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Why did you switch to Linux?
Just curious as to why you use Linux. Why do you prefer it over Windows? Do you prefer it over Mac OS X? Do you prefer it more than the BSDs? What version of Linux are you using and why? I use it the most because of the command line. Sometimes it's just faster to get things done that way. Even friends of mine who are strictly Mac users are shocked that they have a terminal for access to the cli and that Mac is built on top of BSD. I like the fact that the Linux and BSD communities are filled with people who want to help if you get stomped because they love to do so. FOSS just keeps getting better.
Windows crashed on me several times a little over four years ago. I used to use only Mac, but it got too expensive for me. That's when I found Linux and started using Suse 9.3-10 then switched to Ubuntu 6.0-9.04. It's been great! Rarely ever reboot my system. I've had my mom using it exclusively for over two years. Several of my coworkers came to me after their M$ systems had crashed and they allowed me to put Linux on their boxes. They were shocked that there is something else beside Apple and M$! Also, what kind of pda do you use and is it syncing with Linux just fine? Would love to hear from moderators too Thanks! trox P.S. I am using Linux Kernel 2.6.28-14 Ubuntu JJ Mac OS X Windows 7 FreeBSD 7.1 I use them all for different reasons. |
I like Linux because I like using my brain. I like the fact that it's not for everyone. I like it's ties to privacy, open source, and a community of sharing.
I use to be a huge windows geek but now I have no use for it. I've completely switched over. I'd be more into MacOS if it ran on cheap hardware but I refuse to pay that premium just to run an OS. I could probably say it's the same reason I don't want to use Windows. Paying for the OS doesn't appeal to me either. I guess I'm just a cheap bastard. I use the HTC G1 for my PDA. |
1. I couldn't care about Microsoft Windows because it's too laggy and buggy.
2. Open Source is very nice. 3. Linux is currently the most approachable OS for me. 4. Oddly enough I love to torture myself with difficult stuffs while offending myself most of the time. (also offended some others because of my occasional alarmist attitude. Sorry about that) 5. A liberal arts student needs to experience some interesting actions in daily life. |
When you are on windows you just use it, while you are on linux you have to learn it :),windows happens to be a product of a business corporation where as linux is not,its product of a global movement :)
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Who said I switched?
At work I use:
At home I use:
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To be honest, it is still partly the principle. OpenSource is a paradigm that has not yet totally established itself, and there are times when a small part of me wants to cop out and fire up a Windows box to get some particular task done. At work, we are a Windows shop with good Mac support and token *nix support. At the moment, the office computer has Office2007 running on CrossOver (WINE) in an attempt to play nice with the Exchange2007 system for mail and calendar. (What a mess!!!!)
At this point, I can't remember why I started using Linux. I had built a P-III system for Windows 2000 (which would not run on my old Gateway P-II). I still have that box---complete with a SUSE sticker on the front. A bit later in the evolution, it was on my desk next to my first Athlon system--all lashed together with a KVM switch. (My wife was now convinced that I was crazy.) At home, it's been 100% Linux for at least 2 years now. The only reason that I might have to run Windows is to run the update utility for my GPS. |
Why did I switched to linux ?
Get infected when our oldest son bring it at home many years ago The business machine of our youngest son runs Ubuntu as a server Now in our family it is just linux and MAC I my self used them both The bad think of MAC it so expensive |
So many reasons ...
The final straw was that my Windows XP computer was fried by lightning and I'd already decided it would be my last Windows machine. How about that for an "Act of God"! Here in India the vast majority of computers run Windows and it's mostly pirated. However much you loathe Microsoft, that's unethical and illegal. I wanted to develop expertise to help people move to an ethical position, to Linux. If you just want to get the job done the Windows is still a better choice than Linux, especially if money doesn't matter because all the software will be pirated and there is almost no reservoir of Linux skills in both user and support communities. Reflecting on it now, it is intriguing how much the reason to move was ethical rather than technical. Not only pulling toward Linux but pushing away from Windows; I began to feel increasingly "dirty" as Windows user because of Microsoft's business practices -- bundling freeware (to squeeze the competition out of the market after which was free was no longer free), spyware, back-door system changes, lock-ins, unreliable anti-piracy measures that troubled legitimate users ... And I do like the Linux's by-the-community-for-the-community ethos, rather than Microsoft's straight commercial. A technical reason for switching was preferring "elegance" to Window's ever-increasing complexity and hardware demands. I had heavily customised XP to simplify it and thus increase performance (mostly encapsulated in Registry Workshop at Sourceforge) and anticipated Linux being more minimal, more elegant. (Unluckily, because the only local knowledge was of ubuntu, I chose ubuntu -- and have spent almost as much time simplifying it as I spent simplifying XP!). Hardware demands are not just a matter of purchase cost but of environmental impact, from the mining industry through energy and water usage in processing and in distribution. I was amazed to learn that ~75% of the lifetime energy cost of an average computer comes before it is used. So eye-candy damages the eco-system we rely on for life-support. That was an eye-opener! Mac never had a look-in. I was open to its charms having heard so many glowing reports from people who's opinion I respected but getting dirty-technical investigating sysdamin level stuff on a few Macs was a turn-off. Maybe I didn't dig deep enough to find all the goodies under the GUI but the design orientation was all about making it sweet and simple at the GUI -- which is great for end-users but useless for tecchies. |
At home I use Ubuntu on my laptop, Windows was choppy for me, it's not a speedy laptop by any means and I just use it for browsing and downloading torrents since it isn't as loud as my PC. On my PC I use Vista for gaming(DX10 is a must) since all of my games run great on windows and don't require any configuring like I would have to do in Linux with Wine.
As for work it is CentOS. Probably the only way I'd ever get rid of Windows completely would be if Linux implemented DX10 or something similar that game developers would use. I've never used a MacOS and doubt I ever will. |
Never mind.
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I was working at a job doing tech support and training for high-end physical security software for Windows, most NT and 2000. I heard about this Linux thingee and wanted to try it, but didn't want to mess with dual booting.
Then someone gave me an old IBM PC300. I put Slackware 10.0 on it (I can't remember exactly how I settled on Slackware--I think I had problems downloading Puppy Linux). That PC 300, with one of the original Pentium chips, ran as fast as my P3 with XP. I think the first time I ended up reinstalling Slackware three times because I made mistakes in setting it up. A little later, a new acquaintance told me how he ran a webserver out of his home using Linux. I thought, "Me do that thing," and made that PC 300 with Slack 10.0 a webserver. A year later, I had enough confidence to put Slack on my laptop. And I haven't looked back. I have a webserver, a file server, a netbook, and a laptop, all with Linux. (I do have one Windows laptop, but that's on long-term loan from a company I sometimes work with. It's useful, though, for lame banking websites that don't work right with anything other than IE.) Linux is faster and easier. It's not harder, not any more. It's just different. And for someone who likes to dig inside of the machine, configuring Linux is a dream compared to Windows. Stuff is easy to find, easy to change, and, if you break it, easy to fix. And it has a security model that works, rather than one that consists of putting additional coats of spackle on a rotten wall. The computer I type this on is a Dell Inspiron 1545 with factory installed Ubuntu. The only thing I haven't succeeded in doing that I really want to do get kjsplit to work (it needs some old library that I haven't found yet), so I'm running hjsplit under wine. As regards the PDA, I use a T-Mobile Dash cell phone running Windows Mobile (can't make the jump to Android quite yet). Since I don't use Outlook, syncing it regularly for email and the calendar is not really an issue, whether with Windows or Linux. If I need to transfer files, I email them or download them directly to the phone. If I absolutely must sync something (as to install software), I jack it into the Windows box. I do have SynCE installed, but haven't poked at it for a while. |
I like Linux because it is tough because if one is not intelligent enough, he won't be able to explore the site.The site is for those who are willing and ready to make their brain move.
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Linux gets beter and easier
Linux has gotten easier and easier over the last few years especially, and you no-longer really need to use your brain to setup and operate it, and having a brain has become less of a necessity, and it has become the kitch thing to use.
The current king of making Linux accessible for the non developer is ubuntu which has made Linux available to the masses. You dont even need to have a geek in residents to install and maintain the system its that easy. Linux is great because it is powerful and dependable, but there will always be a place for windows (usually at work) which may have peeked with XP. It will be interesting to see what happens in these new financial times to the open source world, as us developer are forced to concentrate more on staying of the dole than taking part in open source projects. I use a variety of Linux flavors but really like using ubuntu due to it being simple to use, I also use windows (everything desktops, servers, etc for work (though have sneaked in a Linux virtual machine to have some additional capabilities)). Macs are expensive mistakes in my opinion, and unless you really need to use one of there tools for work don't part with the cash. also remember Mac started the suing culture of operating system manufactures. |
I never switched to Linux, I just added it to my Solaris, HP-UX, IRIX, AIX, and true64 which I also run. Although, I have only run Linux on notebook/laptop computers. I am required to contract to haul garbage from my house on a weekly basis by the city where I live. Because of that, I do not try to by garbage to bring into my house and therefore have not bought stuff from Microsoft (and therefore do not need to buy stuff like anti-virus software. Unix user since the late 70's and Linux since 93.
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I dual booted Windows ME and Mandrake linux on my PC. Then I tried Corel Linux. I found that I was spending more and more of my time in Linux than Windows. The proportion of the hard drive I used for Linux grew as well. Eventually, I was just booting into Windows once a month for the updates. I tried it out because being a geek, I thought a new OS was interesting. It was more of a weaning process for me in the early days rather than a sudden switch.
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