Linux enthusiasts are very adamant that their choice of OS kernel is superior to all proprietary OS choices in the market. The main difference between Linux and macOS/Windows is that Linux is open source. This means that anyone can look at the source code, point out issues, and even submit changes. They can also “fork” the code; creating a copy of it and continue development in a different direction.
Observing the source code means that everything the operating system does is visible to the user. Proprietary OS like Windows/macOS delivers binaries to users which are largely indecipherable by humans. For open source software, all code run on the system is observable. The operating system cannot hide any of its functions from the user. And if the user doesn’t like a particular function of the operating system, he can make his own fork and just delete the unwanted function.
This leads to Linux having a lot of advantages over propriety OS kernels.
High Flexibility
The Linux kernel is built to be customized by the user. You can enable or disable features in the kernel to your liking. You can have a full desktop environment able to run any home application or you can have a stripped down kernel without a window manager, Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, or even a shell. If you have the expertise, you can even go into the source code and really customize your OS.
Because many people have specific needs from their operating system, there are already many different Linux variants for different use cases. If you have high security needs, you can use a hardened kernel. This is a kernel with many features disabled to reduce the attack surface for hackers to take advantage of. Outside of kernel customizations, there are Linux “distributions” which is a bundle of the linux kernel, core applications, and a set of default user applications. Gentoo is a distribution designed for tweaking the Linux kernel safely before compilation, providing a system with absolutely minimum bloat. There are distributions such as Tails or Whonix designed to access the internet privately without a trace on the subject’s computer. Kali Linux is a distribution dedicated to penetration testing. Linux Mint is designed to be a replacement OS for the average home desktop user.
Advanced Privacy
Windows is known for sending telemetry data back to Microsoft to help improve the Windows experience. If a user does not like his actions being spied on, it’s too bad. He can disable some checkmarks in settings but it’s difficult to know if every bit of telemetry has been disabled. If a Linux distribution decides to add telemetry, the user can find the source code responsible and delete it, then recompile.
Visible source code means that backdoors cannot be hidden in the operating system. Governments cannot coerce operating system vendors to add a hidden backdoor when nothing can be hidden in the first place.
Advanced Security
Visible source code means that developers from all over the world can see the code and fix bugs. For operating systems made by Apple and Microsoft, the size of the QA team and development teams limits their ability to catch bugs at the rate of the worldwide linux community.
In practice the open source linux community focuses on security patches above all else. In my experience Linux distros tend to have plenty of bugs and usability issues that have gone unfixed for years on end. However security-wise it is clear that the open source community has done a good job of making Linux by-far the most secure operating system.
Most security vulnerabilities lie in small memory allocation mistakes. These small mistakes are what provide an attacker the ability to hack a system using exploits like buffer overflow. It’s difficult to spot these exploits and all operating systems ship with at least a handful of unspotted vulnerabilities. The effects of an unseen exploit can be devastating enough for a hacker to gain full remote access to the system. The more people who look at your code to spot these vulnerabilities, the better. And that’s exactly the advantage that an open source OS has over competitors.
Problems
Linux enthusiasts are correct about the superior flexibility, privacy, and security of open-source operating systems. However what they miss is that most home users don’t care about these particular features. Most home users don’t need to heavily customize their operating system kernel, and the default application bundles that come with macOS/Windows are good enough. There really isn’t any point of having a backdoor-free OS when most activity done by home users is online anyway, where agencies such as the NSA spy on everything you do. Home users aren’t targeted by serious hacking attempts because there isn’t much money to gain by hacking home users. Most malware that the average Windows user downloads ends up caught by Microsoft Defender.
Microsoft and Apple do focus testing on their operating systems to learn which UIs work best. Windows telemetry is just an extension of this testing. No linux distro really bothers with focus testing and as a result they tend to have a lot of usability issues. The parts of the GUIs that work are just copied from Windows and macOS, providing no incentive to switch from them.
Linux enthusiasts tend to also be terminal enthusiasts. It’s clear that the Linux open source community doesn’t really value the graphical interface as not much development happens in this space; it’s mostly in the terminal system. Terminals are great for power users and professionals because you can pack in more features with more flexibility without having to add a million buttons to some graphical interface. However for most normal users this is just not that useful; they would rather use a graphical interface for their simpler programs. Graphical interfaces are not only easier to learn, they are also easier to remember how to use as visual cues help you find what you are looking for on the page. Terminal interfaces require you to remember lots of codes, which home users don’t want to deal with.
Linux is for Businesses
Linux’s advanced flexibility, security, and privacy are highly valued by business customers. Businesses tend to have highly custom needs, so an open source operating system that can be easily edited is very useful. Businesses are targeted by hackers and ransomware, so they need a highly secure OS. They are also a target for state-sponsored hackers who can coerce a supplier to implement a backdoor; open source allows them to avoid this threat. For security and performance reasons, companies don’t run GUI elements in their backend systems at all, so having better GUIs are a moot point. The company’s IT staff need the power and flexibility of a terminal based system. All of these points are why Linux is the premier choice for most companies.
Linux has proved to be a fantastic system for backend services and other specialized corporate systems. But for the home user, ease of use is much more important than flexibility, privacy, and security. The Linux community lack of commitment to a good GUI puts them at a heavy disadvantage over proprietary competitors. It’s no wonder they consistently lag behind macOS/Windows with their buggy, difficult-to-use distributions.