Why not. =P

Alright, I'll take this seriously. For me, Windows represents something of a block against learning. In some senses I represent the typical experimental Engineer, I like to take things apart and learn about them. Windows has a number of areas where they will definitely not let me go, or will charge me to learn about. For instance, the operating system itself is something I find fascinating, because it represents something of a pinnacle of software engineering. The program that can manage complex hardware and share it efficiently with multiple applications. Information on the details of the operating system is pretty sparse with Windows systems. Typically you need to pick up their SDK, which is very much designed to work in Visual Studio's full version, something that isn't exactly cheap. Microsoft also rarely make improvements from a development perspective either, so what is released as a bad interface stays as a bad interface usually. On the flip-side I guess, what is released as a good interface stays as a good interface (C#.NET). Microsoft also don't offer me the opportunity to help them. If I find a bug, I guess I can submit it, but they receive too much data to actually work through it most of the time. Me providing a code fix for them is totally out of the question. As someone with a desire to learn and some degree of technical capability, this is rather disheartening.

So, what's good about Linux? Well, for me it is mostly that it tries to be the opposite of Windows a lot of the time. I can see and learn how pretty much any part of my operating system works. I can submit bugs I find and they will get responses, I can submit fixes and they will get integrated. More so than that, if I have a cool new feature and implement it, they will add it to new versions of the software if they agree it's neat. I don't have to take what I'm given and like it, I can (with suitable learning) change the operating system to make it do what I want. I can have a high performance virtual machine team / Java development / web 2.0 browsing OS if I want, and you can have something completely different. In Windows, "my system" consists of changing the theme and installing some applications you like. In Linux, my system consists of something I could've built from the ground up to suit my needs perfectly, an operating I helped build with my bare hands. It has a certain "honest work" feel about it, it's very technical exciting and I feel much richer as an engineer for having opted to use Linux as my main OS for these past few years. There are only 3 limits to what my system can do, time, knowledge and tools. In many cases, a lack of one can be compensated by employing the other two properly. With Linux, the answer is never ultimately "No" to any question I have. It may be "Not currently" or "Not easily", but it is never "No". If Microsoft don't want me to do something in particular with Windows, they can say "No". They are big enough that they don't have to do as I say if it doesn't make them money, and they don't give me the tools to make my own solution.

I choose it over Windows because it is my operating system. More so than that, it is our operating system. We have designed it, programmed it, tested it, packaged it, deployed it and use it. If bits of it don't work for us, we can change it. There is a real culture about that kind of thing, that says "We'll help you help yourself". If I want to make a change that no-one has done, I can ask people, they'll give me reading material, pointers, etc. If I make something and people like it, they might help me develop it further, or package it, or adapt it for new uses I could never have possibly thought of. There is a serious community thing going on, for both developers and non-developers, and it's really grass-roots. Linus can and will happily submit bug reports for my code, if he finds anything and we'll discuss it and get it solved. In return, my bug reports will be dealt with by the people who are going to be fixing the problem directly. Your operating system becomes something much more than some piece of software that lets you do stuff with a PC, if becomes YOUR operating system, it lets you do what you want to do with your PC, creatively and in a community setting.

No, Linux is not perfect. No, it's not for everyone (or even most people), but it's definitely for me and represents something that suits me far better than the alternatives. It was made by developers, for developers. It is nerdy, undeniably technical and in some instances serves seemedly little good purpose, and I love it. I'll leave you with a few choice quotes, that should sum up the mentality that drives Linux as a group of projects.

"We all know Linux is great...it does infinite loops in 5 seconds." -- Linus Torvalds

"Linux: The OS people choose without $200,000,000 of persuasion." -- Mike Coleman

"It _is_ user-friendly. It is not ignorant-friendly and idiot-friendly." -- Anon, replying to "Linux is not user friendly."

"I found that the Rubiks cube and Linux are alike. Looks real confusing until you read the right book. :-)" -- seen on c.o.l.misc Usenet group.

"The most important design issue... is the fact that Linux is supposed to be fun..." -- Linus Torvalds at the First Dutch International Symposium on Linux

"Excusing bad programming is a shooting offence, no matter _what_ the circumstances." -- Linus Torvalds, to the linux-kernel list

I am a penguin, hear my roar.

In most incarnations, it costs nothing - to install Windows for free requires breaking the law.

It is also open-source, which means it's free-as-in-speech - you can look at the kernel source code and see what your computer is doing. If you want, you can modify it.

It is better designed than Windows in general, particularly in areas like multi-user support, network support, and security.

I personally find it much easier to write code under Linux, because the Linux terminal is excellent, unlike the Windows terminal.

There are pretty much no Linux viruses, too. Whether that's because it's a small market or because it's hard to write viruses for is another matter - probably a bit of both.

"Excusing bad programming is a shooting offence, no matter _what_ the circumstances." -- Linus Torvalds, to the linux-kernel list

Sadly, some people on BYOND prefer to argue that with their ugly, procedural code examples =/. Thanks for that, by the way, I always knew it was a more technical OS, but not to the degree that you just explained.

The topic is flamebait enough without actually flaming people.

Ry4n wrote:

You're one of them aren't you. :(

I would hazard a guess that you've never even used Linux.

I suggest trying it out for yourself and seeing what you think. I'd recommend trying Ubuntu, as it's geared toward users, not techies (although techies will be able to get to the heart of the OS just as easily as any other distro).

You can download the Ubuntu live CD and try it without making changes to anything in your computer unless you choose to install it.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

I'll try and keep things simple and brief:

Windows, to the typical Linux user, is like Mac to the typical Windows user---overpriced and simply outrageous.

To answer your question with a question, why would you choose Windows over Mac (or if you're an oddball, Mac over Windows)? Windows/Mac over Linux?

Everything I use. Just in my every day-to-day crap its easier to use. Plus I rarely have trouble getting new software installed on my Windows.

Jerico2day wrote:

So again, as I said, only the individual can decide if it's good for them, since everyone likes to do different things.

Agreed.

Wonderfully said.

Linux is most certainly not for everybody. If you like to tinker with things, as most engineers do, than you'll love Linux. Being a Computer Engineer myself, I do love Linux more than I could ever love Windows because I can see what Linux truly is. I realize that for most users, that isn't important in the least.

In regards to what is easier to use, that's almost an impossible question to answer, particularly if you are trying to convince somebody who has already used Windows. They already have preconceived notions of how a "computer" should work, and in their mind it should work like Windows. That's not an easy habit to break. Most users feel that the command line isn't something they should ever use, without realizing that it is much more powerful and more simple in many cases than graphical interfaces.

Anyway, I'm sorta rambling, so I'm gonna stop now.

Linux is a secure, powerful, free operating system. If you are a power computer user, then it is wonderful, you can bend the OS to do almost anything you want. It is great for servers, hosting files, almost anything.

If you are a standard computer user like me and only want a quick, easy, effective way to use standard games and software that a majority of the market is geared to, just stay windows. People have had complaints for years about windows. I have used windows for years, and besides the once and awhile system crashes, I don't have issues. I have never had any problems.

Yeah, if you want to, you could run windows games in Linux with WINE. But not every game is supported and do you honestly think you'll get the best performance from a windows game run in a emulated environment on a Linux system? If you think that, you have problems.

I prefer to have my stuff run out of box and with the market the way it is today and with how Linux works, that is near impossible. And a lot of manufactures, who did have driver support for Linux out of the box are now stopping. Last time I installed Linux on a old PC for fun, nothing worked properly. I don't want to have to spend 30 mins trying to figure out how to just get my video card to properly work, thanks.