<s>
The	O
criticism	B-Application
of	I-Application
Linux	I-Application
focuses	O
on	O
issues	O
concerning	O
use	O
of	O
operating	O
systems	O
which	O
use	O
the	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
kernel	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
Linux-based	O
Android	B-Application
operating	I-Application
system	I-Application
dominates	O
the	O
smartphone	O
market	O
in	O
many	O
countries	O
,	O
and	O
Linux	B-Application
is	O
used	O
on	O
the	O
New	O
York	O
Stock	O
Exchange	O
and	O
most	O
supercomputers	B-Architecture
,	O
it	O
is	O
used	O
in	O
few	O
desktop	O
and	O
laptop	O
computers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Much	O
of	O
the	O
criticism	B-Application
of	I-Application
Linux	I-Application
is	O
related	O
to	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
desktop	O
and	O
laptop	O
adoption	O
,	O
although	O
as	O
of	O
2015	O
there	O
has	O
been	O
growing	O
unease	O
with	O
the	O
project	O
's	O
perspective	O
on	O
security	O
and	O
its	O
adoption	O
of	O
systemd	B-Application
has	O
been	O
controversial	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
security	O
professionals	O
say	O
that	O
the	O
rise	O
in	O
prominence	O
of	O
operating	B-Application
system-level	I-Application
virtualization	I-Application
using	O
Linux	B-Application
has	O
raised	O
the	O
profile	O
of	O
attacks	O
against	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
that	O
Linus	O
Torvalds	O
is	O
reticent	O
to	O
add	O
mitigations	O
against	O
kernel-level	O
attacks	O
in	O
official	O
releases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Linux	B-Application
4.12	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
2017	O
,	O
enabled	O
KASLR	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
but	O
its	O
effectiveness	O
is	O
debated	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Con	O
Kolivas	O
,	O
a	O
former	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
developer	O
,	O
tried	O
to	O
optimize	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
scheduler	O
for	O
interactive	O
desktop	O
use	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
2007	O
interview	O
Why	O
I	O
quit	O
:	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
developer	O
Con	O
Kolivas	O
he	O
stated	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
LinuxCon	O
2009	O
,	O
Linux	B-Application
creator	O
Linus	O
Torvalds	O
said	O
that	O
the	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
kernel	I-Operating_System
has	O
become	O
"	O
bloated	O
and	O
huge	O
"	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
an	O
interview	O
with	O
German	O
newspaper	O
Zeit	O
Online	O
in	O
November	O
2011	O
,	O
Linus	O
Torvalds	O
stated	O
that	O
Linux	B-Application
has	O
become	O
"	O
too	O
complex	O
"	O
and	O
he	O
was	O
concerned	O
that	O
developers	O
would	O
not	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
find	O
their	O
way	O
through	O
the	O
software	O
anymore	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Andrew	O
Morton	O
,	O
one	O
of	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
kernel	I-Operating_System
lead	O
developers	O
,	O
explains	O
that	O
many	O
bugs	O
identified	O
in	O
Linux	B-Application
are	O
never	O
fixed	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
Theo	O
de	O
Raadt	O
,	O
founder	O
of	O
OpenBSD	B-Operating_System
,	O
compares	O
OpenBSD	B-Operating_System
development	O
process	O
to	O
Linux	B-Application
:	O
</s>
<s>
Critics	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
on	O
the	O
desktop	O
have	O
frequently	O
argued	O
that	O
a	O
lack	O
of	O
top-selling	O
video	O
games	O
on	O
the	O
platform	O
holds	O
adoption	O
back	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
instance	O
,	O
as	O
of	O
September	O
2015	O
,	O
the	O
Steam	B-Application
gaming	O
service	O
has	O
1,500	O
games	O
available	O
on	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
compared	O
to	O
2,323	O
games	O
for	O
Mac	O
and	O
6,500	O
Windows	O
games	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
October	O
2021	O
,	O
Proton	B-Application
,	O
a	O
Steam-backed	O
development	O
effort	O
descended	O
from	O
Wine	B-Application
provides	O
compatibility	O
with	O
a	O
large	O
number	O
of	O
Windows-only	O
games	O
,	O
and	O
potentially	O
better	O
performance	O
over	O
Linux-native	O
ports	O
in	O
some	O
cases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ProtonDB	B-Application
is	O
a	O
community-maintained	O
effort	O
to	O
gauge	O
how	O
well	O
different	O
versions	O
of	O
Proton	B-Application
work	O
with	O
a	O
given	O
game	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
desktop	O
operating	O
system	O
,	O
Linux	B-Application
has	O
been	O
criticized	O
on	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
fronts	O
,	O
including	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
confusing	O
number	O
of	O
choices	O
of	O
distributions	B-Application
,	O
and	O
desktop	O
environments	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Poor	O
open	O
source	O
support	O
for	O
some	O
hardware	O
,	O
in	O
particular	O
drivers	O
for	O
3D	O
graphics	B-Architecture
chips	O
,	O
where	O
manufacturers	O
were	O
unwilling	O
to	O
provide	O
full	O
specifications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Limited	O
availability	O
of	O
widely	O
used	O
commercial	O
applications	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
Adobe	B-Operating_System
Photoshop	I-Operating_System
and	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Word	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
a	O
result	O
of	O
the	O
software	O
developers	O
not	O
supporting	O
Linux	B-Application
rather	O
than	O
any	O
fault	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sometimes	O
this	O
can	O
be	O
solved	O
by	O
running	O
the	O
Windows	O
versions	O
of	O
these	O
programs	O
through	O
Wine	B-Application
,	O
a	O
virtual	B-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
,	O
or	O
dual-booting	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
common	O
complaint	O
levelled	O
against	O
Linux	B-Application
is	O
the	O
abundance	O
of	O
distributions	B-Application
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
November	O
,	O
2021	O
,	O
DistroWatch	O
lists	O
275	O
distributions	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Linux	B-Application
advocates	O
have	O
defended	O
the	O
number	O
as	O
an	O
example	O
of	O
freedom	O
of	O
choice	O
,	O
other	O
critics	O
cite	O
the	O
large	O
number	O
as	O
cause	O
for	O
confusion	O
and	O
lack	O
of	O
standardization	O
in	O
Linux	B-Application
operating	I-Application
systems	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Caitlyn	O
Martin	O
from	O
LinuxDevCenter	O
has	O
been	O
critical	O
of	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
:	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
has	O
meant	O
that	O
a	O
Linux	B-Application
user	O
had	O
to	O
carefully	O
hand	O
pick	O
the	O
hardware	O
that	O
made	O
up	O
the	O
system	O
to	O
ensure	O
functionality	O
and	O
compatibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
one	O
time	O
,	O
Linux	B-Application
systems	O
required	O
removable	O
media	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
floppy	B-Device
discs	I-Device
and	O
CD-ROMs	B-Device
,	O
to	O
be	O
manually	O
mounted	O
before	O
they	O
could	O
be	O
accessed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Mounting	O
media	O
is	O
now	O
automatic	O
in	O
nearly	O
all	O
distributions	B-Application
,	O
with	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
the	O
udev	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
companies	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
EmperorLinux	O
,	O
have	O
addressed	O
the	O
problems	O
of	O
laptop	O
hardware	O
compatibility	O
by	O
mating	O
modified	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
with	O
specially	O
selected	O
hardware	O
to	O
ensure	O
compatibility	O
from	O
delivery	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
traditional	O
directory	B-Application
structure	I-Application
,	O
which	O
is	O
a	O
heritage	O
from	O
Linux	B-Application
's	O
Unix	O
roots	O
in	O
the	O
1970s	O
,	O
has	O
been	O
criticized	O
as	O
inappropriate	O
for	O
desktop	O
end	O
users	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
like	O
GoboLinux	O
and	O
moonOS	O
have	O
proposed	O
alternative	O
hierarchies	O
that	O
were	O
argued	O
to	O
be	O
easier	O
for	O
end	O
users	O
,	O
though	O
they	O
achieved	O
little	O
acceptance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2004	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
initiated	O
its	O
Get	O
the	O
Facts	O
marketing	O
campaign	O
,	O
which	O
specifically	O
criticized	O
Linux	B-Application
server	O
usage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
particular	O
,	O
it	O
claimed	O
that	O
the	O
vulnerabilities	O
of	O
Windows	O
are	O
fewer	O
in	O
number	O
than	O
those	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
,	O
that	O
Windows	O
is	O
more	O
reliable	O
and	O
secure	O
than	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
that	O
the	O
total	O
cost	O
of	O
ownership	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
is	O
higher	O
(	O
due	O
to	O
complexity	O
,	O
acquisition	O
costs	O
,	O
and	O
support	O
costs	O
)	O
,	O
that	O
use	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
places	O
a	O
burden	O
of	O
liability	O
on	O
businesses	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
"	O
Linux	B-Application
vendors	O
provide	O
little	O
,	O
if	O
any	O
indemnification	O
coverage.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
Linux	B-Application
distributors	I-Application
now	O
offer	O
indemnification	O
to	O
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Particularly	O
documents	O
from	O
1998	O
and	O
1999	O
ceded	O
that	O
"	O
Linux	B-Application
...	O
is	O
trusted	O
in	O
mission	O
critical	O
applications	O
,	O
and	O
–	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
open	O
source	O
code	O
–	O
has	O
a	O
long	O
term	O
credibility	O
which	O
exceeds	O
many	O
other	O
competitive	O
OSs	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
An	O
advanced	O
Win32	O
GUI	O
user	O
would	O
have	O
a	O
short	O
learning	O
cycle	O
to	O
become	O
productive	O
[	O
under	O
Linux ]	O
"	O
,	O
"	O
Long	O
term	O
,	O
my	O
simple	O
experiments	O
do	O
indicate	O
that	O
Linux	B-Application
has	O
a	O
chance	O
at	O
the	O
desktop	O
market	O
...	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
"	O
Overall	O
respondents	O
felt	O
the	O
most	O
compelling	O
reason	O
to	O
support	O
OSS	O
was	O
that	O
it	O
'	O
Offers	O
a	O
low	O
total	O
cost	O
of	O
ownership	O
(	O
TCO	O
)	O
'	O
.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Linux	B-Application
community	O
has	O
had	O
mixed	O
responses	O
to	O
these	O
and	O
other	O
criticisms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
mentioned	O
above	O
,	O
while	O
some	O
criticism	O
has	O
led	O
to	O
new	O
features	O
and	O
better	O
user-friendliness	O
,	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
community	O
as	O
a	O
whole	O
has	O
a	O
reputation	O
for	O
being	O
resistant	O
to	O
criticism	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Writing	O
for	O
PC	O
World	O
,	O
Keir	O
Thomas	O
,	O
noted	O
that	O
,	O
"	O
Most	O
of	O
the	O
time	O
the	O
world	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
tends	O
to	O
be	O
anti-critical	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
2015	O
interview	O
,	O
Linus	O
Torvalds	O
also	O
mentioned	O
the	O
tendency	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
desktop	O
environment	O
projects	O
to	O
blame	O
their	O
users	O
instead	O
of	O
themselves	O
in	O
case	O
of	O
criticism	O
.	O
</s>
