Why do you use linux

I don't use Linux, I use windows Xp. I also do not see what the fuss is about, on my computers, it seems MORE SLOWER than Windows, Takes a longer time to boot than Windows, and Windows has been plenty stable enough.

Now for something completely different.... I use Linux as my primary OS, was Redhat until Suse started coming into play.

The why? Professionally speaking we have huge systems that run Windows, gigantic football sized rooms of Windows hardware stacked floor to ceiling, however we have A LOT more Unix/Linux/AIX on the business side of things.

Secondly, and if you work in IT this is pretty simple to grasp, but you make more money spanning multiple platforms, then you do just working on Wintel, in most instances Wintel only engineers are somewhat career limited.

But again, you still ask why? What if I told you Linux was powerful enough to allow me to manage Win2k/2K3/XP/NT without ever logging into a Windows box?
Well it can be done, and in fact it's easier then using the traditional tools.

In short I use Suse 9.3 today, and it boots quicker then my XP machines, runs faster, and is generally more stable and more forgiving when it comes to driver updates and patches. I almost never have to reboot to install drivers, and I don't have to apply 12 new patches on the second Tuesday of every month.

Would I use it for gaming? Nope. I suppose if there was a CS:S or BF2 port I would, but it’s more of a professional product I suppose.

EDIT: For the above question, Linux has it's own form of Office, for free in fact and I can manage, edit and read all of my Word/Excel docs form any of my other machines.

This topic was raised in the past and covered extensively.

To sum up, Linux offers more universal system control than does Xp. Basically, in my opinion, Xp is for users that don't care for system operations, only wishes to use their OS to get other things done and fast... typically for businesses that desire immediate output.. while the same holds true for Linux, it is for the techie at heart, those who wish to disect the system and truly customize it to their individual tastes. Due to licensing and kernel copyrighting laws, M$ prevents this.

There was a good debate last October here about this very topic, very informative and eye opening. I suggest a search, if you find it post it here. Great topic - had a lot of power users' views on both systems.

linux is the grandaddy of open source

i use linux for a few reasons:

1) security. hell, its nice not having to worry about spyware and viruses. to tell you the truth, i have no antivirus or spyware scanner on my linux boxes, just a firewall

2) stablity. although problems with XP are rare, they are even rarer in linux

3) pools of free software. since just about 99% of all linux titles are free software, that makes getting the program you want a snap and a half...for FREE.

4) ease of use, namly software install. just pop-up Synaptic (or xterm) and apt-get anything i like. don't have to go google for it, then download, and then install, all is done in 1 easy step that anyone can do FAST.


and for the MS Office comment:
you can run MS Office if you get crossover office program. However, why would you need it? You can just use OOo and it will take care of everything.

as for boot times, i've seen it both ways, sometimes windows is faster, sometimes its linux.

I also use Linux for my primary OS but I do use Windows for some things (mostly gaming). Why do you assume Windows is the default? As Linux is free and Windows isn’t should the conversation be why does one need Windows? Regardless, if one goes along with your question…
All the arguments about stability, viruses, cost (acceptable or not we all no Windows is equally as “free” in terms of cost if you really want), cross compatibly/internetworking and hard ware support are mostly irrelevant if either system is run correctly. Some of the most noticeable reasons that I use Linux on my systems are:

Portage and other software libraries – It so much easier to simply type “emerge [program name here]” then it is to find/download/install one especially if said program’s Windows equivalent is expensive (e.g. the Gimp vs. Photoshop). This also makes updating a ton easier. Would you prefer looking for updates to the OS and all installed programs separately or just typing “emerge –u world”.

Stability of programs – I’ll grant that Windows itself is more stable then people tend to give it credit for (still less then Linux even with a very competent windows admin). However many Windows programs fail especially if left running for long periods of time (e.g. torrenting a file that takes a week+), I have not had this problem nearly as much with the Linux equivalents. Even when the rare problems arises a simple ctrl+alt+backspace fixes things a considerable amount better/faster then the ctrl+alt+del of Windows. One rarely sees poorly done software for Linux. When people see something they don’t like the source code is freely available and people change it themselves and submit their changes.

Ease of use – You really don’t know what your missing until you’ve tried Linux. Whenever I try and use my windows machine I just tend to get more and more aggravated by the small stuff. Granted it takes a certain amount of skill/knowledge to get a Linux machine running, but that’s mostly limited to the ability to google and read. Things such as being able to maximize a Windows and then shrink it over by dragging the edge and having the windows snap together, put a file in more then one location without a copy, put a different hard drive somewhere other then as a different tree base (e.g. put a hdd in a folder instead of a different letter), searching a group of files for a keywords (e.g. “grep Failed/ Logon ~\logs”, and more are irritatingly missing from Windows. These are available for Windows but they require lots of unnecessary plug-ins.

Xine media player - I have yet to find a media format that this can’t natively play and I have seen a lot of bizarre ones. Even the best Windows players with the best codec packs I can find tend to freak out sometimes and it’s just a pain in the ass to find them all anyway. Since I use my Linux system largely as a video machine, this is important.

SSH remote logon – This is clearly the best/easy to set up remote logon and fileserver tool I have seen. I find it hard to believe I ever got along with out it now.


Although many of the programs/features mentioned above do have Windows ports, they run much the same as running a native Windows program in wine: buggy and slow. Although these don’t seem like much, let’s compare it with the entire list of reasons why I use Windows: gaming, and even that’s starting to erode. Of course it’s not about trying to convert other people and that just my opinion

Oh and best of all: no grammar Nazis (ok, that’s a preemptive flame and I’m sorry)

I use Windows just because I am a gamer.

Ctrl Alt Backspace, resets the whole OS, in Linux.
Ctrl Alt Delete in Windows, allows you to shut down only the offending program causing the lockup.

nope
ctrl alt backspace resets the current graphics system
unless your running an older porgram that runs in the conosle this will catch all lockups even ones that ctrol alt del cant do anything for in similar situations

it does not reset the entire system

for example on my home system i keep everything i might want to use remotely or have running for long periods of time in a seperate graphics window (which i can accsess on the same screen through vnc'ing myself). If something locks up i can kill the current one which at most gets firefox+whatever locked up. Regardless, in many situations where its called really called for its faster to just kill the graphics system and restart that (takes like 1/10 the time to restart the system) then it is to wait for windows to try and shutdown the program.

[edit]
Furthurmore, it will never kill things that do not require the graphics systems. My ssh server will continue uninterupted if i reset the graphics system.

Well I use Linux (Knippox) to analyze my network, and practice security stuff...
www.remote-exploit.org

Other than that i like gaming.... and windows XP it is!

lol

CTRL+ALT+BCKSP by default in most versions of Linux kills X Windows(The Graphical subsystem)

I can however be mapped to do really anything you want

Even quicker than that and 95 percent of the time works, go to a console and type killall and the name of the program.

Then just switch back to the graphical system and run along like nothing happened. Takes on the average about 5 seconds, and rarely will I have to do this with anything that is above an alpha release in Linux.

Why do I use it? Much more stable than windows IMO. Much faster and more efficient than windows, as long as not bloated as most larger distros are(Ubuntu is a good one for little bloat but still easy to use)

And I have found audio programs in linux that are MUCH better than anything I have used in any other OS. Ardour I love completly, and use it over ProTools, Cubase, Nuendo...(All of which I have used in the past) and Rezound has some really cool features I ahve yet to find in Windows or Mac(Without porting Rezound

True 64 Bit operating Environment.

NFS Filesystem over gigabit ethernet... fast enough for audio use if that gives you any idea.

Interoperability and flexibility.

And I gotta go Remind me and Ill finish up later.

Seablade

and you can do all of that stuff that you do...and learn linux too as I am doing. It's really not as difficult as it appears once you get into it. I highly recommend (K)Ubuntu, it worked really well with my computer once ndiswrapper configured my wireless.

spin....you can do all of that in linux, and be more confident because you will NOT catch viruses lurking around the net and you WILL NOT be loaded with pr0n spyware either.

like SCFly said, go Ubuntu if it works with your system, it does wonders. If you want to take it a step up, I'd recommend Slackware (stable as a rock), or maybe even just plain old Debian.

My main reason for using Linux these days is that I'm just more used to it - times when I've grappled with some issue on friends' windows computers recently made me realize how out of touch with it I am!

How did I get more used to it? I've not been using windows for more than the occasional game for a few years, because I like a lot of things about Linux:

The non-commercial ethos that prevails in the software.

Amazing choice, availability and configurability of the OS, from the kernel to the windowing system and desktop.

Great network security, which is a byproduct of the fantastic tcp/ip stack (which has a feature set comparable to advanced Cisco routers!)

NO REGISTRY!!! (each app has its own simple text-based config file) What a catasrophically dumb idea the registry is!

The power of the command-line.. ;-)

Ability to see just what's going on anywhere by viewing and modifying source code, using strace, lsof, etc.

The staggering amount of advice and support available on the web.

I freely admit I'm a moderately technical user with long Linux experience (I've been using Linux domestically and professionally since about 1997) who isn't averse to getting "under the hood" now and then. I'm not out to convert anyone here: if it isn't for you, don't use it - no problem. Just saying why it works for me..