Linux is a versatile operating system that can be used for a wide range of tasks, from running servers to powering desktop computers and even embedded systems. While it's true that Linux is often associated with server environments where graphical processing isn't a primary concern, it's not accurate to say that Linux doesn't use graphics cards.

In fact, graphics cards, also known as GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), are commonly used in Linux systems for various purposes, including:
1. Desktop Environments: Many Linux distributions offer full-featured desktop environments with graphical user interfaces (GUIs) similar to those found in Windows or macOS. These desktop environments rely on graphics drivers to interface with the GPU, providing smooth graphics rendering, hardware-accelerated window management, and support for multimedia tasks such as video playback and gaming.
2. Graphics Applications: Linux supports a wide range of graphics-intensive applications, including image editing software like GIMP and video editing tools like Blender. These applications often leverage GPU acceleration to improve performance and enable advanced features such as real-time rendering and complex visual effects.
3. Gaming: While gaming on Linux historically lagged behind Windows due to limited driver support and compatibility issues, the situation has improved significantly in recent years thanks to efforts like Valve's Proton and the growth of platforms like Steam for Linux. Many modern games are playable on Linux using dedicated graphics cards, with support for popular APIs like Vulkan further enhancing performance and compatibility.
4. Data Science and Machine Learning: GPUs are widely used in data science and machine learning applications for their ability to accelerate parallel computations. Linux provides robust support for GPU-accelerated computing frameworks like TensorFlow, PyTorch, and CUDA, enabling researchers and developers to train neural networks and analyze large datasets more efficiently.
5. High-Performance Computing (HPC): In HPC environments, GPUs are frequently employed to accelerate scientific simulations, numerical computations, and other compute-intensive tasks. Linux is the operating system of choice for many HPC clusters and supercomputers, where GPUs play a crucial role in achieving high performance and scalability.
In summary, while Linux is indeed capable of running without a dedicated graphics card, especially in server or headless environments, GPUs are still widely used in Linux systems for desktop computing, gaming, graphics applications, scientific computing, and other tasks that require high-performance graphics processing. Linux offers robust support for graphics hardware, with open-source drivers available for many GPUs and proprietary drivers provided by manufacturers like NVIDIA for optimal performance and compatibility.