What has switching to Linux done for you?

[Snowhog]

Simple question. Likely though, not a 'simple' answer.

So, what has switching to Linux done for you personally? Did you experience an 'awakening', like Neo, after listening to Morpheus when he said: "You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."

For me, the switch to Linux (Kubuntu) was an awakening; a realization that I could have control over my PC. That I didn't have to be beholding to M$; that I could do with my PC what I wanted. I found that the PC I paid for really did belong to me; not to the Corporation that had installed the OEM OS that came with it.

[Ole Juul]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

I wanted, and expected, control from the very beginning of my computer experience, but certainly I have similar reasons for using Linux. However, I didn't "switch" - because I've never really used MS-Windows long enough to call it mine. When Linux became usable to me, and DOS finally became unusable to browse the net, then what Linux did for me was allow me to be included in the graphical web page world. But I still use pure DOS all the time.

Some personal history: I had used DOS for several years when a copy of MS-Windows 3.1 was offered to me. I was already starting to get seriously annoyed with MS for giving me b******t like "wrong version" or "try scandisk instead". Those kinds of things just made me see red. I did not want to have them control what version of anything I ran, that's my own business. To this day I still don't put my command interpreter in the root directory - just to defy MS - and I only use the 130K "kernel". Especially I didn't want their suggestions for some other program of theirs to run. I don't like advertising and I make my own choices. So, after a couple of weeks when I discovered that Win-3.1 were even more restrictive. I said never more. My sensibilities had been offended beyond repair and I stayed with DOS exclusively until after 1998 when Linux started to dominate my internet browsing.

Nowadays when the pure evil of MS is so much more glaring than it was in 1986 there is no question about avoiding it at all costs. Linux and FOSS isn't perfect - but it's mine.

[toad]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

My primary aim was to get a stable system.

_Everything_ after that was a complete bonus

[The Liquidator]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

Linux and FOSS isn't perfect - but it's mine.

+1

I also like the fact that if something goes horribly wrong I can post my query here, and following a response I can usually enter a line of code and it's fixed.

[Aykay]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

It made my computer a tool instead of a toy!

In some ways, the switch from windows hurt a little because it meant saying goodbye to the music-score editing software finale and my favorite music recording software. I would have one back, but it just so turns out that I'm more geared towards science & writing these days, and linux is great for that since I can, after extensive googling and asking for help, make my computer do what I want it to.
.
I've had my newest compy (Asus T101MT convertible netbook) less than a week, and I've already tried the following OSs : Windows 7 (stock), Ubuntu Netbook, Kubuntu Netbook, Linux Mint KDE, Xubuntu, Linux Mint Xfce, and what I've returned to - Kubuntu 10.04. It's really hard to walk away from the snappy opening of a new window in xfce, but their menu is terrible, the system has a low ceiling for customization (compared to kde), the command line was garbage for me, and the big one - Thunar is an amazing file manager, but until it gains a split-view function it'll never equal dolphin in my heart.

I remember the first time I clicked "split" in dolphin a year ago and thinking "my god, this was designed by someone who actually uses a computer. What have I been doing with my life?" (and I haven't even gotten my feet wet in the non-ubuntu beverages...)

I'm completely new to the programming thing, but I have two goals for the next year :
1.) create my own minimalist text editor (still haven't found *just* what I'm looking for
2.) learn how to create a custom "distro" - as in, create an iso that's basically the core of Kubuntu with the exact packages and codecs preinstalled that I want.

Even if I fail at both, I never would've thought of it in windows. Been windows-free for over a year! woo!

[blobfish]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

So, what has switching to Linux done for you personally? Did you experience an 'awakening', like Neo, after listening to Morpheus when he said: "You take the red pill and you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes."

being a coder by the name of Thomas Anderson, I have to say YES!

seriously though, for me It is about limits. Or the lack thereof. With linux, one is only limited by oneself. Not so with the corporate controlled OS's.

[kapil]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

when i was graduating from electronics and telecommunication.. i was always attracted toward the free OS. i always used to feel.. if something good and stable has been offered free.. why do we use pirated version of OS that sucked. then i purchased a amd 64x2 with windows xp 32 bit (i had no option of freeDOS). i was annoyed by the 32-bit OS in my 64-bit laptop. moreover.. when the vista arrived i installed pirated version.. and was annoyed by super slow speed..and resource hungry nature. but then...by laptop screen got faulty..i had to replace it. the vendor replaced it with new one.
but a strange thing happened. my recovery disc gave error "the hardware is changed and windows xp can not be installed". i conveyed message to vendor. he said we will install xp for Rs. 400 (USD 10) but i will have to give same amount everytime i format my laptop. that was it. got a "64-bit" Karmic Koala kubu from a friend. and loved it alllllllllot. my laptop became snappy, could get superb 3D graphics on 1GB RAM.

long story short.. using linux:
1. i can do all stuff i used to do in windoze for _free_
2. can update to latest and greatest newer OS without spending a penny.
3. kubuntu has made life easy: tabbed browsing in dolphin, number of widgets, amarok
4. up-to-date

[Detonate]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

I have always been a person that likes to do things my own way. Which may seem inconsistent with the fact that I spent 20 years in the military. But may explain why I did not retire at a much higher rank.

Linux let's me have things my own way. Windows didn't.

[ScottyK]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

Two of the biggest reasons for switching to Kubuntu was cost and curiosity.

(If I could figure out a third “C” I could make this a Baptist 3-point sermon, but I digress.)

For years I used Microsoft products, because that's what everybody else used. I believed the hype of Windows 95 and Windows 95. I also fell for the security aspects of XP (phoning home) because Microsoft told me so.

My first exposure to the world of Linux came in 1999, when I took a three week UNIX course with the Air Force. After discovering there was a whole new world out there, I rushed out and bought Red Hat 7.1 and tried to install it.

Being a semi-broke Airman, then once I got out of the Air Force, a broke college student, I didn't have the money to dedicate another computer to Linux. Besides in those days dual booting caused more harm than good, so I just stuck with XP.

Over the last few years I would load various versions of Linux into a virtual machine, and was always impressed with the layout.

Then one day last fall I decided to take the plunge and dual boot with my main system. The first time Kubuntu loaded as the native OS and not in a VM environment, I was completely blown away. The graphics seemed “richer”, and it took full advantage of my 5.1 sound card, something I could never get working correctly in XP.

Then comes the cost. In the days of only having one computer, I could afford the Microsoft upgrades. Now with the extra boxes laying around, notebook for the teenager, kids computers, etc I'm looking at 12 computers in the house to keep upgraded.

As Microsoft drops support for XP, they plan to “push” me to Vista or 7. Problem is lots of these computers are 3-4 years old, and may not run as well as they did with XP. Plus I simply don't have the money for Vista or Win7 licenses for all the computers!

Then there is the problems with the software licenses. One of my Vista computers has suddenly stopped the service that allows it to phone home. No amount of troubleshooting will get that service started, so it can no longer get updates. My only recourse is to reformat it.

I'm tired of making sure my computers can “phone home” to some corporation so they can work. Kubuntu doesn't phone home to anybody, and I own it.

I've already converted one of the kids computers to Kubuntu, and they love it. They've stopped using the dedicated kids windows machine because as my 5 year old son says, “Linux has better games daddy!”.

I may buy one copy of Windows 7 for testing and troubleshooting purposes (my parents), but the plan is to convert all computers in the house to Linux.

The aforementioned son just asked me if he could get on the Linux box, even though the kids window computer is available for him to use.

[GreyGeek]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

Two of the biggest reasons for switching to Kubuntu was cost and curiosity.

(If I could figure out a third “C” I could make this a Baptist 3-point sermon, but I digress.)
.....

"C"ontrol !!!

You got your three points! Start preaching, Bro!

[vinnywright]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

I started playing with linux back when XP was new or just befor.

my first box ran win-95 then 98 and because I'v always been pore I soon found that to have things I wanted I was downloading and installing pirated/hacked software! witch I realey dident like having to do.

then I triped across distrowatch and decided to see what this linux thing was.

well after some trile and error and a bunch of reading I discoverd I could have a box that did all I neaded and for free and all legally

so I have been playing linux ever sense and as a added boness NO viruses or BSD's

VINNY

[ScottyK]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

Two of the biggest reasons for switching to Kubuntu was cost and curiosity.

(If I could figure out a third “C” I could make this a Baptist 3-point sermon, but I digress.)
.....

"C"ontrol !!!

You got your three points! Start preaching, Bro!

Awesome!

[GreyGeek]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

I was pretty fat, dumb and happy running Windows 3.1 FWG and making a living off of it. I had NO CLUE as to how Microsoft was behaving. What I did know was the DRDOS was a better DOS than MSDOS. I began having trouble replacing Win3.0 with 3.1FWG on my clients machines because a msg was popping up telling me 3.1 wouldn't work on top of any other DOS than MSDOS. A couple months later I was reading my subscription of DR Dobbs Journal in which an article revealed that if the 3.1 binary was edited with a hex editor and the section of code which tested for the DOS brand was replaced with NOP's (NO Operation), then 3.1 installed beautifully on top of DRDOS and ran even better than it did on top of MSDOS. That was the first time I heard of MS doing dirty tricks, but I started watching more closely.

On Dec 29, 1997, I purchased a new Sony VAIO desktop that came with Win95 preinstalled. (Back then MS didn't control the PC OEMS, but it did well salting the media.) I was primed for all the good things about Win95. When I began running it I realized that it was FAR LESS than the fluff articles claimed it was. Sony had created an intermediate binary, called the "Medi-Kit" which sat between the BIOS and Win95. It's purpose was to intercept Win95 crashes and try to gracefully recover it without having to reboot. Both it and Win95 was an abysmal failure.

Between Jan 1, 1998 and May 1, 1998 I had to do a complete reinstall of Win95 FIVE times. I thought it was the hardware which was at fault, which was why Sony had its "Medi-Kit" in place. I became so paranoid that I saved my work every five minutes or more. It became an autonomic reflex, but a reflex which didn't help. My productivity was in the toilet and I needed to make a living. Before Win95 I was running Win3.1FWG inside OS/2. I decided to return to Win3.1 running inside OS/2, but I needed a copy of OS/2, which went away with my previous PC.

I was at Barnes and Nobel looking for OS/2, which was were one bought operating systems then because they came as a CD in the back of a book, the OS manual, and books were sold at book stores. I happen to see a paperback titled "Learn Linux in 24 Hours", by Bill Brush. It had a CD of RH5.0 in the back. Price: $25. Windows and OS/2 were more than 3X that. (I had looked at Unix and read a book called "The Unix Hater's Guide to Unix", which featured a rabbit in a carrot patch as the picture on the cover. It scared me away from Unix because it was all CLI.) I glanced through it. It didn't look bad. The twm95 xserver screen looked almost Win95 like.

I took it home and set it up as a dual boot on the Sony. To may utter amazement the Sony never crashed once while I was running RH5. I realized the fault was all Win95's. That fall SuSE 5.3 came out featuring KDE 1.0, which was more Win95 than Win95, and stable too! I continued using Win3.1FWG on my clients machines, staying away from Win98 and WinME. Especially WinME. When NT4.0 came out I moved some of them to that. I continued using SuSE for 22 straight boxed sets, until Novell bought them out.

With Linux I was able to learn so many tools and languages that cost alone would have prohibited me from trying. In the late 80's and early 90's I thought nothing of buying development software which cost $500 for the dev tool and $1,500 for 5 network licenses. But, I could NOT go around buying dev tools just to try them out. Linux saved me a bundle.

When my last client gave me a job offer my wife wouldn't let me refuse I continued to use Linux on that job, gradually getting it onto desktops and into the server room. Then the new gov came into office just before I retired and demanded that the state become an MS shop. All Linux, Novell, IBM and other software had to be abandon immediately and licenses for appropriate Windows replacements purchased. 10,000 our of 13,000 state employees threw away more than a million in license fees and it cost the state millions more to purchase MS licenses. The net result was/is that productivity running Exchange, Active Directory, SharePoint, etc..., has dropped by half. Crashes and downtime of the network, a rarity on Netware, are frequent occurrences. Linux is coming back, however. Oracle's Virtual Servers will be put on RH servers (not Oracle's "unbreakable Linux"). The Tux is returning! 8)

Now, Kubuntu 10.4 with KDE 4.5.1 represents the STATE OF THE ART operating system and desktop. I just think what it would have been like if I had QtCreator and Qt4 about 15 years ago. The money I could have made writing custom software could have doubled or tripled, or more.

BUT, even retired, I have so much software installed on this machine I can't find time to play with it all! What a nice predicament to be in! The folks I introduce to the Tux via Kubuntu are totally amazed when they see what's on their machine after I am done. Those smiles are worth a thousand bucks and I know that is about how much I am saving them, if not more.

[kyonides]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

Linux and FOSS isn't perfect - but it's mine.

+1

I also like the fact that if something goes horribly wrong I can post my query here, and following a response I can usually enter a line of code and it's fixed.

+1
Or you can get some deb (or rpm or whatever) package if you want to install an app.

[oshunluvr]

Re: What has switching to Linux done for you?

Stopped the necessity for virus software
Saved money
Increased computer productivity and functionality
Lengthened laptop battery life

last but not least....

Got me a job!