2.3. Fears, Uncertainity and Doubts

Let's dispel some of the fear, uncertainty, and doubt about Linux:

It's a toy operating system. Fortune 500 companies, governments, and consumers; more and more use, Linux as a cost-effective computing solution. It has been used and is still used by big companies like IBM, Amtrak, NASA, and others.

There's no support. Every Linux distribution comes with more than 12,000 pages of documentation. Commercial Linux distributions such as Red Hat Linux, Caldera, SuSE, and OpenLinux offer initial support for registered users, and small business and corporate accounts can get 24/7 supports through a number of commercial support companies. As an Open Source operating system, there's no six-months to wait for a service release, and the online Linux community fixes many serious bugs within hours.