Linux in the Humanities
.I've been using Linux exclusively for about four years now. At first, this sometimes caused confusion, but things have changed. People now often ask me if I'm using Linux and how that is working out for me. Since the discussion around digital sovereignty has gained momentum, interest has only grown. In the coming weeks, I'll be sharing my experiences to give others a better sense of what switching to Linux entails. This post is a brief overview to hit things off.
Why am I Using Linux as a Humanities Scholar?
Linux is not exactly the standard operating system for humanities scholars. Most people have Windows installed on their computers or use Apple products. The fact that I even started with Linux somewhat warrants explanation.
About four years ago, I began working on my PhD. (It's now completed, so it is possible to do it with Linux.) I wanted to use the early phase to structure my workflows well, which proved to be very valuable in the long run. I knew
- that I would be working with many historical sources and a lot of literature,
- that I would need simple and efficient workflows for handling them,
- that several tools (image database for sources, literature database, note-taking program, writing program) would need to work together, and
- that I prefer to use free software.
Additionally, I was a bit short on cash and knew that I wouldn't have resources for software and hardware through my PhD funding.
All of this can, of course, also be implemented with Windows. However, since I was already into open source, and Linux is resource-efficient in almost every way, I found a switch to Linux to be sensible.
Experiences with Switching to Linux
The switch went smoothly. To be fair, I had used Linux as a teenager (back then I thought I'd become a hacker, which obviously didn't happen), so I knew the basics. However, things were quite different back then. Windows ran smoothly, while Linux required a lot of fiddling aroung to get everyday functionality working (e.g., watching videos online or from DVDs), and even then, it hardly worked smoothly. That's completely different today.
In fact, daily tasks run directly from the very easy installation without needing to install additional software, at least if you use one of the major distributions like Ubuntu, Mint, or Fedora. What I already found pleasant back then and even more so today is that most software is maintained by a central managing system. This also handles all updates. Since most things today are in the cloud and clouds usually have clients for Linux, there's no need to move any files manually.
Linux is no longer an expert operating system. It can be used intuitively, runs smoother than Windows (especially on older machines), and doesn't cause problems unless you want to tinker with it. Of course, everything is a bit differently structured, but for example, Linux Mint looks almost like Windows and can be used to about 90% the same way.
Pros and Cons of Using Linux for Humanities Research
I'll go into more detail on this elsewhere, but I want to briefly name the pros and cons of using linux in my research routine (and in private use).
On a practical level, I found the customization options of Linux unparalleled. Without going into too much detail: since most software on Linux is open source, programs can be adjusted to one's own needs. There's naturally a learning curve, but with advice from the very active communities (and from chatbots), the hurdle is much lower than one might imagine. Theoretically, a lot is possible with Windows too, but with Linux, the paths to success are shorter (to put it metaphorically). I don't place much value on graphical gimmicks, but if you want, you can find countless themes online (and of course, you can also create them yourself) to adapt the system visually to your own needs.
The biggest disadvantage is certainly that most people still use proprietary file formats. With Word documents (docx), this isn't really a problem as long as it's not about formatting. LibreOffice opens docx files without problems, though formatting, fonts, and occasionally even comments don't match up properly. If it's only about giving content feedback or collaborating content-wise, there are no issues here. However, communication with publishers or editors is indeed annoying. Everything can be done through roundabout methods (using MS Office online; running a Windows virtual machine; using another PC), but it's not ideal. I'm sure that things will change in the near future. Publishers are already shifting their production internally (here it's more about media-neutral production processes), so we can only hope that communication standards will develop similarly soon. I'm a bit less optimistic about table documents. Excel is simply too dominant, and LibreOffice Calc isn't really suitable for more complex tasks. Of course, there are alternatives, but table functions are a bit hard to learn even in Excel, where people are used to the interface. So I think the hurdle here is higher than with switching to other word processors. Presentations, on the other hand, have never been a problem. They generally ran better on my system than on others.
For personal use, I've never missed MS Office. I've not even really used LibreOffice. Writing with plain text editors is initially a bit of a habit adjustment, but it's then very liberating. I wrote my dissertation with Zettlr, a markdown editor that allows you to edit only text documents (i.e., .txt, .md, etc.). Zettlr has a file overview on the left pane and is very well integrated with Pandoc, which allows you to convert these text files into countless other formats (including docx, if desired). It can also access the Zotero database and thus create citations. I'll write more about this entire workflow in another post, see also my page on digital workflows.
Linux is Worth It (At Least for Me)
For me, the advantages have outweighed the disadvantages. When dealing with sensitive data, one can't feel comfortable with Microsoft anymore. With Linux, you have control over your data, over how it is processed, and over the entire system. And all of this is free of charge. (There are also numerous proprietary programs that run on Linux, which of course might cost money.) Digital sovereignty starts with the operating system. For researchers who want control over their computer and their data, Linux is a real option.