New Members, why did you switch to Linux?

[flipjargendy]

i cannot remember if i posted this or not. i think i decided not to but i've noticed that even more people then a month ago have been joining lately.

i'm just curious why a lot of the newer members here are deciding to abandon Windows. Is there any specific reason why you've decided to do this? i am obviously not against the idea, i'm just a curious person looking for a curious answer.

So, is there any specific reason you've decided to?

The reason i chose to is because 90% of the software i've used on any distro has been far better then anything i'd pay over $100 for and i got it for free for Linux. Also, i was growing tired of the boring Windows way of life. Having to screw around A LOT to get a small Windows hack to work. Then when something in Windows goes wrong i end up having to guess what the problem is. In Linux you can start a program in the command line and get the readout of everything it's doing.

That's my reason... what was yours?

[bigtomrodney]

Initially it was the aspect of community development. It still is to a large extent but what really keeps me is the technical merits. The power I have now, I never had any Unix experience before linux. Even just as a desktop I'm more than happy with Amarok, K3b, gaim and all of the rest.It gives me exctly what I want.

[hazel]

I belong to a local computer club and we decided that one of us should investigate Linux. I was chosen as the sacrificial lamb because I had used command line interfaces on mainframes. Someone who didn't know much about Linux installed Red Hat 6 on a hard disk in his own computer and transplanted it to a machine he was building for me. He then repartitioned the disk with Partition Magic so that I could have Windows 98 on it too but forgot to remake the boot disk. Finally, for good measure, he also forgot the root password! Result - an unbootable system.

But, with the help of a Knoppix live CDROM and a wonderful O'Reilly book called "Running Linux" I managed to unscramble the whole thing, make a working boot disk and set a new root password. And I realised then that if I, a complete novice, could do this, then Linux must be an incredibly user-friendly system compared with Windows. I've been in love with Linux ever since.

Also I feel safe on the Net using Linux and I never did with Windows even though I had a firewall and antivirus.

[DeoXMAN]

we had to use it in universisy, so i had to install it on my lapto.
and also i was interested how does another system looks like. I also tried FreeBSD and OS/2. i wanna try OpenBSd in near future..

[yourname3232]

I tried lnux at first becasue I needed an OS for a computer I got for free. Well I really didn't want to shell out $100 for a MS operateing system, so I downloaded Fedora Core 3. That was the biggest learning experience ever. I slowly learned how to do alot more without a GUI and now I have that computer running CentOS as a router/gateway for my network. So I switched over because it is FREE, as in cost and no nore EULA's. I now have linux on 3 of my 5 computers.

[jan1024188]

i was windows user...than friend told me for linux....i tryed it (FC4)
i love it:
-its free
-its powerful
-its great
-newer chrushes down
-you can make almost all with it
-i use staff in linux which is not avaliable for windows
-i love terminal (bash,tcsh)

[a12ctic]

I got sick of pirating software that didnt even work right

[Juan Pablo]

Tired of being trated like a computer stupid on every website ....
And to have pirated software on my computer

[MikeTbob]

I started using Linux a few years ago, Redhat 5.2 Deluxe Edition. And as it slowly got better, I slowly stopped using Windows. But the real switcharoo for me was the unforgiving tactics used in the EULA of WinXP, not to mention the forthcoming Vista EULA, how repressive will they get??

[ImNeat]

I got sick of pirating software that didnt even work right

Agreed. It's nice to have great, free software - legally.