I have said it myself and for me in my particular cases it is true. Linux "Just Works"... Yet for many out there it doesn't "Just Work". They install Linux, they want to do the same things that I do and they come up against a brick wall. Linux just doesn't work for them and they are not too shy about telling the world about it.

Ever wanted to learn how the internals of your Linux desktop work? Yes, we've already published detailed "how it works" articles about things like sound, the kernel, LVM, PAM and filesystems, but in this article we're going to take a wider view and explain how everything in a modern Linux distro works, start to finish.

I have always considered myself a prospective PC to Apple switcher. I like the way that the Apple interface and hardware looks. But the 'just works' slogan that Apple promote just isn't true. I have had issues with my wi-fi router as well that I have never had with either Windows or Ubuntu machines. There are work-arounds, to be sure, but then don't say it 'just works'.

First of all, I don't run Compiz because I see it as no more than a resource-wasting annoyance. Sure, it looks cool, but it doesn't help me with productivity in any way. Secondly, I keep multiple windows open at all times, so I rarely see my desktop and it was good to see that GNOME shell includes a window switcher which can be accessed with the traditional Alt+Tab hotkeys.

How often have you heard the words "it's difficult to get this software/hardware working on Linux, that's why it hasn't caught the mass imagination"?

One of the things you hear a lot is that Macs "just work." As nicely described in this article, Linux "just works" just as well if you only run it on hardware it was designed to run on. I would like to take the post one step further, though. I would recommend that new Linux users, perhaps after testing out the Live CD for a bit, should actually buy a computer with Linux pre-installed.

The majority of computer users want their machines to "just work." And though I like seeing how my hardware and software interact, it is preferable to have things "just work," so I can get what I need done, and then spend the time I saved doing so leisurely poking at my application's innards. There's an inherent danger in the "just works" philosophy, however.

You read about it everywhere on forums, mailing lists and in just about every Linux verses windows flame war. Linux just works is claimed. Then there is the counter claim that Linux didn't do this or that had no drivers. So what is the story here? Does Linux just work or not?

The chart details which systems have been "officially" tested by developers and reveals what hardware works and what doesn't.