On Mon 15 Sep 2003 at 08:03:50, Evan McNabb said:
>
> Q: What features or attributes of Linux led you to start using it and/or
> influence you to continue using it? Please be specific and descriptive
> as possible and as technical as you would like.
>
[Editor's note: the question asked exclusively about GNU/Linux, but
everything I say below goes for {Free,Open}BSD as well.]
I started using GNU/Linux simply out of curiosity, but have kept using
it for two main reasons: the control, and the community. Linux and the
Open Source software it comprises allow me to adapt my computing
environment to fit my work habits, rather than adjusting my work habits
to fit how some programmers decided my computing enviroment should be.
Having used Linux for almost 7 years now, there is not a single task I
can do in Windows, MacOS, HP-UX, and IRIX that I cannot do faster in
GNU/Linux, and many tasks are impossible in any other operating system.
It has taken a large investment in time to learn the system well enough
to use it efficiently, but by this point I have greatly recouped my
costs by the amount of effort it has saved me over the years.
The second reason I continue to use Linux is because of the community.
I have benefited immensely from the knowledge of more experienced users,
and I enjoy being able to help newer users with their questions,
especially since many of them have questions I haven't even though of
before. Within the Linux community, I have also found friends who share
many of my non-computer related interests. The political discourse of
the Open Source / Free Software community does not interest me very
much, but I do support and espouse the idealism of those who are
concerned about issues of consumers' rights, privacy, and freedom of
information. Though I know most of my fellow Linux users only by name
and email address, I enjoy the Linux community's strong sense of
identity and altruistic ideals.
--
Soren Harward
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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