Quidni?

If you don't know what an operating system is, or if you've never heard the word Linux before in your life, or if you just don't feel that comfortable around computers, you might want to skip this one.

I use Linux*.  This simple sentence illicits three distinct responses from those to whom I say it.  The first is a blank stare of utter confusion.  The second is a sort of a wrinkled-nose, "what kind of masochistic freak are you?"  shudder.  The third is a sort of a respectful "ohhh!".  The third has happened maybe three or four times, ever.  Even then, it's only a matter of time before the inevitable question is asked, the question which has haunted me for four long years: Why?

They ask the impossible.  Well, not really, there are plenty of ways to answer it, but the answer they want is both short, yet fully explanatory.  They want to know the specific benefits of Linux, they want them fully explained, and they want them in a paragraph or less.  I can't do this.  It would be like trying to explain why you like manual trasmission over automatic (or vice versa) to someone who doesn't know what a car is, except a lot more complicated.  To really understand why I use Linux, you need at least a surface-level grasp of computers, operating systems, and computer programming.  But, to spare people the agony of actually learning about the things that have become ubiquitous and necessary for daily operation of just about anything, I'll try to explain it without going into too much technical detail.

First, a car analogy, on the same tack as the earlier one:  Using Windows is like using a car that is completely automated.  The transmission is automatic, the windshield wipers don't come on unless it's raining, the heat and air conditioning is regulated by a temperature sensor, and so on.  Fine in theory, except that the hood is welded shut.  All you can do is point it in the direction you want to go and hit the gas, hoping that it doesn't break down.  The manual is a few pages, detailing what a great investment you just made.  Linux, on the other hand, has nothing automated.  Manual transmission, wipers that don't even have an intermittent setting, and it probably doesn't even have air conditioning.  But not only is the hood openable, but everything is modular, so you can add the parts that you want to automate, and you can keep control of the things you want to.  Plus, it comes with a manual that's thousands of pages.  Hard to find what you're looking for?  Yeah, but chances are that it's in there, and you're sure to come across other interesting stuff while you're looking.

OK, that analogy is convoluted, and I drug it along too far.  Forget it.  Specifics:  I use Linux because I can install it for free, and start writing programs for it right away, without some expensive developer suite.  I use Linux because when something goes wrong, I can find out exactly what went wrong - my error message doesn't get sent to some faceless server somewhere, it gets sent to me , and I have the freedom to do with it what I will - if I have the skill to trace it back to its source, I can do so.  Windows doesn't give you the benefit of the doubt.  I use Linux because all of the fun little things that the casual programmer wants to do can be done with no hassle, while in Windows there's no easy way to do them.  I use Linux because it's possible to organize your desktop in any way that you want to.  Seriously, the sky's the limit.  Windows doesn't offer that, Apple doesn't offer that - only Linux and other free operating systems offer that.  I use Linux because it never crashes.  I use Linux because the software is more configurable.  I use Linux because there are more software options.  I use Linux because it makes playing around on the computer fun again.

There are people who use free operating systems because of ideological principles which hold proprietary software (basically any software that you have to pay for) is inherently bad, and that it is a social problem.  I don't know about that.  I suppose I haven't given it much thought.  But I do know that the free/open source software that is Linux is superior in design.  If Microsoft came out with something better, would I use it?  Possibly.  That's a topic for another post.  All that matters for this post is that the philosophy behind free software is not currently one of the reasons that I use it.

To avoid having to bore people by explaining all of the above, my old standby is "I use Linux because it doesn't suck."  People don't really like this because it doesn't give specifics.  But there are just too many specifics to list.  Usually, I just use the standby, then cop out by saying, "oh, I just like it" or "oh, it would take too long to explain."  But, having written out the long answer (well, the medium answer, there are tons of other reasons), it has become a bit clearer to me.  So perhaps this is the closest I can come to explaining why I use Linux:  I use Linux because in every single metric that matters to me it is superior to Windows.

*[Technically the thing refered to as "Linux" thoughout this post is really GNU/Linux, but for the sake of brevity, and because I hate the GNU project and want to minimize its importance as much as possible, it shall be refered to as "Linux".  (That last bit about GNU was a joke, I love GNU, but I find that its silly insistence on prefixing its name to the collective entity that is the Linux kernel and the GNU tools to be at best silly and at worst dangerously off-putting to the casually interested person.) --ed.]