you guys know about slim mooc i'm still going to tell you about it because it's awesome these guys make linux laptops and desktops they're based in spain they ship worldwide they have devices for every price point with every keyboard layout i only use their laptop their desktop and their keyboard nowadays i can only recommend them so if you need a new linux device just head over to the link in the description below and click it so i hope you guys enjoyed the video if you did don't hesitate to like subscribe turn on notifications if you didn't like i encourage you to leave a comment because the dislike button is broken and that's about it if you want to watch somewhere else than on youtube i'm also on rsa and if you want to help me make those videos every single day of the week i'm not making videos every day you know what i mean you can join my patreon subscribers and my youtube members you'll get access to a weekly patreon cast and the right to vote on the next topics i'll cover so thank you guys for watching and i'll see you in the next one bye [Music] you [Music]

Channel: The Linux Experiment

Views: 76,345

Keywords: linux, elementary os, open source, distribution, linux distro, linux help, linux 2021, linux tutorial, linux is free if you don't value your time, linux wastes time, does linux waste time, is linux free, is linux hard, is linux hard to learn, is moving to linux hard, linux ltt, linux linus tech tips, linus is harrd, linux is easy, linux is long, linux is quick, linux is easier, linux is harder, is linux complicated, is linux simple, linux time waste, how long linux

Id: An4X9E9vyn8

Length: 13min 8sec (788 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 04 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/Membership-Diligent]

One thing to remember: For many FOSS people, free is "free as in freedom." not free as in beer.