[techieMoe]

It's the cheapest way for me to get everything I want on my computer, gives me more freedom to tinker with things, and it's just fun to play around with various Linux distributions.

If I could install it on my computer here at work I would. Hopefully in the next five years or so the last of our MS Windows-only programs will be cross-platform and that will at least be an option on the table. We use all IBM tools, and the long-term strategy is to get them all onto the Eclipse platform, which of course works in Linux.

[carlosponti]

For me windows has been getting more and more restrictive. When XP came out you had to register it and if you made certain changes it re-invalidated the OS. I thinker with my PC(or at least i used to) and it became even more difficult to do so with windows. I was looking for an alternative in Linux and found much more when it came down to it. Linux has also improved much more since I first started using that in my Opinion its better than windows if nothing else just for what I want it to do. Started with Mandrake and Red Hat and moved to slackware which I actually made useful unlike my attempts with red hat and mandrake. when ubuntu came out I didnt like it but then i gave it a try and it was something i could get my wife even to use.

[Freston]

Some of my jobs have me working with Redmond's well known OS, and I can't really say I appreciate it. Although, in accordance to my sig, I must add that it's more the GUI than the OS that bothers me. I'm always multi-tasking and I can't do that as efficiently with certain proprietary systems.

OS-wise I'd say that Linux gives me a full system. It's stable, fast, and importantly, complete. It -to me- isn't the money. I'm willing to pay for a system if it does what I want. I'm running a payed for edition of Vector atm. It is my reliable workhorse for most of my business needs, and my entertainment center for all of my digital leisure needs.

That aside, I came into Linux for philosophical reasons. The arrogance (bordering aggression) of The Big Cooperations [insert long rant]

[cousinlucky]

The only thing I know about computers is how to turn mine on and that I can never ever safely use " windows " on the Internet.

After spending a lot of money for spyware programs and hard drive reformats I just gave up. Linux was the only other os out there so that is what I'm now using.

If anything gets put into my computer I can get rid of it by running the suse 10 repair program.

Life is good again for this aged Internet Addict!!!

[minthaka]

I'm using it in my professional and private life for multimedia and office purposes. As a side effect, Linux is a kind of freedom-fight to me, as Microsoft is a synonim of oppression for me.

[Farmer Mike]

I started using Linux over Windows about two years ago for several reasons.

I was unwilling to toss out perfectly good computers simply because it wouldn't run the latest and greatest software and nothing else was supported anymore.

Windows is expensive.

I was spending way too much time and work trying to protect my Windows systems from viruses and other malware and not learning new things. It caused a lot of worry and got to be drudgery.

Windows spends too much time and effort trying to prevent piracy, which has the unfortunate side effect of making its software less useful or enjoyable.

[daark.child]

I use Linux (and other opensource operating systems) because they are free in terms of cost and freedom to do what I want. Linux is very customisable, so I can customise it to my personal taste which is difficult to do in a one size fits all operating system.

[netstrider]

I use Linux because it is really fun.

I made the transition from Win to Linux about two years ago because as a kid I was always intrigued by the philosophy behind Linux and would spend hours reading about Linus and the creation of Linux etc. Until one day I got my own PC and I just installed it and didn't care from there .

Today I am so grateful because I've learned so much about computing and OS's.

Linux does what I need it to do for me better than anything else out there.

[KenJackson]

I carefully itemized my reasons separately, which can be read via the link in my signature below.

Others have said many excellent things in this thread that I whole-heartedly agree with.
But excellent support for the command line is something that hasn't gotten any mention here.

I started using MS-DOS back in the early 80's. In the early 90's I was delighted to find the 4DOS command shell replacement that gave me greater power. In the late 90's I was ecstatic to find Cygwin and the bash shell. And bash has continued to improve and iron out tiny little kinks. Now I am in nirvana using bash on a real Linux platform.

Meanwhile, the Microsoft command shell really hasn't changed much from when I first learned it a quarter century ago.

[K-Spaz]

I use both Linux and Windows every day at work and at home.

At home, I do some web development on the side and use XP as my desktop OS. For a test server I use Fedora 7. I've used RedHat since back in the RedHat 5 days. My first Unix based system ran SCO Xenix 2.3.4. (Back then the TCP/IP Module for the OS Cost $699! , same as the OS)

I use both systems for their strengths. At the moment, I am typing this in Opera on FC7 but sitting at a VNC console on Win XP. Much of my surfing is done on Linux, despite having Windows here in front of me. My linux system at home has no monitor. It is only accessed remotely. I use it as a test server, applications server, and all sorts of other things. I especially like the fact that my Linux system has had the OS loaded for 4 years and has not needed the hard disk re-formatted to clean it. It boots exactly as fast today as it did day one when I set it up. I run a Lamp setup with dozens of test sites and can't immagine a person wanting to use IIS for any reason.

I don't honestly remember in 4 years ever having an application crash on my Fedora Core 7 box. It of course has gone through 4 OS upgrades during that time. My experience so far with FC8 had not made me confident enough to put it on my test PC. I am trying it at work and well, it just does not seem to me to perform as well. Perhaps it's SE Linux too. It just seems sluggish.

I guess when it comes right down to it, I use Linux for the same reasons I use Windows. Because there's software only available for one or the other and I need or want that software.

Internet Efficiency is a primary reason. I like the way browsers work on Linux. Especially Opera.