So, how do you really feel about Linux?

[SkittleLinux18]

I really think Linux is great. I know sometimes things get broken and it's frustrating, but many times that's just individual programs and packages. Once I uninstall them via package manager and install a similar program, it's working fine again.

E.g., uninstall gtkVNCviewer that is not working and install vnc4viewer. Bingo! Everything is fine again!

Why are there so many distros? That I can't answer. I can only say that I know many of them serve a broad or specific purpose. Others are pet projects. But I think people getting upset about the way Linux is kind of like being pissed off that the sun helps to sustain life on Earth. Both are designed for specific purposes and both fulfill those purposes. And the purposes behind Linux being the way that it is seems to be for the best overall. It's about freedom of choice and customization. Freedom to work on and within the operating system, even as the end-user.

It has come so far in just the 4 years I've been using it! So has KDE. I can't comment on other DMs or WMs, though. That to me is really the point of this thread. Linux, from the kernel all the way to the DM and WM, just continues to progress and become better. That to me is where so much of the value in it comes from.

If a person cannot see all the good there is about Linux, and just gets all upset about it, then I would argue that they possibly can't find the good in anything in life and it's probably because they have some personality issues. Just saying.... it's my honest opinion. It's like when a girl says no, it sucks, but you have to respect it. Well, same with my opinion.

By the way, some people with Linux rants are just poopie heads.

[rokytnji]

I'm just appreciative of the computer knowledge that Open Source and it's people are willing to share. You would not have recognized me as a computer user if not for the world of Linux. I have grown as a person since booting my first Linux CD.

Skills are something earned and kept. No one can take that from you. Kinda like being the only one who knows how to make fire like in the movie "Quest for Fire".

One gains a certain sense of pride when a person who thinks they are a computer guru in Windows gets lost and their eyes get wide when you boot up your desktop. Then the old tired arguments on why they won't run Linux drips from their lips. It's like the old Bikers saying. "If I have to explain. You would not understand".

It's like trying to explain the wind in your face and the smells of nature as you cruise on your motorcycle in the country side. Gravity as it grips you through windy turns as your knee drags the asphalt. The POWER> Somebody in a car will not understand. One has to live and try something new to actually live some times.

That is how I really feel about Linux.

No off for a Sunday cruise.

[nujinini]

I like it. I enjoy it. I want more of it

[oz]

So, how do you really feel about Linux?

Linux is probably not perfect for any user, as it does have its share of problems and issues like any other OS.

With some effort, serious Linux users can usually turn it into pretty much whatever they want it to be.

It's certainly not an OS that was ever intended for everyone, although anyone should be able to use it if they really want to.

The concept, price, and support for Linux are terrific.

Overall, I'd have to say that it's pretty darned good!

[Dapper Dan]

Honestly, sometimes I get frustrated with having to input passwords every time I do anything at all but I realise that is the price one pays to have the security Linux is famous for. A friend gave me an old Dell PowerEdge server he was never going to use. When I booted it, it had Windows Server 2000 installed and it booted to a login screen asking for name and pass. I panicked thinking I'd never get in, then remembered all I had to do is press enter. I did and was in! That doesn't happen with Linux and that's a good thing when security is important.

I like having the many choices we have in distros. Are there too many? Probably. But all of it helps drive innovation which is good for Linux as a whole. I enjoy compiling programs and working from the command line. I'm an old "hot rodder" from way back and like roky, I see many similarities in working with Linux machines and working on vehicles. I love the magical combination of simplicity and speed when running IceWM on CRUX! Apps I could not do without? ssh, tightvnc, wget and mpg123.

[hazel]

I have learned an incredible amount since I started with Linux. I never learned anything from Windows. That is to say, I learned how to get results out of programs but the whole thing was a black box: you have to use this sequence of keystrokes/clicks to send an email, that sequence to start writing a letter. If anything goes wrong, you reboot. If that doesn't solve it, you reinstall.

I hated the feeling of helplessness, of being at the mercy of software I couldn't understand. With Linux, I finally know what's going on.

[elija]

Without going for a real hobbyist operating system such as KolibiOS, Linux is the closest thing to my old Vic 20 back in the early '80s in how it makes me feel. It actively encourages experimentation, hacking* and all sorts of geekery and now I've just started to learn c, I feel even more like I did back then. That I'm on the verge of something huge and that the potential is exciting and unlimited. Despite that, Linux is great for real work as well; unless you have broken it with some of the aforementioned geekery that is ^_^

* In the good old fashioned meaning of hacking not the annoying tabloid meaning which is actually cracking. OK Rant mode off.

[jayd512]

Linux is, for me anyway, what using a computer was really meant to be.
All aspects of 'user-land' are covered.
If you want simplicity from an OS or program, and want it to just work... Mint is there for you.
If you want to MAKE something work... there is CRUX, Gentoo and LFS.
The happy mediums are there as well, in various form... Arch, Debian and Slack.

Dan and Roky compared Linux with working on a machine. I can see that.
To me it's more like music. And I'm eclectic to the extreme when it comes to music!
Yes, friends... Linux is my heavy metal, my classical, and everything in between!

[Peter D]

I love using Linux, mostly Ubuntu but I've also used Debian, Crunchbang, PCLinuxOS, Xubuntu, Mepis, Knoppix and BodhiLinux.

I believe that Linux has allowed me to learn more about computers, operating systems, software etc that I would ever have learnt had I stuck with Windows.

I love being part of a community that is always happy to help. And although I am no expert I too am able to make a contribution.

[TaZMAniac]

Trust me! After dealing all day with client's Windows computers and server problems it's very refreshing to come home, turn on my Linux computer and have it 'just' work.

No virus scans, defraging the hard drive, stupid multiple pop-ups asking me numerous times if I really want to run this software.

And if I do want to go wild I have full control of the system and not locked down like I am in Windows.

I call this Freedom.