but a member here for 3 years. Why the delay in becoming a linux user? Maybe the answer to your question is in there somewhere.

Anyway...

I like the idea of an operating system where the limits are my own knowledge, not artificially imposed. Linux has been an enjoyable learning experience. I hope to master it in the next 25 years or so

Most everyone else I encounter discounts linux because it won't run xyz application. Being able to run their favorite software is all that matters. It's a valid point of view.

Hi.

I'll direct you to a previous rant:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...130#post640130

These days, though, I mainly love Linux because it's Unix. I can do powerful things in the shell that just can't be done in Windows. That extends to Solaris and other Unices too, but Linux is the best workstation / desktop Unix available (thanks to the GNU Unix tools).

To be honest, I don't think Windows is easier than Linux, or vice versa, to do normal web surfing and office type stuff but personally I find it easier to create a better working environment in Linux than Windows. I have multiple virtual desktops (8 at work, 3 at home), configurable keyboard shortcuts to launch the apps I use, and I can automate pretty much everything I need to do on a regular basis using shell scripts.

For Real Work, Linux comes with all the programming, scripting and networking tools I need straight-out-the-box (ssh, perl, awk, sed, nmap, ...) and I can use them properly because I have a decent shell to use them in. All the server software I could ever ask for is on the installation CDs (sshd, vsftpd, dovecot, fetchmail, procmail, spamassassin etc), and *everything* is updated with a single command.

I like the fact that everything is discoverable on Linux. I know more about computing from playing with Linux than I learned from a 4 year University degree. If there's an element of the system I don't fully understand, I can hit the man pages, or the software's website (which 99% of the time with Linux software actually tells you how things work, rather than just trying to sell you the software), or I can dive into the source code and the config files to suss everything out. Not that you normally need to, though - things have a habit of Just Working when you plug them in these days on Linux.

Dave

Personally, I like Linux because it freed me from M$. IMHO and my own personal experience, most who think Windows is easier than Linux haven't tried Linux, or, at least not recently.

Between the instability, insecurity, and constant "forced upgrades"*, Windows just doesn't work. I haven't had a single crash or fatal error since I switched to Ubuntu. And I can do everything with Linux that I could do with Windows, only faster and easier.

* Yes, I know... nobody puts a gun to your head. But when MS discontinues support and security software developers follow suit, consider yourself FORCED.

Cheers
Bill

Its more instructive,although maybe at the expense of asking a bit more of the user.
So it depends on your personality.
Personally I find it more of a rewarding computing experience.

I don't "love" either of them, an operating system is only a tool, not worthy of such strong feelings as love or hate.

I was hooked to linux from using a unix shell
account back in the early 90s. When I was using windows 3.1 and so on, pointing and clicking was so boring.

With linux/Unix you can mix programs and commands to create simple or complex shell scripts to do almost anything. Linux/Unix is just more fun and challenging.

if you say anything about loving something i say i dnt love any OS beside i dnt have any relationship with operating system lol

but any way ,, anyone can use windows,, even a small child also knw how to use windows,,, and if we are all IT professionals why not going for something fun and inetersting,,(LINUX) which hardly people use becasue they find it hard to use,, but i guess when you go for hard things u achieve more knowledge,,

about 3 yrs ago when i used to see my seniors using this black boring screen and typing soooooooooooooooo many commands to make it work out,, i used to feel ,oh my god why they have opted for difficult things,, but today i knw how important it is for IT professionals in system administration if they really want to learn OS written as open source,,


THEN WHY OPTING FOR WINDOWS,,, OPT FOR LINUX AND HAVE FUN

ONE MORE ONE MORE THING,,,
like if you put urself as a linux professional in ur resume besides windows,, it is much more appreciable,, due to less number of linux users and ur passion of using linux,,

i guess thts all i want to say!!!!!

I GUESS I DNT KNW WHY WOMEN DNT GO FOR LINUX,, but i think in near future they will be

I agree completely. I just started playing around with LMMS a couple of months ago and I'm very impressed with how powerful it is already.

Sorry if this question is a little off topic, but has anyone used the animation program Synfig on Windows or Linux? If so, did you like it and which build was better? One of my friends told me about it and I was wondering if it was worth trying out since it's still pretty early in development.

As a computer user since the days of DOS 5, I watched MS and Windows get progressively worse instead of better. And MS' attempts to thwart piracy only make it more difficult for the users (their own customers) to use their products.

You already paid for your computer. You already paid for Windows. Why should you have to send MS information about your computer just so it doesn't lock you out after 30 days? And if you upgrade your hardware too much you have to tell MS about it or Windows locks you out. Now, with Vista, if your hardware isn't DRM-compliant you can't use it.

Linux is about freedom. It's for those who believe that Windows isn't the only operating system in the world, and who want to free not only themselves, but also their computer, from the commercial grip of a tyrant organization that spends more resources trying to demonize and crush their competitors instead of improving their own products.

It's your computer, not MS'. Take it back!

Since moving to Linux (about 6 months ago) I have really felt the difference. Yes, things are simpler in Windows, but a Windows user does not enjoy the freedom that a Linux user does. You can have everything exactly as you want it, not how a company thinks it should be. I think the main thing I like is having to re-learn everything, you cannot use your existing knowledge of Windows and use it in Linux.

I love linux because if you reformat you dont have to worry about a product key and a single company cant control you

- it's free
- basicly limitless configurability
- more stable
- no activation/WGA bullshit
- practically virus-free and more secure
- no registry
- desktop experience it is able to provide (I hate start-menu, next-alikes all the way)

Well when you go out and plonk your hard-earned money down on a computer, bedevilled by tales of web-surfing and burning cd/dvd's from the advertising. You get home and plug it all in and the first thing that pops up after you push the power button is a licence statement that you have to agree to,--what a swindle! you find out that you don't really own the operating system, that you are not allowed to do what you want with it- you just pay for the right to use it--for a period of time.
No thanks linux for me,I can put the same copy of debian on any computer in my home without having to pay another licence fee.I could rewrite portions of the code to suit myself and offer the changes back to the community to see if anyone else could use/improve them ( well I could if I had the brains) try that with windows and see what Bill and the BSA would have to say about it.

I have merged this into the Windows vs Linux megathread as all of your questions are answered there.