Voice of the Masses: What is your #1 reason for using Linux?
Our next podcast will be recorded in a few days — a bit later than usual, due to the summer holidays, but rest assured it’ll be a scorcher. And for this episode’s Voice of the Masses section, we want to hear from you: what is your main reason for running GNU/Linux?
Perhaps it’s the operating system’s famed stability, or its solid track record in security. Maybe you love the freedom that the GPL brings, or you just got damn sick of dealing with Windows problems. You might be a developer and love all of the tools and compilers that are easily available.
In any case, let us know what’s top of your list, and we’ll read out the best comments in our upcoming recording!
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About The Author
Mike Saunders
Mike stores his data by printing out hex dumps and laminating the sheets. He's the author of The Haynes Linux Manual and the creator of MikeOS, an operating system hand-built from assembly language.
The fact that I can use Linux on a range of devices all with varying scales. Such as the VoCore router https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/vocore-a-coin-sized-linux-computer-with-wifi , the Raspberry Pi and huge hulking data centres.
Linux can’t be infiltrated by the NSA, CIA, FBI, MI5, GCHQ or TESCO !
um… yes it can, mostly because you still use Firefox and Chrome as your browsers and those are developed in the USA which means that the intelligence community is allowed to demand that they place undocumented backdoors in their software, and they are wild on the Internet so you are basically handing them your machine on a silver platter.
The main reason I use it is because it strikes the perfect balance between usability and security. I could use a BSD and be more secure or I could use OS X and have access to more software but I split the difference and use Linux.
I’m somewhat ashamed to admit that the ethics of software freedom actually come a close second.
I’m pretty confident that there’s more software for Arch Linux than there is for MacOS. If you mean more Commercial software, then yes. There’s no shame in acknowledging your needs. 🙂
I’m a developer, and the main reason is freedom.
Freedom to develop with ease and freedom to customize your environment. There is always a tool for the job, and if there is not, its no hassle to find it, install it and use it.
I prefer to have a powerful shell, proper tools and a packet manager I can trust.
Windows has neither and Mac only has homebrew, which I have trouble trusting.
These things enable me to do whatever I want without having to fight against the system or having to lock myself in in a certain toolchain: programming, scripting, text processing, web browsing etc.
I switched from Windows to Linux for freedom. To be free from Microsoft’s whims and expensive upgrades.
Greetings from Down Under. I love your work and what freedom from big publishing houses brings.
The ability to change anything I want.
My main reasons:
> Huge range of platforms and hardware to install on
> Ultimate configuration freedom
> Free (as in free beer)
Other things like security and “libre” software don’t honestly bother me day to day, but its nice to know that they are there.
A Linux system is generally rock solid, secure and enables me to undertake the vast majority of computerized tasks. It just works.
Gone are the days and days of maintaining my systems after damage from computer viruses and disk defraging.
A new install takes less than an hour; compare that to my last system from Redmond, which took three working days!
Windows is good for Computer Technicians livelihoods, Linux is good for computer users.
Freedom and no viruses, open standards etc. Oh and freedom from proprietary operating systems. One also meets the people that contribute freely to help other people.
It’s the old hippies choice 😉
I was inspired by the philosophy ideals that are the backbone of GNU/Linux.
In a word, security
In a nutshell…
The software: tools for completing a huge range of tasks are just an ‘apt-get’ away. A revolution from my days of using a glut of Windows ‘shareware’ and ‘trialware’.
Modernity: Linux is on the cutting-edge, and is constantly being updated. No lagging behind waiting for the next Windows release or whatnot.
Flexibility: Linux can be configured to do pretty much anything you want. Every option and parameter is ready to be changed to fit personal preferences and needs.
The fact it is free and open source, and other philosophical considerations, came much later for me. The pragmatic advantages to using Linux are what made me switch in the first place.
I’m sorry to see that Software Freedom is not a higher priority in the comments so far. It’s certainly my #1 reason for using Linux.
I would like to put forward the view that Linux is a stable, secure and flexible operating system because of the Free Software culture that nurtured it.
Pretty much Xanadu encapsulated what I was trying to write.
However, the software availability also swings it for me as well. I have a system setup with what I need for day to day but when I am asked to do something different I can just download the software to do it.
Linux does not create “orphan hardware” by randomly changing driver technology, leaving me with useless printers, scanners, etc. I can also use Linux on all if my computers, no matter what their age, processing power, or graphics hardware.
That lets me use a consistent software interface across my computers. Or an inconsistent one, if that’s what I want. My grandson might not want the same desktop that I use. With Linux, I can fix that.
Linux lets me use my computer as I want to use it.
My main box runs a customised version of Mint 14.04 Cinnamon. It meets all of my work flow and aesthetic needs.
My very old netbook runs Crunch Bang – no need to buy a Chromebook for me. Crunch Bang works just fine for all my browsing and related needs.
Of course none of the above would be possible without the freedom FLOSS supplies!
Updates, and the terminal.
Keeping software up-to-date on Windows system is a royal pain in the backside.
Linux package managers on the other hand, make everything a breeze, even more so with correctly configured unattended-upgrades.
I also find the terminal a whole lot more efficient do do what I need to do in terms of system administration.
Software freedom isn’t a huge deal for me, but it does have a bearing – if in the future I learned enough to contribute back, I can.
No Licensing. When you buy a device that has the other OS’s on it you need a license to use it. That means you never actually own your device but you are being owned by the man.
Another thing is the donation model. Many people have been duped into thinking that if something doesn’t cost a lot it must not be good and when something is free it is too good to be true. When in fact, if people are willing to donate to something that means that it is awesome and the people behind the projects must be rewarded for their hard work. DONATE THE PLANET!!!
Free(dom)
I have build my own desktops over the years from hardware components I have chosen – linux is just an extension of that at the operating and application software level.
I am only slightly less cynical about security on linux than I am on its commercial rivals. I used to be reassured by the knowledge that more skillful people than me were checking the code on behalf of the whole community. OpenSSL changed that – there is some code that is obviously too obscure to be properly reviewed.
Back in ’83, I had the job of connecting the University’s new Perkin-Elmer 3032 to the then Internet (I have a map somewhere of the Internet back then, with a whopping 200 machines connected to it, but I digress…) The point is, it ran Unix & I’ve had a fondness for the OS & its derivatives ever since. Fast-forward to 2007 & the disaster that is Windows Vista. Having effectively been one of thousands of unpaid & unofficial beta-testers for Microsoft by wrestling with this shabby OS, they then announced Win7 “the OS Vista should’ve been” & wanted another 100 quid off us! In a rage, I downloaded Ubuntu 8 & have never looked back 🙂
I just switched from OS X and the main reason is a choice in hardware outside of the hardware Apple offers. I do not necessarily need the hottest shit available and want to be able to service my computers myself.
And in contrast to Windows, I have far better logging and therefore it is far easier to solve my problems when I run into any.
Freedom is paramount.
The liberation of using an operating system I can fold around my needs lke a cosy blanket rather than adapting my uses to an increasingly tight fitting and imposed desktop, where the use case is defined on my behalf by an organisation determined to squeeze every inch of profit from a codebase which can rarely express itself in new and intriguing forms due to this commitment to shareholders over customers.
There was a few reasons that I moved from Windows -> Linux more than 6 years ago.
1. Sick of freeware software on Windows which left your pc virus-ridden.
2. The idea of open source software.
3. By far the best array of programming languages and utilities ready to go.
4. the package manager, having that much free software ready to use from the get go.
5. the elitism of linux. Nothing makes people wow more than when you open a black terminal window and start typing commands.
6. performance. This reason is more why I stay with Linux. Computer does not slow to a halt over time.
Bash and yum, just let’s me get working. I can do 90% of my tasks a command prompt.
Because it is free as in freedom and also technically superior to any other OS. And there is KDE Plasma desktop available for it.
Number one is freedom. The whole computing scene started going to hell when they came up with the idea that you don’t own software, you license it. And the restrictions they put on it always become stupid sooner or later. With Linux, I am in charge of what I do.
I don’t like being told that I can’t… Freedom
Short: It’s Unix. Long: It’s Unix with great hardware support, and is easy to use. It has a lot of high quality software extremely easy to obtain.
In no particular order:
> I can actually use my computer (the ones I bought in 2004, 2007, and 2013).
> It’s fun.
> Customization.
> Community support.
> Lack of bloatware, drivers, DLL hell.
> Development tools.
> Compiling the kernel is cool.
> Security.
And to top all that off, it’s free.
I can install it on as many PC’s as I want to and I don’t have to pay the Windows tax, which is a huge benefit when I am restoring old hardware back to life to hand over back to community use via Freegle, or rescuing friends and family’s hardware now that XP has come to the end of its life. However saying that because of the fact I do use Linux so much, I chose to support the developers of the Distro that I use (which for the last 3 years or so has been Mint) with an annual donation to help them pay the bills. Also the community support for Linux is fantastic and as a result I know far more of what goes on under the hood of Linux than I ever did in my Windows ‘daze’ As I type this I’m installing Mint on an Old P4 2Gig with 630mb SD Ram and its chugging along fine it wouldn’t have been worth paying for an up to date OS even if I could have found one that would run on it, but Mint will be fully secure and give the PC a little extra life.
Plain and simply: I can be far more productive using Linux out of the box than I can with any other OS. An example, I produce a weekly music podcast with extensive show notes. I have the process about 80 percent automated by simply integrating a few tools in linux. It takes me about 30 minutes per show to produce playlists in text and html format, SubRip Subtitles, formatted html play sheet tables, etc. Editing the show take about 5 minutes in audacity. Using auphonic to produce multiple encodings of the show takes little time, and then I can move all the media up to the cloud using an rsync tool. My total post-production time: 1hr (30 minutes on notes, 30 minutes edit, and transfer files). And I could improve this process if I wanted to automate that last 20 percent.
The best of the productivity tools are available on Windows and McOS now (iFries with that?) but I still find the Linux Desktop inherently more productive than the others because I can adjust the paradigms to suit my work habits, by choosing a good window manager, dock, tweaking the touchpad timings and so on. Next to impossible elsewhere, easy on Linux. My work environemnt can support me instead of hinder me. That’s huge.
Originally curiosity, then the cost of a new Windows PC plus software. Then I realised it did everything I need with less hassle than I had prviously. Now the queston is why would I not use it?
Hassle free updating of system base and apps.
Leight weight because no anti virus.
From base install to up to date system within 45 minutes.
Four main reasons actually:
– It works.
– Security.
– Has all the applications I need & they are open source.
– It is not Windows.
I switched because Linux allowed me the freedom to modify programs to suit me. I was frustrated with paying Microsoft for something I did have the freedom to modify, give away, or even own.
Updating the entire system and all its software in a few clicks is a huge reason to switch to or stay on Linux (and other free OSes). I spend more time updating single Windows applications than I do updating my entire Linux machine.
I got tired of having to wait/hope the developer would fix a bug or add a feature. With Linux/FLOSS based systems if it bugs me enough I can always download the code and patch it myself if I have to. It’s also great having a corpus of code to learn from.
Choice and freedom!
If something doesn’t work, someone, perhaps even I, can fix it.
If something doesn’t work in a way I think is sensible, someone, perhaps even I, can fork it and do it a different way.
Frankly, it is rarely I, in either case, but there are enough people out there using what I’m using, it’s likely someone has had the same problem, and will fix it, or that someone agrees with me about how it should work and will fork it and implement it my way, or close enough.
And, when that doesn’t happen, I can contribute, in my own small way.
I love the fact that when I do contribute in some way, I am adding something to the sum of human knowledge and endeavour, which might just benefit a few people I’ll never meet.
In free software, we are truly standing on the shoulders of giants.
Freedom:
– to hack and customise
– from viruses
– from high costs
The culture of openness and honesty from which Linux was born.
Unlike proprietary operating systems and software, the insistence of the FOSS community in making available the source code for scrutiny (by people much more capable than me!) means that any malware, virus threats, back doors or other threats to security are discovered and corrected very quickly. With proprietary software it is easy to conceal both sloppy inefficient code, as well as other nasties, as you only release the software after compilation and keep the source code secret.
Exposing the code you write to the whole world not only reassures its end users that the code is as good as it can possibly be (notwithstanding human error), but encouraging [those that can] to improve upon it speeds up the evolution of the software and results in better quality. Most of the FOSS I have used to date is, in my opinion at any rate, of a greater quality than proprietary equivalents – certainly in terms of reliability.
If other ‘disciplines’ from both the public and private sectors would take a leaf out of the FOSS model, and encourage friendly openness and honesty, the world would be a much better place.
There. I’m going for a lie down now.
For many of the reasons above, but to be honest, I found it’s simply more fun. You have the freedom to tinker, be creative, and learn how things work.
It’s the computing equivalent of a shed. Or a train set. Or brewing your own beer!
It reawakened my interest in computing that had been dormant since Windows 95. And I think that’s what’s gone wrong with Ubuntu. Let those who want to tinker with Unity tinker – and they’ll start to embrace it.
Too impossible a question.
This is like a spouse asking why you love them. It’s not one thing it’s many things.
You want me to say Linux is kind or that it is caring or has beautiful quiet pools of impossible depth for eyes. Perhaps with a sly comment about it’s fantastic breasts.
The truth is I cannot name just one thing.
I showed up out of curiosity. I stayed because it was workable, because it was free like beer and free like freedom. Because it was secure. Because it was fun to tinker with. Because it did not stagnate. Because of choice. Because of sleeping better not giving money to do business with a patent troll like Microsoft or Apple.
There is no single best reason for me. Nothing I’d feel really comfortable with putting on high above the others. It’s caring and warm. It creates solution instead of problems. it is diplomatic with neighbors and kind to children and animals. It has a lovely knowing smile with pools of impossible depth for eyes and great tits. That’s why I love Linux.
I am liking your spouse already…out of curiosity, is she free as in beer or as in freedom
I started out because the constant cycle of disinfect, fix, pay again and update on the closed system I was using just didn’t seem sustainable. I started by using FOSS equivalents on all my systems then made the switch to full time Linux use with Ubuntu 8.04.
Since then I have come to appreciate much more the community, openness, and freedom offered by a system that promotes open file formats and where software competes based on features rather than a race to lock users in.
Now I promote, install, support, and teach my friends Linux on a regular basis. Now I subscribe to the apps I use daily with a few bucks a month, file bugs when I can, and participate in any forums or events where I feel like I can offer something.
pfft… It’s just the best. Nuf said.
I started because it was closest to Unix I could easily get on a PC.
And now as above it’s just the best.
One word: Modular
Because it’s a passport to a breathtaking gallery of software creativity based on an ethos that fosters such an amazing community.
One very important reason why I use open-source software is that it’s better in technical terms than proprietary software – it tends to be more stable and secure.
But in the end, the most important reason is that I insist on being able to do whatever I want to do with my computer – I insist on general purpose computing. Walled gardens may be nice for some, but by my nature I tend to go seek out the walls and bang my head against them, so it’s much less painful if the walls aren’t there.
An excellent article which talks about this stuff is Cory Doctorow’s “The war on general purpose computing”. And you don’t even have to pay to read it.
To be honest, I got sick and tired of pirating windows, so switched to something that doesn’t bug me with genuine advantage notification every other day 🙂
Software freedom.
When I was in university (a long time ago, but not as long ago as Fatha Ted), you couldn’t do computers without doing coding. After you’ve coded for a while, you can’t believe that people would want to use a system that they couldn’t re-code for themselves. Only a GPL-ed OS guarantees that I’ll always have the freedom to do that.
For years I was a windows geek…making the computer do what I wanted, writing software when it didn’t…spent hours keeping software up to date, and days re-installing every couple of years because it had become ‘rotten’. Finally I re-discovered linux (tried it earlier off and on) and realised that when I was using linux, I was having fun… something I had long since stopped feeling on windows. I switched to linux full time a few years ago, and constantly surprise IT friends with what I can achieve, particularly automating tasks using various “FREE” tools. All my software is legitimately free, and up to date, and it still makes me smile when I think about the fun I’m having … Just this week I set up a render farm for processing work videos… for free… on surplus (read old) machines! A different linux install is my home theatre front end, yet another is the back end. Again at work I have a Raspberry Pi sharing USB printers to our group, my 11yo son’s music player is a raspberry Pi… All running linux… You can seriously do anything with linux…
Did I mention that it’s free … and fun?
I’m a developer, I don’t have a Mac. I like the flexibility of it, and being able to hack together whatever system I want (I use Arch).
It sounds kind of stupid but I also like *knowing* that my system is open source pretty much top to bottom, there’s something cool about that, and being able to download a component of my desktop and hack it so it works better for me.
But yeah, really I just hate Windows.
And the reason we hate Windows is mostly because even if we managed to get our hands on the source for any part of the desktop experience or MS software stack in general, and if we improved that, we would be under an NDA and unable to share that improvement with our peers or business partners… it’s infuriating.
Linux has to try its best to be compatible with everything unlike its paid for rivals which need to sell more of its own product and less of others
If it breaks, it’s because I did something stupid, and I have the power to fix it.
If it looks ugly (which it hardly ever does) it’s because I messed up the settings, and I can tweak it to look EXACTLY how I want.
If it’s using resources, it’s because I started a resource-heavy task, not because itunes decided to update during the critical boss fight.
If it is chewing up my bandwidth, it’s because I typed apt-get upgrade, not because some MS folks decided by system would appreciate 1GB of files that cause a BSOD right before my presentation
… you get the idea 🙂 I love being in control and having access to all the hidden workings of my OS, without anything being abstracted away and hidden beyond reach.
PS also community, freedom, security, http://xkcd.com/272/ , all that other jazz 🙂
Linux FTW 😀
I’ve used linux for about 14 years now, and my primary reasons for using it have changed over that time with my circumstances.
Initially (during my student days) it was something new, different and challenging. I then moved to linux fully in an effort to replace all my pirated proprietary software with free, legal alternatives.
Then, during my gentoo (and latterly Arch) phase it was the ability to tweak and customise everything to my liking.
Now I have a young family, my time for tweaking is sadly limited and cost and security (particularly in light of the recent GCHQ / NSA revelations) have come to the forefront.
Been running various *buntu derivatives for 5 or 6 years now. My decision was initially because I was sick of Windows being difficult, but I opened an even bigger can of worms with Linux. Due to a combination of knowing not quite enough and some extraordinary bad luck, I have spent dozens, possibly hundreds, of hours trying to get things to work correctly. I always seemed to be the guy on the help forums with no solution…
That said, I perservered because I believe in the FOSS movement: the openness of software and the security that comes with that. After seeing friends who in the meantime have had OS upgrades render hardware obsolete (always finding out after the fact) I know I’ve made the right decision.
The flexibility is a big bonus, too.
I started using it to “put the fun back into computing” as Distrowatch would say. Distro hopping became my idea of a good time.
The number one reason that I’ve switched to Linux permanently, and recommend and install it for others (especially the friends and family that I do amateur IT for), is that it is LOW MAINTENANCE.
No defragging. No viruses, trojans, rootkits, browser hijackers, ransomware. No unwanted software that installs with other programs when you’re not reading the fine print, and it bogs your system until you remove it from autostart. Easier updates with more user control. No reinstalls just because it’s become bloated and slow, and the registry is full of errors. LOW MAINTENANCE.
And yeah, there’s that freedom thing. I appreciate that more and more.
The reasons for me have changed. Initially it was cost. I was running an XP machine as a music studio with around £2000 of recording software that I just happened to have picked up for nothing one day. It needed upgrading and going to Vista wasn’t really an option because the softwares I was running wouldn’t have run on Vista so I got on with Ubuntu studio. Because I’d gone with that I didn’t even need to upgrade the hardware (the original reason for the upgrade was slowdown) because it ran so much better on the hardware I had. Now the reasons are many including freedom, cost, lack of viruses, knowing that wares won’t have been pirated when you pick them up for nothing, ease of upgrade, ease of use, great hardware compatibiltiy. Actually those last two are biggies – I once had to install Vista from scratch and teh ease of intallation and hardware compatibility were atrocious.
Most important reason is that if I experience a problem with the OS it is _always_ possible to track down and solve it, even if it may not be practical. I don’t get this feeling with any other system. All OSes have problems, but Linux is the only system where there are no artificial obstacles placed in the way of you solving them.
Whenever I had to do something on Windows and was searching the web for software or IT advice or generally, the whole environment was more commercial: Ads for sketchy software, anti-virus, crippled software with upgrade options, etc., just a whole different ethos from Linux/FLOSS, community forums, etc. Personally, I find it offensive, and it’s a breath of fresh air to be in a non-commercial space where people are sharing their skills and the fruit of their skills freely.
It started with an Ultrix course in the early 90s while I was a Novell tech. Then out of necessity I knocked together an email server with web mail capabilities in a few hours by reading forums in the early 00s . . . WOW (I was more than impressed).
I work with and support Windows now days, all going virtual with Vmware. . . but at home its nothing but Linux. Debian on the servers. Ubuntu on the user PCs. (Debian/XFCE on ancients)
I am now rolling out Linux solutions at work for company world wide adoption.
I forgot to answer your question.
What is my #1 reason for using Linux?
There is no reason why anyone should run anything else.
Its free, its more than functional. It is the future.
As Bruce Lee said…”Ask not for an easy operating system, but for the command line to overcome a difficult one”.
If I may also quote Marcus Aurelius “Live a free life. If there are others in your life and they are just, then they will value your choice to be free. If they are unjust, call them trolls and have nothing to do with them. If you have no one else, then one day you will die and at least you have died free, unchained by vendor lock in and spyware.”
Time! (and freedom, and cost, and functionality, and freedom!).
Back in the dark ages, when I ran windows (pre 2005), it used to suck so much of my time keeping it running securely and efficiently – maintaining updates, anti-virus software, disk defrags etc. All the extra software slowed my system down and affected the shutdown and boot times.
I still need to do maintenance, but most of it is automated, and efficient. I don’t need to shutdown or reboot (unless I get a kernel update), and when I do it is very quick.
As an added bonus – I am running current versions of Linux on machines that are over 7 years old – and they are still fast and efficient.
It can be summarised in one word – transparency. If something needs fixing or altering then (in theory) I can drill down and reconfigure the item which needs changing or fix the fault (or more likely use t’net and somebody has already solved the same problem). This has other benefits (mainly the benefits of open s/w which we know all about) including:
– control: being able to find out exactly what a piece of s/w does rather than having everything done ‘under the hood’ and having to trust that this is what I want to happen.
– security: Not having to download and install binary blobs from unkown sites when wanting to install applications
– fairness: The alternative to Linux is either getting pirated s/w versions (which makes me feel slightly dirty) or paying for an application which, so that the providers make money, automatically means paying for those people who have not paid for the s/w (which makes me feel slightly cheated).
Only been using Linux properly for about a year so far a really enjoying the change.
I work as a System Admin in a school and got fed up with activating software, unticking shovelware from Installers and having to update every single Application and O/S at home, as well as at work.
Really enjoying the freedom Linux brings when I get home, turn on computer and just get on with what I need to do. Windows pays the bills and Linux does everything else.
the freedom
My wife would say: “Because my husband installed it”
My kids would say: “Because it is what I’ve always used”
I would say: “I use Unix (and Linux) at work and it gives me a solid reliable environment to work with lots of tools, and a good package management system that, although it probably has too many options, almost always has a tools to help me do the task I am trying to do.”
hmm, between
FREEDOM!
and
Its easier then Windows and mac
oh and community….
One of those three…. or maybe more IDK theres to many reasons!
I got fed up of trawling the internet searching for every bit of software I could find to do each job, only to find it installed 3 tons of crapware along with it.
Linux allows for checked, safe, stable software that gives me far less agro than anything windows offers.
The number 1 reason is because I use the internet. I mean that in the sense that the web is run by Linux and in the sense that I use desktop Linux for secure web access.
The main reason that I switched to Linux is you can install it on a USB and run the exact same OS instance on many different computers. This is good for me because I can use any desktop computer at school or home as if it they were all the same.
To answer the question: security.
But the thing that drove me to Linux in the first place was the advent of Product Activation. My first experience of the dubious pleasures of PA had me with a client crying over her new PC, Microsoft and Time Computers each blaming each other and me struggling to do something which should have been simple: reinstall XP. After another debacle with PA on software I’d bought myself I vowed never again to use such deliberately castrated code.
Subsequent experiences of people with computers laden with crapware or malware and running like a slug on Valium confirmed my view that Windows is a crock of sh1t3.
So my initial reasons were negative; plus a large helping of technical curiosity. Now I like security without the hassle of AV, the fact that it’s free in both senses of the word, and the fact that my PC’s run the same OS as my NAS boxes, Raspberry Pi’s and – give or take Google’s input – my wife’s tablet.
I’ve helped a number of people move to Linux, and to date none have come back complaining it’s broken, slowed down or sending malware to all their friends.
Pete
I love always having access to a *nix terminal. It feels very natural to just hit a key and type in what I need to do into guake. I know that doesn’t appeal to the masses so much because there’s a learning curve to be able to script and use the terminal, but the practice pays off. We all have different ways of doing things, so watching an experienced Linux user at work always seems to look magical.
I also like the level of control I have over my desktop environment and tools that I use. I initially started out years ago with Ubuntu until one day I decided I wanted the KDE Plasma. So I stripped out unity and installed the KDE desktop packages. Obviously not something you’d do (or want to do) in a commercial OS, but with Linux at the core you can mix & match and fine tune everything until it’s exactly how you like it. You learn a lot in the process too, not just about Linux but about operating systems and computing in general.
Productivity
Due largely to:
The ease of switching between desktops, each with a defined function and application running (or waiting to run something)
The joy of directly editing a remote file without the 3 step scp, edit scp back
and, of course, the luxury of zsh
#1 reason for using Linux? Easy, it’s … NOT … Windows!!!!
Oh, you want more? Okay, my Linux installs are troublefree and efficient. Plus since I work with a variety of *nix systems I can usually use my “tame” Linux system as a testbed for scripts etc. Heck, until Oracle changed the licensing, I actually ran a couple of Solaris VM’s on my Ubuntu laptop.
The “troublefree” bit is because I use LTS releases, but – to quote Apple – “it just works” whereas I expect to see at least one BSOD or unexplained reboot from my Windows box. Then there’s the near constant procession of updates, OS, AV, and umpteen different app updaters running. With my Uby system currency is just an apt-get upgrade; apt-get update away.
Windows 98 made my laptop junk!
I’m writing this on the same laptop.
15 years old & MS free.
James in GA
I like the freedom in this respect: if I find or, worse, create a problem it’s MY problem. I have the access to fix whatever is going on. I’m just a beginner but I’m trying to learn when I can. With proprietary software I have to wait for them to fix it. With FOSS and Linux in particular I can do the looking and appeal to the community for help without ever bothering Linus or anyone else until I can submit the fix.
Freedom! The main reason I use *nix like systems.
Freedom from being a slave to locked down is, freedom to choose your desktop, freedom to choose apps that suit the way you work, freedom to choose how your desktop looks, freedom to make your system secure.
To have fun with your computing. Linux has made me enjoy computing again.
I recommend it to anyone who wants to hear.
This is the main reason i like using *nix systems.
I would also like to add the Freedom to see/use the code, change and share it. although this hasn’t been a strong point of commercial unixes.
The comment you made about Linux not being about choice in your podcast.
One of the main reasons I love using Linux is the share range of choices I have for fixing problems or developing solutions. MS Windows has a habit of forcing me to do it their way or no way, taking away that freedom.
Also the Choices help protect against vender locking and keep my data useful by allowing me this flexibility.
I put this down to the Linux and Unix approach allowing me to manipulate multiple software tools to get a task done and tailored the way I would like. Instead of MS Windows software mentality of providing a single tool to do lots of tasks and controlling my freedom.
Also through flexibility I can control my OS to enhance its security.
To sum it up, Im saying the Choices provide flexibility and this also allows more control of the OS by the user which gives the sense of freedom to use it the way a user would like.
I began to play with Linux in 1998 out of curiosity. When I no longer needed to use Windows for work I stuck with Linux because it is:
Interesting to play with
Interesting to use
Powerful
Configurable
Various (lots of choice)
Secure
Open Source
Continually being developed and updated
Well-regarded by the online geeks whose opinions I value.
Sorry, didn’t read the question properly. My no. 1 reason is:
Linux is interesting
Primarily boils down to freedom to do what I want with the system, but if I look at it pragmatically I would say it boils down to superior window / desktop management on Linux vs Windows. For example on Windows I can’t roll windows up, push them to the back, keep them on top, keep them on multiple workspaces, scale them, scale the desktop, have different DPI settings per application… and then there’s the separation of clipboard and selection which allows me to copy/paste two things at a time, which means way less alt-tabbing, and it find the fact that Windows apps won’t scroll in response to the scroll wheel until you click the window and sometimes not even until you click the section of the app you are scrolling over… that’s bloody maddening. So, even though by now most of my workflow is in OSS apps which do run on Windows (Netbeans, Firefox, rsync, gimp, inkscape) I still can’t imagine reverting to the primitive desktop experience that is Windows… though I admit Windows 8 has finally started a step in the right direction.
I don’t consider the BSD’s an option because they have never supported the hardware I owned. That’s been improving but they’re not there yet. I don’t consider McOS an option either because their window management is even more pathetic than Windows now, and their mouse scrolls up in one app and down in another which is uber-maddening.