handyfloss

I recently found this blog: linux-is-a-bicycle.blogspot.com, and tried to leave a comment there, regarding the motto of the site (Linux being a bicycle), but for the life of me I just could not. Hitting either “Publish” or “Preview” just resulted in the comment I had just written to disappear. A bit frustrating.

So I decided to publish my comment in my own blog, and send a trackback.

Hi!

You say that Linux is a “bicycle” (I assume that making Windows/Mac a “car”), but I do not agree. Linux is not a Win/Mac counterpart, designed for the same purposes, but with free maitenance, at the expense of having less power, and requiring much more effort (as a bicycle is to a car).

I would instead compare Linux to a bulldozer or a Formula 1 (actually, to a bulldozer AND a Formula 1 AND many other things, at the same time). A bulldozer is more suited (than a car) for some task, but requires some expertise to be used. Power comes at the price of training to use it, and Linux is a perfect example of it.

Anyone can drive a car, but handling heavy machinery or racing cars to the inexperienced can lead to disaster. On the other hand, acquiring the required experience with heavy machinery or a racing car can be quite rewarding, as it allows one to perform at one’s full potential. Training for racing or moving heavy rocks around with a regular car, on the other hand, will quickly prove frustrating.