Reasons to use Linux

[TRN]

This forum is new to Tux Reports.

While I love to poke fun at people and businesses who are serious about Linux, the truth is that Linux is a nice operating system. It is rapidly developing into a very good desktop OS and serious consideration should be given for any computer user to become familiar with the OS.

Why do I use Linux?

Stability: Yes, I joke about this word but it comes as close as any to describe that rebooting the system with Linux is very rare.

Support: The Linux community is filled with passionate people who take pride in developing applications. They love to trade ideas and discuss their thoughts. There is a limitless supply of websites with tips and tricks. Simply do a search on google and you'll probably find someone discussing the topic.

Low Cost: Many people start using Linux because you are able to download it from the Internet. The cost is simply your connection, the machine, the CD to burn the ISO, and your time. Just remember to give back to the community by helping out with a project or purchasing something from the distributor.

Freedom: This is primarily why I love to use Linux. Configuration files are text files that can easily be edited. If there is a problem then the correct file is found and the fix is applied.

Challenges: In 1995, my computers were getting boring. They were tools and tinkering was getting to be nothing more than -- reboot, reinstall, or upgrade. Blah. However, Linux is a challenge. There is way too much for anyone to learn in one sitting and it is fun to just keep discovering new things during each use.

These are just a few of the reasons that I love Linux. Maybe you have others.

[Birdie]

There are great games that are available under GNU/Linux that keeps me sitting in my chair for hours :D

Rocks-n-diamonds
Snake Race
Tux Racer
Frozen Bubbles
lbreakout2

[EMH]

Besides games, I love GNU/Linux for the following reasons:

(1) Browsing the web

It is a superior internet surfing environment. The choices for browsers is fantastic. Tab browsing makes for using the internet a joy.

(2) Writing documents

I love to use OpenOffice.org.

Basically, all of the applications that are available after I install a distribution. Phew. There are sooo many.

[Mobius_Twist]

One of the reasons I like Linux is that there are a lot of free/low cost applications readily availible.

I've found many free applications that I couldn't find for other operating systems. I'm not sure if there has been more free applications designed for running on linux than some of the other OS's, but Linux did lead me to find great software websites like SourceForge and Freshmeat where you can download a lot of free software. (There are web links installed in my distro that led to those websites)

P.S. One of my other reasons is that there's a great Linux community that make up GNU/Linux. (They contribtue to making software and improving it)

[Davepet]

I agree to one level or another with most of the above. Of the points presented so far, the most important to me are :

Stability

Freedom (especially the fact that if you don't like the way your distro is set up it's at least *possible* to change it)

Free apps - when you consider that a distro like Xandros sells for about the same money as XP home upgrade, but comes with a full office suite & other apps that would, in a MS world cost extra, Linux is an incredible value.

But the biggest reason in my mind is that it is *not* a MS product.

The current versions of windoze simply requires too much personal information in a way that is likely to be abused at some time in the future.
I've said it before, but I don't think Bill will be satisfied until he has a copy of evey user's DNA on file ( he already requires a copy of your machine's "DNA", after all). I'm not willing to let him have that much info about me.

Dave

For everything that I do, I find it as stable as Windows 2k or Windows XP personally, the cost is right where I like it :) and also my favorite games are availible for Linux. If I ever need windows, I can either reboot into winxp or start up my spare windows box and start a vnc session.

[deafphate]

darn it logged me out, that guest is me :)

[Ammiel]

Linux is a great way to get to know your system, not everything is easy, but when you get it done, it makes you feel good, even something as simple as a mv command to move or rename a file can make you think "wow, just like the unix 1337ests do" :P... It is self-claimed that some unix/linux users are 1337, and they might deserve that title, if you don't brag all the time. The community has a good amount of support, and really, you will only find 1337ests on some of the most core distros. Linux is a great way to expand your brain, and a great segway into learning how to program (which I still think C/C++ knowledge is recommended to a Linux/UNIX user). Linux programs can crash, but nothing xkill can't cure, and it doesn't happen as much as it would on Microsoft OSes. For anxious programmers, Windows can be a curse you can't break free from, but when you see your partition table as a swap and some ext3 partition(s), it makes you feel really good.

To recap, it lets you get closer to the system, great OS for programming (unless you like BASIC or something :D), and it has a great community.

So, if you don't have Linux currently installed, I recommend:

Lycoris (beginner, someone looking for simplicity)
Mandrake 9.1 (beginner - uber 1337, someone looking for Windows support)
Red Hat 9 (beginner - uber 1337, someone who doesn't hate bluecurve)
Slackware (intermediate - the end of your imagination, someone who wants to learn the system, inside to out)
Ark Linux (beginner - uber 1337, very good distrobution)
Debian (intermediate - the end of your imagination, for those who prefer .deb ;)

Hope I didn't forget any I've tried....

- Ammiel