The Linux Ninja

I just read a post over at Linux Loop where the author asks and then answers the question “Why Do You Use Linux?”. I thought I would share the reasons why I use Linux and ask any readers to contribute their reasons either here or on the original post.

The biggest reason I started using Linux many years ago was that I wanted to try something different than Windows.  In the beginning I couldn’t imagine not using Windows as my desktop operating system, but that changed as  I used Linux more. The more I ran Linux on the desktop the more it felt right for me.

The concepts of freedom and open-source also intrigued me as well. I was just really starting to get into programming and wanted to explore as many of the things that I used as I could. The more I tried to explore the Windows programs I usesd the more I became disappointed that I couldn’t see any of how they worked. With Linux I was able to look at the code and get a sense of how things worked. If I found a bug, I could investigate it and let the developer know and get a real response from them.

Another reason I use Linux is for its flexibility and customizability. Windows always felt like a “what you see is what you get” type OS that had a good application ecosystem built around it comprised of games, business applications, etc. If  you didn’t like the way something was done you couldn’t change it, you just had to deal with it. With  Linux there were different desktop environments, so many different applications, and so many options for distributions. Distributions designed for servers, lightweight desktops, high-powered desktops, cluster nodes, game playing, etc. and they were all there to try out for FREE (which also helps).

Me being  a paranoid penguin also makes me shy away from Windows and the lack of good builtin security tools. In Linux I can use things like IPTables to have  a nice customizable firewall to protect me from bad connections. The lack of desktop-based viruses also helps, although there are plenty of software vulnerabilities and rootkits for various kernel exploits that are available. The large majority of  developers’ are extremely responsive to reported issues and have fixes available much faster than many commercial vendors do.

These things make Linux the best thing for me and make the Windows desktop the wrong thing for me. So those are my major reasons for using Linux, what are yours?