My elder brother motivated me to use FOSS at a young age. By now open source is like a religion to me, which is why I started a cult to propagate the values that open source relies on in hopes for them to flash back onto physical reality creating a society where sharing is the norm and AIs can be reviewed.

I work mainly with FOSS because there is no hassle with Licenses.
In return I help out is several user-forums and share my solutions.

We achieve much more when we share.

1 members found this post helpful.

When BASH command line parameter exploit was discovered, it was immediately posted to Linux groups and patched in less than a day. Within two days my machines were patched without me doing anything at all, before I even got news of the exploit.

Admittedly, I would rather that exploit had never existed, but at least it was disclosed and fixed immediately upon discovery.

Microsoft sits on some known exploits for months because of human resource constraints before bothering to disclose or fix them, and who knows how many of those exploits are de-prioritized and left dangling for as long as possible at the request of the Five Eyes so they can keep hacking us while they transition their tool suite to other zero-day exploits?

Apple may be working at the cutting edge of user friendliness, but what security sins are concealed behind that proprietary boilerplate? Also, unless the usage model demands Apple, who wants to spend double on a computer system?

OK, it may be easier to insert a mole into open source developer base, but it seems obvious that open source black hats trying to add back doors are going to have a tough time of it once they have been discovered making 'mistakes' and blown their cover.

The Internet runs on open source and even Microsoft uses open source to develop their own proprietary operating system (or at least they used to back when Windows was pure crap).

It all boils down to one question. Who do you trust, and how much are you willing to pay them? OK, that was two questions. Bye!

1 members found this post helpful.

Hi

I use opensource because it works and because it is easy. No need for expensive and complicated, fragile and overweight software solutions for a personal computer at home.

Eulalia

1 members found this post helpful.

I prefer open source because it is generally trustworthy and not exploitive of personal information. It allows others to inspect and report on its properties so being open source makes it vettable (is that a word?). Linux and open source must be protected from the big corps trying to take it over so we don't lose the only operating system that is truly for the people.

1 members found this post helpful.

Some of the reasons I use open source software!
I am not that computer knowledgeable or technical. I became very annoyed having to pay Les, my local computer guy $125. or $150.00 every time I took my Microsoft Windows computer into his shop. My only experience with computers before was with a program that all we entered was a phone # to initiate it, and I used a web-tv in the early 90's! I had no previous cpu knowledge, what so ever! My skills today are trial an err, with google and tutorials where I find info! Today I am no longer accused of using pirated software that I had on my computers when I would purchase a different computer. One day I happened to see an add about a new computer and system on one of the electronic internet outlets that was named "Lindows". I told my greedy computer guy Les that I thought I would give that a try! Les said "let me know how that works out"! We would have probably stayed with this had Microsoft not sued them for having a similar name and it was changed to "Linspire"! After looking for new software I found that there were other software systems sold by Linux. Many of which were free! Today I now know it doesn't cost $125 to $150.00 just to format an OS! I never saw Les agin! I think Les had to close shop a few years back, Tough! At 75 I'm still trying to learn!

Same reason I use Linux - stable, reliable, none of the costs associated with Windows products - AND it does everything I need to do.

Why I use open source is many fold:
1. Nov.,1998 had a house fire. Lost everything. Windows software that I owned and the books to learn it would have cost me $123k. Insurance coverage on the contents was $90k. Swore I would never spend money on software again.
2. The Halloween Documents
3. I buy a computer, it's mine. No corporate entity is going to dictate what I can or cannot have on my computer.
4. Millions of eyes on the source code ensures that back doors are closed.
5. Works with whatever hardware I choose to use.
6. Choice of, kernel, window manager, Desktop environment, applications, utilities, etc. Loads of choices to customize my systems exactly the way I want to use them.
7. Security

Because it's easier to use a Linux package repository than Pirate Bay.

1 members found this post helpful.

a) Political. I think proprietary software in sclerotic to innovation, dangerous in terms of information-asymmetry, and "intellectual property" breaks the pricing model that capitalism has depended on for the last 300 years. I just instinctively feel there's something wrong about paying through the nose for something with zero marginal costs.

b) Open Source economically is in-line with a future where artificial-scarcities are minimised. With automation rapidly displacing labour, I don't see a future that is compatible with rentier-capitalism.

c) The impulse behind it "to do something... to contribute, because you're absolutely fascinated", is worth supporting for its own sake.

d) It's a far far far better model for innovation than "IP".

e) Just the vibe of it. Looking for help for Windows problems is like sifting through a rubbish-dump of people trying to trick you into using their get-rich-quick schemes. Open-Source is friendlier, and more genuine.


There are others, but that's enough to be getting with.

3 members found this post helpful.

----
I earned CA Licensed Land Surveyor in the 1980's.
I Became 1st order Photogrammetrist back in the 70's.
Was programming IBM stuff in mid 1960's (at Chevron oil company),
.. a time when one needed soldering irons for the patch panels)
Acquired my first Slackware in 1993 - and yep - I don't look back.
I used Slackware Linux to production line data gathering, data editing,
.. area classification, boundary validation and storage and ... list goes on.
.. Linux bridged the differences between Windows, Sun Micro Systems,
.. VAX, Digital Research's CP/M, IBM and DEC (plus others).
.. GIS had been "pie in the sky". Now it was actually a valid tool.

I wrote helper snippets to get the field guys to location;
.. (a type of heads up GPS on a moving map laptop screen) so the
.. "We got lost" did not work anymore.
GRASS, when properly used, was still better than ESRI's ver 9 and
even ESRI's ver 10 was still missing a few critical pieces when
I retired.

Since GRASS was open source I was able to reduce the number of
.. "clicks" to accomplish a given goal here and there in the
.. source. Even wrote a few helpers that would "chain" the workflow.

When the office moved across the street I did a "top" on the
.. Linux print server. Uptime was several years. According to
.. the log: it was the building wide electrical malfunction
.. that lowered the Uptime. Previous break in Uptime was some 4
.. years before that when I put the print server into service.

I would love to see Windows run production programs and not
.. crash before I get out of the building.

With open source the team and I could produce volumes. If something
.. broke or wasn't quite right etc, etc. Then I could fix the code
.. or the logic or both and be back in production before daylight.

................WHY DO I LIKE OPEN SOURCE?

No more
.. "That programmer no longer works here"
.. "That is a version we no longer support"
.. "We are sorry but that number is disconnected."
.. and on and on..and......oh yeah ... your check cleared.

My favorite: Open Source comes with an amazing number of editors.

Norseman01

I've been a Linux user since 1991.

Freedom and Openness make us real human.
The sky is only limit in Free and Open Source Software / Hardware.

Until fifteen years ago, a 3D Printer was esoteric, industrial machine which costed over five digit dollars.
Nowadays thanks to RepRap 3D Printers, a desktop 3D Printer around $500 delivers better quality than the old ones.

For the last two years I got into 3D Printing technology. It has been exciting journey and still to come.
Programming languages I had relearned, studied: C/C++, Python, Cython, Java.
3D Modeling / CAD software: Blender, OpenSCAD, QCAD, FreeCAD, BRL-CAD, OpenJSCAD, Fusion 360 (commercial).
RepRap 3D Printers: Mini Kossel, RepRapPro Fisher, Prusa i3 MK2

It doesn't cost as much as Apple stuff.

1 members found this post helpful.

I purchased a Sony Vaio believing all the hype about it, only to find out that most things didn't work properly. I was told to return it, but that was not possible as I am a volunteer teacher in developing countries. I was stuck with a machine that did not work well at all. Then a colleague suggested I switch to Linux and a miracle happened. My laptop worked!better than it ever did on Windows. There are still many bugs to overcome, but there are colleagues here to help. Wish I'd know I could run Linux before.

Cheers,
Angharad

1 members found this post helpful.