why linux sucks
Testing? What's that? If it compiles, it is good, if it boots up, it is
perfect.
-- Linus Torvalds
Welcome to the beginnings of my "why linux sucks" page. There isn't much here
just yet, but there are so many reasons, both technical and non-technical, that linux sucks that this page will surely fill up quickly.
I've opened the page up to linking again...except from slashdot.
Here's a short list of Linux flaws that make it look silly:
- /usr/include/linux (come on. honestly.) Lame. Nonstandard. (for the clue-deprived, this means that any code written for linux using the linux/ headers will be incompatible with all other Unix flavors.) Guess what: string.h, types.h,
malloc.h, signal.h, and so-on don't belong in a platform-specific include directory.
Hope you didn't want to port your code...
- Neither the sigaction manpage nor the signal.h includs indicate what the system defaults are. Of course, they've put signal.h in /usr/include/linux...
- "intro" manpages are a joke. Compare the BSD section 2 intro with the
one from Linux.
- file systems mount async by default (power outage and your fs dies)
- Most linux users don't have pubes yet and are
intolerably lame (3Y3 4m 1337 H4x0r d00d [uz 3y3 h4v3 L1Nux!)
- Too many things in user space that belong in the kernel (nfs)
- Too many things in the kernel that belong in user space (java)
- No standard distribution. Linux people say this is a good thing? Try writing software or software configuration instructions when you never know how the OS is going to be laid out, or try finding the responsible party for a block of OS code, or try fixing security problems when they arise and you'll see that this is NOT a good thing at all.
- no consistant pronunciation the os'es name (line-ucks? lynn-ucks?)
- svr4? bsd? make up your mind?
- Lame NFS & dd
- #linux, #hack, #linuxwarez...
- New kernel every week that breaks half your applications
- Security flaw/Root compromise of the week (see below)
- glibc? libc? libc5? libc6? glibc2?
- /bin/sh != sh; /bin/sh == bash. Lame. Nonstandard. Result: broken shell scripts and nonportable code.
- /usr/bin/make != make; /usr/bin/make == gmake. Lame. Nonstandard. Same result as above: nonportable code.
- ext2fs
- Linux will mount partitions that are not clean
- can't handle partitions > 2GB (i've hear they finally fixed this one)
- e2fsck deliberatly leaves/creates corrupt files (if there is a block that it duplicate between two files, e2fsck will clone the duplicate (while fsck will remove both files. This can also result in a user gaining unauthorized access
to another user's data.))
- it swap likes swap to swap swap too swap often swap
- only allows 128M of swap at a time; for a 1G of swap, you need 8 swap partitions
- can't handle more than 1GB of RAM
- To install Joe's program, you need Bob's kernel hack, but for Bob's kernel
hack, you've got to have Suzy's patches, but Suzy's patches only work with
a year-old kernel, unless you get Mike's patches to Suzy's patches, but even
then, those conflict with Jeff's drivers, which can be resolved only by
installing Nancy's patches...
- Can't handle the same IP on more than one interface
- Can't handle large files
- Max file size: 2GB. (*BSD: 4 Terabytes)
- Dynamically linked root shell. Doom!
- lilo! any boot loader that needs to have magic block numbers is wrong
- linux icmp.h is *NOT* unix icmp.h - they're totally incompatible.
- flatfile password files make listing large ftp directories impossible
due to huge numbers of flatfile searchces.
- password file can be non-shadowed - encrypted passwords visible to all
- shadow.h! hahahahahahaha!
- Slowass network code
- Did I mention
slowass network code?
- Oh, also slowass network code
- Miserably pathetic threading implementation doesn't scale for shit:
all threads wake up on signals (stampeding process problem).
- L1nux c0d3rz!
- LILO can't cope with kernels > 1Mb, so the kernel has to be gzipped.
- strfry and memfrob
- Can't cope with hard drives > 32GB
- GPL - a license and a virus
- Fundamental design and direction problems. It
turns out that Linus is not the smartest man in the world and the saviour of
all mankind.
- OS or religion?
UNABLE TO LOAD INTERPRETER
...memory leak much?
- This is a real Linux error message:
Uhhh. NMI recieved. Dazed and Confused. Trying to cope
...such professionalism!
- The GNU su manpage actually says this:
This program does not support a "wheel group" that
restricts who can su to super-user accounts, because that
can help fascist system administrators hold unwarranted
power over other users.
...apparently it's better for any user to attack the root password than to offer added security. Ignorance of security is a common Linux thread.
- vi != vi; vi == vim. vim links to X libraries. Wipe X, and now you
can't use vi. Retards.
- Still no USB support in 2000, after NetBSD and FreeBSD have had it for nearly 2 years. So much for the "million geeks" theory of rapid software development.
- Always trying to help you hold your weewee when you're going tinkle.
- No version control used to manage the system.
I don't expect this list to be up to date; Linux is impossible enough to
keep up with as a user, and it's even harder to keep up with how broken
and lame it is this week. In general, the further something is down the
list, the newer the information is. It's almost surprising how much of
the older items still hold true today, until you consider the fragmented
and undirected development effort.
Before you wet the briefs your mommy bought for you at Target and
frantically search for a link to email me something about how "it's not
like that anymore" or "how dare you insult Linux! I will h4x0r you!" or
other such standard Linux sycophant drivel, consider for a moment that
I just don't give a fuck what you have to say. I understand that it can
be upsetting to you to see your precious OS exposed as the garbage it is.
I've heard it all before, so you can save your energy for something more
complex and important to you, like
learning how to masturbate.
Perhaps the greatest crime of Linux is the production of nonportable code. The Linux c0d3rz wave the free-software flag, but they're just as bad as Microsoft in making software that can run only under their OS.
Check out my favorite Linux joke. Also
read aard's linux joke
Also check out this spoof press release about Tonka's
new Linux distribution.
Linux kiddies wet the bed
News Articles, Interviews, etc
Throughout all of these, it's interesting to note the typical Linux
kiddie reaction to proof that their OS sucks ass. It's always something
like:
- The test wasn't "fair"
- What about new kernel x.y.z?
- You can't expect <reasonable expectation>
- The people doing the test must be mean/biased
- It wasn't tuned properly
- They didn't look at the latest release of Red Hat x.y!
They really seem like 4-year-olds who have just been denied a pack of
gum in a grocery store.
- Byte article showing FreeBSD is still faster and more stable than the 2.4 Linux kernel
- "the recent security problems with Linux, coupled with the lack of key enterprise elements in the new kernel, really call into question whether Linux should be used at all.
- The Linux "Ramen" Worm uses "several" Linux vulnerabilities to replicate itself
- FreeBSD is a better web server than Linsux
- This is what happens when your entire business
plan consists of the word "Linux".
- Redhat crashes out of the box in less than 3 weeks.
- The Cathedral and the Bazarre - total bullshit
- Linux reviews are bought- not earned
- Bad Linux Advocacy FAQ - a must-read
- Sendmail developers
have discovered a big gaping hole present in ALL linux kernels up to and including 2.2.15.
- Security Focus statistics page. Note how only Windows NT has had more security problems than
Linux.
- Linux loses Wall Street's interest... fancy that: Linux, it turns out, is not the greatest thing ever
- Another Wall Street story of Linux firms merging,
hoping to actually turn a profit. Wow!
- Linux is not mature enough for high-end computing
- Linuxcare go spaf!
- This is hella funny
- Alan Cox is to blame for the big gaping hole, and didn't even catch the most foolish and common of CGI mistakes.
Alan Cox is one of the lead Linux kernel coders.
- Big gaping hole in Red Hat security. Fat fucking surprise!
- Linux is marketing and hype according to this Wall Stree Journal article
- Linux is marketing and religion according to this ZDnet article
- Interview with Keith Bostic including the quote "Linux and Microsoft both started from scratch, and it showed."
- ZDnet
article about Linux fragmentation
- Debugging is hard! let's go shopping!
- Dorks.
-
The thrill is gone for Linux
-
Don't invest in Linux!
-
Even the SuSe CEO says that Linux is poo
- SCOWorld article that says, in part:
. In our tests of these operating systems, all but one of the
Linux systems suffered two or more crashes during the testing period.
The FreeBSD system and both SCO operating systems suffered no crashes at all.
- Computerworld: three UNIX systems better than Linux
- PC Week article about how Linux is overexaggerated
-
Computerworld interview with SCO's CEO calling Linux a religion.
-
ZDnet article about Linux Security- and how badly it sucks ass.
-
Linux is Obsolete - a series of well-circulated Usenet postings in
a thread started by Andy Tanenbaum, a respected Operating Systems authority.
Note how Tanenbaum presents himself vs Linus having a tantrum.
-
ZDnet article about the recent (2/14/00) Denial of Service attacks which
says, in part: "The three DDoS tools in wide distribution on the Internet rely on known security vulnerabilities of Solaris and Linux." so you can thank
Linux for the last wave of Denial of Service attacks.
- JWZ's article about how
linux is only free if your time has no value. For those that don't know,
JWZ is a very clever guy who was deeply involved in the development of
Netscape & Mozilla for some time
- ZDnet review of linux as a web server, including mention of how
the tcp/ip stack is broken in the 2.2 kernel, which is a perfect example
of the mention above about new kernels breaking applications.
- Linux: poo FreeBSD: good
- The Linux Myth - John Dvorak on ZDnet
- Daemon News article
outlining many of the misconceptions than Linsux weenies spread about BSD.
- Web server comparison showing
that Linux is still slower than FreeBSD
- Byte Magazine article outlining how "Linux is only free if your time has no value"
- NT Magazine outlines many Linux shortcomings
- Another NT Magazine article
- Mindcraft says that
FreeBSD outperforms Linux in this article defending their benchmarks
- Read what Ken Thompson has to say about Linux
- FreeBSD is faster than Linux
- NT is faster than Linux
- A news.com article discussing Linux shortcomings
- Here's a zdnet article that details why Linux's time is over.
- NT is better than Linux
- The anti-linux crusade
And here is something that's sure to convince; hit the button below to perform
a search for Linux security flaws on rootshell.com. There are plenty. The
last time I searched on "FreeBSD" there were 9 hits. Linux: 121. Linux
sucks.
Search BugTraq for
linux-related messages
Search SecurityFocus advisories for linux messages
thanks to: urg, aard, brightmn, imperial, ee, foo, JB, cykyc
|
|
|
Wed Jan 14 04:08:48 PST 2004
|
|
linux/index.src
|
Updated: Sun Jul 28 2002 21:58.07
|
|
Viewed: never
|
Copyright © 1998-1999 by Nick Johnson. All rights reserved.