I started using Linux around the mid-90's, very early. People in Astronomy (and in particular Radio Astronomy) noted very fast that this was the way to go after paying a lot for decstations, sunstations and stuff like that. From a personal point of view I moved directly from VMS to Linux where I have to change my way of working with computers... VMS (OpenVMS now) was nice, but we were going to nowhere using that OS. Since then I use Linux for everything at work (as my desktop and using clusters) and also at home. I feel alien in front of a windows machine, no way, I'm not used to work without a terminal and without controlling the computer.

A lot of people around are now using Macs, mainly because they feel that things are easy there... but that's valid only if you have a bunch of people around taking care of the infrastructure, network and so on... not for me, I program a lot and normally I need to use computers in parallel.

Now we have beautiful environments (I'm fond of plasma) and incredible tools for data analysis and research, I don't think there is any other better alternative to Linux now (although I recognize that from time to time I switch on some BSD VM for fun and well, who knows)

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1.) It is open source. I can join-in and share in the most amazing OS and both learn and support this fabulous community of volunteers. I really appreciate this fine community of people who share this common interest.
2.) I love to tinker. Yes, I'm a geek and an engineer, so Linux enables me to explore whatever I want in computing - from a tiny little embedded device, to a huge computing platform for scientific research. It's just too cool.
3.) To benefit from the amazing people that contribute bazillons of collective hours knocking themselves out to produce "more and better" all the time. THANK YOU!
4.) I want to learn and grow and have a personal stake in something, without a commercial company deciding to rip it away, change it or whatever. I feel that programming and problem solving represent aspects that are both collaborative and personal. I want to preserve this experience over my lifetime without concern that some greedy business objectives will obsolete what it is important to me and the community.

Because I love freedom.

For years it seemed like I spent in inordinate amount of time trying to keep a Windows machine functioning. The hardware and software issues just kept coming like some sort of evil hit parade. Then I discovered Linux. I was cautious and started with an old 300 MHz machine I bought at a flea market for $10 and a $20 KVM switch so I could easily go back and forth between Win2K and Debian Sarge. Before long there came a day when it occurred to me that it had been close to two months since I'd even bothered to turn on the Windows machine. So I disconnected the KVM switch and secondary computer, then installed Debian on my primary machine. That was in 2006. I've never looked back. I'm not an IT guy, just an old retired fuddy-duddy who uses my computer for email, social media, and learning all sorts of stuff. I'm currently rocking Debian 8.7 with Xfce on a Compaq 6710b, dual core, 64 bit laptop. After making the switch, in 2006, I set up the old 300 MHz machine with a dial-up modem and gave it away. That set something of a precedent I guess because I've given away over 50 complete Linux systems since then. I can't write software but I believe in Open Source so that's how I give back. Gotta love it.

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Beyond the advantages of low overhead design are the advantages which the open source community brings to the user experience.

Most personally and effectively, under Linux the specific experience I relate to the most is the freedom from malware.

The use of open source community development to drive the core Linux structure precludes the potential for commercially (and only technically legal, as opposed to communally ethical) launched and maintained malware designed solely to put unsolicited and expensive burden upon both my hardware and my wetware.

Of course, having the power to download and use such fabulously powerful software as, say... The Gimp, for example, is the best entry candy EVER!!!

I've been modifying Linux since the late 1980's. My background is IBM mainframes as a Sysgen Soldier (kernel building) since the 1960's. Windows is far too obscure and magic for my taste. I was a developer on IBM's CP/67. An early Virtual Machine environment. I use Linux because it is in my comfort zone.

generally, same as said here: https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ml#post5678927

its robust and stable, extremely competent, accessible to all, empowering, allows expression, promotes 'community', and i admire *all* the fantastic people involved in creating and maintaining Linux (and opensource software) and give their time to provide something so versatile.

To old to change? My first Linux was a RedHat 5.3. I just remember because the display automatic detection was a claimed novelty that did not work at all.
Right now I'm just too used to cancel the OEM OS installation for any new computer and just install a choosen Linux distribution. Maybe the control over the OS could be another reason but actually I don't know about the other OS enough to claim about it.

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Most importantly, I use Linux because it is fun.
Compared to Windows you can configure anything.
At one point I also followed Linux From Scratch.

Secondly, when it comes to servers or hardware interfacing Linux works better for me.
That is again because there is more room to configure stuff and to write your own code.

I must however admit that I still spent a lot of hours in Windows.
At my company this is still the operating system for all company laptops.
And for several years some applications that I used just weren't available under linux.

Your English sounds fine to me. You spell correctly, your grammar is correct. You even use apostrophes correctly (which many native speakers do not). And you use brackets correctly. Don't sell yourself short. You're doing fine.

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Simply because linux works!!! No more time being frustrated by the constraints of ms. Thank you linux and thanks to all the generous folks making this possible.

I started with Ubuntu Dappy out of curiosity (it was on a magazine cover disc), and over the years I've used various versions of Ubuntu, Mint, PCLinuxOS, Fedora, and others. I've also 'converted' several people to Mint when XP support ended. Mostly they were surprised at how much snappier their PCs were!) The other reason I use Linux mainly is security (I know it's not perfect, but with a well-configured firewall it's a heck of a lot safer & more secure than other OSes I could mention (I'm looking at you Microsoft). So, by definition, the software I depend on is Open source.

While I was a mature Student (Graduating in 2013 with a BSc in Computer Security & FOrensics) the Uni had Richard Stallman give a talk on Open source, which influenced me a lot.

I do use Windows 10 Pro/Visual Studio, but It's such a pain, it feels like I'm constantly fighting Microsoft's 'updates'. At this rate it won't be long until I finally follow my wife, and give up altogether with all things Redmond.

* Choice
* Community Relationship, not a Customer Relationship.
* Drivers/Hardware Support - many things work out of the box without the need for extra drivers.
* Faster
* FLOSS
* Free (as in cost)
* Give life to old computers.
* No bloatware/crapware.
* No defrags (at least for home users).
* No need to activate/register OS.
* No need to search web for new software -- use the built-in package manager.
* Security
* Stability

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Linux works.

Those two words summarise the main reason (says he typing madly away in Windows 10 on a MacBook Air which is a borrowed computer).
At one time I was the Training Manager for Sun Microsystems in Asia, so I had cut my computing teeth on UNIX and a few earlier mainframe operating systems. When PC-DOS and MS-DOS came along I became a programming instructor on these smaller machines as they became popular. Windows turned up in the late eighties and I made my main income for a couple of decades fixing up Microsoft messes because that's where I could make the money.
Alongside Windows I usually managed to have some Unix (even Microsoft Xenix at one stage!) somewhere around where I worked.
In the nineties I experimented with various downloads of Linux mainly on older machines that would no longer keep up with Windows.
When I happened on an early Ubuntu, it became my main OS on each of my personal machines from then on, usually dual-booting with Windows for occasions when I had to help someone else with their Windows problems or when I had to deal with my kids' myriad of iOS devices through iTunes, which I never succeeded in getting running on Ubuntu.
When I retired, I didn't have to keep up with Windows any more - Hallelujah! Ubuntu and occasional experiments with various other distros became the norm for me.
In retirement, I have had to learn to do a lot of MacOS and iOS work for my younger relatives, but it is always a relief to get back onto a good old Linux box.

Linux works!

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It's been so long ago that I really can't remember why I started with linux. Our computer geek second son owned a trs80 (I think) at age 14 in those days and he was a source of inspiration. I didn't know what a distribution was and he told me that most people used Slackware so that is where I started. I got an early version of Slackware on a disk and started to read Matt Welch's 'Running Linux'. I liked the idea of having to figure things out and I really liked the fact that the software was, and is, free.