The DIY approach

Linux has a vibrant community. We’re not just users – we’re advocates. And we believe Linux is better than competing options, at least in some regards.

If you’ve been around for some time, you’re probably thinking that this statement hasn’t always held true. Sure, there were always (and probably always will be) areas where Linux shone and areas where there’s been room for improvement. However, 10 or 15 years ago a side-by-side comparison with competitors didn’t often go in Linux’s favour, especially on desktops.

Of course, some of these missing features were quite minor or of niche use, but the point is it was difficult to beat a commercial counterpart solely in terms of a feature set. Back then, we were using other arguments: “Linux may be missing something your favourite commercial suite has, but it’s free, both in terms of money, and free speech. So you can add a feature you miss or go without it and save money.” Sometimes this worked, other times not so much; looking back, it wasn’t important. The point is, time has shown that this argument was ultimately right.

Take DTrace. When it first appeared in Solaris, I remember fellow Sun engineers telling me that Linux lags behind because it lacked this essential tool. Later, when Solaris went free, special care was taken so that DTrace didn’t appear in Linux that easily. It was a difficult time, as even our second argument didn’t stand anymore. Yet as the community, we’ve taken our own advice and developed the features we missed. Five years later, we won. That’s the beauty of free software.