It wasn't my iPride, as you call it, because as you can check, none of my posts in this thread (apart from the one where I pointed it out) had been marked unhelpful. I just found it weird that for some reason other people's posts were marked unhelpful.

1 members found this post helpful.

I think it is because some people simply don't understand the helpful/reputation system and its purpose.

0 members found this post helpful.

Boo.

This was not supposed to be a flame thread.

I suspect from the answers I have seen that ppl choose to use linux b/c it does something more than windows or the mac can. Its a broad brush stroke, but that seems to be the summary reason why.

0 members found this post helpful.

I'm really sorry, Dennis.

I guess there are a number of reasons why people use Linux. There's no one correct answer (as some people seem to think). I don't believe one can say that some reasons are more valid than others. Have a look at the thread I linked to in my first post - you'll probably find even more reasons why people like linux.

0 members found this post helpful.

If you were indeed the person who rated all of those posts unhelpful, then constructive criticism would have been saying what was wrong with them.

3 members found this post helpful.

I use a hybrid environment at home, because there are still programs that just refuse to run well on linux. But the reason I do use the linux part, is because of the choices it gives me.

There are plenty of well-maintained, free, open-source, software packages out there to do nearly anything I can imagine. Free games, free emulators, free Virtual Machine environments.

I use linux because it is versatile.

Also, I grew up on command lines, so having one is a comfort.

1 members found this post helpful.

I remember when in my primary school we had computer classes (DOS + Win 3.01?) I really found DOS exercises interesting. I guess it was the first sign that in the future I'm going to rely on the command line.

1 members found this post helpful.

You are right , it's best to reply on the post not just rate the comments .
In my opinion linux is more than what to be can compared with Microsoft Windows OS.
I mostly don't like to use software/OS or anything just because i can gain profit over that , like learn how to use linux because your boss ask you to do that , or you thought you can get better commercial profit over that. there should be deep believing over your actions on real life.and in that matter i don't accept some comments in this thread.

It doesn't matter if you accept them or not. The helpful posts system is for marking posts as exactly as that, helpful or not helpful, and not to downvote anything that is not exactly the same as your opinion.

2 members found this post helpful.

Moi aussi!

I started with DOS 2.11 on a Tandy 1000 in 1984, pissed off because my parents didn't get me a Commodore 64.

I also had $1,000 in 1987 which I desperately wanted to sink into Microsoft but back then buying stock was not something ordinary people could do. Definitely at age 15 I lacked the skills to figure out how to invest it.

Anyway, I too grew up on the command line. I have seen today's pros using a GUI very effectively though. In the right hands, a GUI can be just as powerful as a CLI. But for automation of course you are left with the CLI as the only option.

So, Microsoft opened the door to computers, Novell paid the bills for a while, and now Linux / Unix pays the bills. At least it pays the bills until inflation finally destroys the economy in the US and then its back to digging ditches. =)

0 members found this post helpful.

In my humbling opinion:
If you give the masses a chance to click on buttons, you will get exactly that: the opinion of the masses. Its seldom the result of much thinking, but depends on the vogue of the day. Different: if you let people click, you will get clicks (not more, not less: The whole purpose of a click-system is to avoid too much of understanding).
I for one really don't understand the helpful/reputation system (and i don't care much about understanding it, if someone helps me its not too hard to say: "thanks,that was helpful, and for that and that reason"). Reminds me a bit of the 1950's.


Back to the topic:
I ran into Gnu/Linux by accident, while reading a magazine. I guess i simply use it cause i like it. But sure: "its more interesting".
After starting to read about Gnu i like the general (or philosophical) idea too. Now i mainly use it because of Gnu or "free software".
I also like the command line (not that it would be impossible in Windows or Mac world)

1 members found this post helpful.

I had a Vic 20, then a Commodore 64. I started with DOS 4.0 on an IBM PS/1 -- which was a sort of weasel dressed up as a computer!

I later killed off DOS 4.0 on the thing and installed DOS 5.0 successfully.

The first linux I used was OpenLinuxLite and came in a book about linux. That was 14-15 years ago, and I have been a Linux enthusiast ever since. And for me that was a good thing, because now days it pays my bills.

0 members found this post helpful.

WINDOW MANAGEMENT

M$Windows is horrible. Send a window to the background? Always on top? Virtual Desktops?
So hard to work with, repeat excessive keys/clicks just to get windows viewable. I'm getting annoyed just talking about it.

Linux is a mold that I can change to suit my wants/needs. M$Windows is the other way around.

0 members found this post helpful.

Well, if we're getting back on topic...

I found out about Linux in the late 90's when my dad was setting up a business in Korea. He was making a computer, with an operating system I had never seen before (I was a young boy who knew only about Windows back then). When I asked him about it, he said it was a Linux distro (checking with his computer's SSH connection since he still has the server, it's CentOS.

Anyways, from then on I didn't care too much for it, but when Windows Vista came out and people were complaining about it, the CentOS thing came back to mind so I told myself I would start trying to use a Linux distro.

I started off with Debian in Junior year, and got interested. Then I heard about Slackware a little later, and even though I've only just started my professional education on computers, this forum has been very helpful and now I'm getting a lot of help with Slackware, which is much harder than Debian.

Originally I started using Linux because I was curious about it. Over the years it's grown on me though and now I use it for a plethora of reasons - security, customizability, freedom, cost, better software, etc. I just overall feel more comfortable on a Linux system.