Who thinks Linux is better??

[LaZZe]

1. Free (as in speech) 

2. Customization (especially KDE) 

3. Performance

4. Reliability

5. Choice

6. Low/no chance of malware

7. POSIX compliancy

8. Revives old laptops. 

9. Live USB

10. Coding

[d_dymon]

My favorite is: it can be as simple or complicated to install and use as the user want.

- Want an e-mail and office PC? There is Ubuntu/ Mint

- Want to spend your whole weekend just to install and configure an OS? Go Arch

 

[Azelphur]

So, here's my two cents:

1) The command line:

 

Windows users think of the command line as an antiquated thing from the past, what they don't realize is that the command line is actually far more effective than a graphical environment. Here's an example: Installing Firefox.

 

On Windows:
- Open IE

- Search for Firefox
- Click the top Link

- Click Download now
- Click view downloads

- Click on the firefox setup exe
- Click yes on the UAC message

- Click Install

 

On Linux:
- Type `apt install firefox`

 

In Linux land, the command line is a versatile tool that can do pretty much anything you can do in a graphical environment. In Windows, it's a toy. For a video format I think it'd be funny to have a race where a Windows user tries to set up the basics (office package, browser, media player, etc) vs a Linux user just typing `apt install libreoffice firefox vlc`

 

2) Customization - A Linux distro is just a collection of applications, the desktop itself is an application, the panels / menus are all just an application. You want KDE but with no panels so you can have an OSX style dock? Sure. Don't like the file browser? Just uninstall it and swap it out for a different one. Good luck uninstalling explorer on Windows - On Linux, this is no problem. Themes are also very nice too.

 

3) Resource usage - Simple one, Linux being so customizable allows you to not have lots of background processes that eat resources. For example my Linux PC doesn't have network manager (the utility for connecting to WiFi / other networks) - why? because my PC is permanently connected via ethernet and doesn't even have WiFi. There is no point in wasting resources on this. Many more examples exist, but at the end of the day, having more free resources for what you actually want to do is never a bad thing.

 

4) Problem resolution - On Windows, you tend to get error code 66 and left to your own devices. In Linux land, things tend towards giving you real explanations as to what the problems are. This can often lead to you solving the problem yourself. On top of this, if you're handy with a bit of code, you can often fix problems or add features yourself.

 

5) Education - I've always found it ridiculous that we teach kids computing using operating systems where everything is a trade secret. You aren't legally allowed to delve into the code and make changes. In an ideal world the kid would be able to take the stuff they are using apart as much as they want. On top of this, Linux is typically free (as in beer) meaning that poorer families have access to all the same software that richer families would. A Windows and office license costs £75 and you'll need a reasonably modern laptop with >2GB of RAM to run them. Meanwhile Linux will run on any old clunker, and you can install stuff like Abiword or libreoffice if you have more RAM available. I hate that many schools don't at least accept files in open formats (odt for example). You can get a reasonably computer for education for like £40 (Raspberry pi 4) and that'll run everything you need for basic education - the hardware and the software for less than the cost of a windows 10 license without office.

 

6) Privacy & Security - Proprietary software is very difficult to find backdoors / spyware in. Open source is much more likely to have that found. Obviously, people don't audit every line looking for security vulnerabilities, but at least having the option do to so makes things more secure.

 

7) Out of the box hardware support - Linux wins, Windows has more hardware support once you include third party drivers, but, for just plugging stuff in and having it work straight away, Linux wins. Linux also loads drivers as required, so you can transplant a drive into a different machine and it'll boot, which is nice.

 

8) Interoperability - Linux tends to work with everything, it'll read Microsoft NTFS or exFAT partitions, APFS (OSX), it'll talk to Windows file sharing networks, whatever you want. You can't say the same for Windows. Linux tends to be capable of doing whatever you want it to do.

 

9) File layout - Linux does stuff very differently files wise. It's hard for a Windows user to wrap their head around. There is no C:\ - There is root (/) and drives are mounted anywhere on the tree. You pretty much always have a drive mounted at / for everything to sit on, and typically extra drives will be mounted at /media/DRIVENAME. Linux also does a pretty good job of storing everything to do with a user (config files for applications, user files, etc, at /home) this means you can get a small cheap SSD (32GB is plenty) and put it at /, and a large HDD for /home - and you get most of the performance benefits of a SSD (since your OS & apps are on an SSD) but all of the storage too (since everything you save will typically be in /home).

 

10) It's free (as in beer) which is also cool.

[SkyeP]

On 9/27/2019 at 9:22 AM, James said:

Hey guys! We're doing another "10 Reasons _____ is just Better" video - this time with Linux. Now's your chance to tell us what you love about Linux and/or why Linux is better than MacOS/ Windows.

 

Note: we're not interested in hearing from non-Linux users here
 

 

I like it because it gives me control.

 

With Windows I feel like I'm always fighting updates or arbitrary restrictions, Linux just trusts that I know what I'm doing a let's me do whateverver the hell I want.

Trusting the used to know what they're doing does mean that it's a little harder to use sometimes but that's a fair trade off.

[shanefagan]

I'm going to be a little out of the box on this one and suggest things maybe other people might not have.

 

1. Lutris - It as a tool for just launching games is incredible. I play SC2 on Linux at a fairly high level and basically set up my keyboard and mouse when launching the game, turn on Feral Gamemode, Lutris sets a load of things up for me to make the experience work well. On Windows I could similar stuff but it just takes a bit more effort. This is set up once and it works and the tool is the same regardless of the game being native, an emulator, WINE/Proton, on Steam, Battlenet...etc. They all just work nicely.

2. The variety of tools available to make your day easier. On Windows if you want to get something done, you first google it. On Linux you do the same but you don't have to find the software it's available in the repository first of all which is very secure but secondly there is no banging through installers hitting next over and over again. It just works. Usually there are a few different things to do the job and you just have to pick the one which works best for you. Don't like Lutris like I mentioned in the first comment, there is playonlinux or Gnome Games. Don't like a particular document editor there are 3 or 4 you can pick from. Variety and availability

3. How connected things are. They all are using similar tools underneath, if you are a developer, things like dbus and systemd are amazing because across multiple systems, desktop, cloud or server the tool is the same. If you want to send a remote call you use dbus, if you want to add something to startup or run a process systemd. If you use Gnome there is a tool to change almost anything about the desktop, that is how I change the keyboard repeat rate for SC2, there is no setting for that in the settings menu just an amazing tool that I can use that works really simply. On Windows and MacOS a lot of things can feel disjointed, like I changed this setting why didn't it work for XYZ program. On Linux usually for better or worse it works across the entire OS.

[Flo Grauper]

Two Words: Wobbly Windows
 

Joke aside: For me its about Choice. I run Manjaro with KDE Plasma. It idles at 2GB and every now and then I have to hunt down dependencies because the AUR script didn’t work. But thats a choice I made by using a relatively heavy DE, running lots of demons and using an Arch based distro. But for that i always get the newest stuff, a ton of gimicks and yes, I get Wobbly Windows. But I don’t have to do that. I could instead use debian LTS with xfce, have RAM usage in the megabytes, packages that will just work and a system thats as stable as a rock. 

 

I‘d also like to talk about security. Yes, Linux gets almost no viruses, but thats mostly because of its lower market share. The real point for me is the permission system. As long as i don‘t run something as root the damage it can do is limited.

 

Than there‘s the free software aspect. I like to have control over my stuff and with linux i don‘t have to worry about Apple or Microsoft trying to lock me into a walled garden.

[520]

Linux user for over 10 years here. Here are some of my favourites:

 

1. The repository/'App Store' system. Linux has had app stores since pretty much forever and the distro-making community have been understanding their userbase and tuning the repository systems to the needs of their userbase pretty well. The idea in most cases is that the app store should have everything you need that's available on Linux and should work straight after installation. And they succeed in that goal. The end result is that the executables you install have a lot more checks and balances than what you might get from the Windows environment. Now sure, Windows has an app store as well, but it is not nearly as feature-complete nor is it stocked with the apps you might need or want to use on a day-to-day basis. It has been brought down by Microsoft's desire to push people towards their way of doing things, and is still shaking off its reputation from the Metro/Modern days.

 

2.  The Linux Terminal is a lot more powerful than Windows Command Prompt and Powershell combined. You can control and do pretty much anything you might need from the Linux terminal, from installing software to photo-editing and ripping DVDs. This may not always sound practical at first until you consider that terminal commands can also be turned into scripts. That means if you are doing routine tasks, even complex ones, you can automate them. If your script requires a little more data-handling oomph, there is always Python, which is installed on many Linux OSes by default and similarly enjoys a ton more support than Powershell.

 

3. There is a lot more room to figure out and adjust things to what works for you. But you don't have to. For example, a more keyboard-oriented person can use an environment like the i3 window manager for maximum speed and efficiency (seriously, i3wm can make a Pentium III PC feel responsive) and nearly endless customisability, with the tradeoff being a lot of keyboard shortcuts to remember and a bit of understanding of i3wm is needed. For someone who wants a Windows-like experience, you can go for KDE and have the same level of customisability but with the usability of Windows. If you want a more Mac-like experience, you can always go for GNOME.

 

But for most people, they won't want to customise things to the nth degree. They just want something that works. And that's fine too, as well as covered by distributions such as Ubuntu that provide an interface that is suitably usable, suitably flashy and guides users through the how-to-use parts.

 

With Windows, you have the Windows shell and that's it. And God forbid you try to do anything that MS doesn't want you to do. The headaches people go through to turn of telemetry...

[Flygenring]

I really like non-stacking window managers and the alternative workflows they enable, i3wm is amazing. For example my desktop looks like this: 

[lestofante]

just as background:

linux is my main os for more than a decade, I used to switch to windows only to play some specific games; but since steam come out with proton, I did boot in windows once.. by mistake.

 

 - NO TERMINAL REQUIRED, but is so great if you get to know him

The point is that in linux the terminal is powerful, fast and easy to use;

but unless you are trying to do some special thing, you don't need that.
Even proprietary driver are shipped withing the distro repository, and probably will auto-install them for you.

 

Unfortunately the tendency of giving terminal command to do stuff + the different way to install software on linux (use only your distro package manger, kids!) make a horrible user experience for a newbie.

But it does not have to be that way, all can be already done in GUI.

 

 - different flavor,  choose what you want

Yes, if you use a distro like Ubuntu you wont get the most updated driver out there, but you will have a stable system;

if you want bleeding edge out of the box while still have a good stable system run Fedora,

Manjaro if you want the super bleeding edge without the personalization,

if you want to be super bleeding edge and build your system from scratch Arch,

if you have a lot of free time and what to optimize that last 1%, Gentoo is waiting for you,

if what you really want is see how stuff works under the carpet, Linux From Scratch it is.

 

- No commitment

just want to try what is the best for you? linux distro are not jealous, just install them on a USB stick (preferably a USB3 so you still enjoy a snappy desktop) and have fun. With etcher is all graphical and easy to do.

When I heard of a new interesting distro I like to take a look at them and see how they feels! Plus i always carry a live USB in my laptop bag, it has saved so many photo/document from unbootable (mainly windows) pc of friends and family..

 

- real app market:

PRO:

app market in linux are called repository and have DECADES of development on their back, that is why those should be the ONLY way someone should install stuff on their machine. Realistically you can live without terminal.

 

CONST:

the lack of centralized "user repository" where user can simply upload and share with the world is a bit a pain, if you used ubuntu/debian you know the pain to add PPA and you are using Fedora the pain of adding the "non-free" repository by hand (they changed this, but). Suse went for we interface, but still last time i used it was asking 1000000 times "are you sure sure sure you want to install? did you ask you mom? and your dad agree?".

So far the best I ever used is Arch, their AUR repository is just amazing, in more than 10 year of daily usage it failed me like 10 times, and given its simplicity to add new stuff, I did it. Unfortunately Arch is not something I could suggest to use unless you are skilled and have time to dedicate.

 

- plug and play:

PRO:

IF supported, you connect and it works right away, no time to wait to install(?!) a USB drive/mice. Producer website and installer with crapware are long forgotten, and you know is going to stay.

 

CONST:

IF not supported OOTB, you are fucked. you are better off trowing it away and buy a new one, doublechekeing the compatibility list.

 

- KDE

Most linux review focus on ubuntu/gnome, but in my opinion KDE, especially if coming from windows, is much better experience. Better HiDPI support, the app market Discover is the same between distro and is great, it support even firmware upgrade! and KdeConnect companion app for android is the cherry on top of the cake.

 

- runs great on slow older hardware

there is a reason if embedded board like raspberry PI and similar uses linux, and you tried to use win10 on a raspberry PI 3 the difference is crazy

 

- no slow update/aggressive crapware

every time I have to use a windows machine i am amazed by how many stuff break your attention, random serisus slowdown, and in general I used to reinstall a "clean" windows over the default one (aka, i had to hunt for driver in exchange of getting rid of crapware from the producer) and 1-year-format policy (is incredible to see how your system perform better!).

Why in the hell windows need to run POST and REBOOT update process? why some major update require MULTIPLE reboot?

 

As comparison, my linux PC (main pc at home) has been installed since 2013-10-12, and my laptop since 2015 (Arch Linux + KDE on both, as rolling release you dont need major update but they require a more maintenance than a normal distro, something i got problem with on ubuntu in the early 2000)

 

 - games runs fine, and improving fast

ok, that is a bit of a clickbait. Some games wont run, proton does its best, and in last years I have seen a great improvement to the point i finally ditch windows..

And to me, loosing 5-10fps in exchange of not having to change OS, and running opensource driver (amd/intel, nvida... well being nvidia), is well worth.

Reality is, gaing on linux is becoming a reality, and i really think with the next generations of games will be run better and better, so hopefully more people will do the switch, and became day after day a more viable market.

Simply put the cost of a windows license into GPU upgrade and you are set (here in EU you can, by law, at the moment of purchasing require the pc/laptop without windows and get the license refunded)

[Skeletron 331]

Open source

Secure

Customisable

Easy to install drivers

Easy and quick to install software

Runs on old hardware

Powers the international space station

Powers most of the world's electronics

User friendly

Good/nice to look at gui

Can do with it what you want

Free

 

 

[Sauron]

Oh boy, here I go!

 

• Package management and repositories - imagine not having to manually search for programs on the web and download a new installer every time you need to update them... (the windows store is limited to UWP apps so I don't count it)
• The UI can be literally whatever I want it to be. Remapping keyboard shortcuts, tweaking the look and feel, the colors, everything can be made to suit exactly my needs. This can't be done nearly to the same extent on either Windows or MacOS.
• There's plenty of choice to suit everyone
• The shell and scripting are much more usable and powerful than on Windows and MacOS has only recently updated their ancient version of bash to a zsh release.
• Systemd (yes, I said it)
• IT HAS A SANE COMPILATION CHAIN THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE THE ENTIRETY OF VISUAL STUDIO TO BUILD LITERALLY ANYTHING
• It can be made to be more lightweight than any alternative
• It's foss, which aside from being more moral also means there are thousands of people looking at the code and spotting potential problems without monetary incentives to cover it up
• Hey, it's (usually) free
• It can be incredibly stable (if used correctly)
• I can fix it if it breaks
• Support for new CPUs often comes to Linux first
• You can run it on a variety of architectures and devices that Windows (let alone macOS) does not support
• KVM is powerful and free
• Updates can be installed while you do something else and they only need a normal restart to fully apply (unlike windows where it needs to restart, install updates, boot loop a few times, install more updates and then finally lets you log in again).
• Aside from the comparative rarity of malware, installing packages from repositories makes it exponentially more unlikely that you'll ever need to worry about them.

On 9/29/2019 at 3:21 AM, Patrick C. said:

The variety of distros out there is not immediately harmful to end users, but the wide range of distros does pose a problem for third-party developers who are considering developing for Linux, especially developers of proprietary software. F/OSS developers can generally get away with just releasing source, and if their application is good and their source code is portable and easy to build, their software will find its way into the distros as distro maintainers pick it up. But proprietary software developers have to choose a distro or a limited range of distros to develop for and test on, which makes Linux harder to support and a less attractive platform because it further divides the already relatively small userbase.

I don't really need much of any proprietary software in my life, but videogames, for example, are nice to have. Steam partially solves this problem with its own runtime, but even then you get a lot of ‘Are you running Ubuntu?’ any time you try to report a bug with Steam or one of the Linux games on it. The solution, though, isn't to somehow get rid of a bunch of distros, but to move forward with desktop container technology like Snappy, Flatpak, and PipeWire, until we have a reliable cross-distro target for development.

(And I didn't mention any, but there are lots of good things about having many different distros each pushing their own vision for the desktop (or server, or whatever. I just wanted to articulate some of the more negative consequences since you were wondering about them.)

Most of these problems can be avoided with static compilation - containers are better but more complex to set up and not strictly necessary. We're kind of there already, while the variety of the ecosystem may be a bit of an annoyance it doesn't really stop you from doing anything. Just make a dynamic binary for the main distro you support and a static one for everyone else. The real reason game developers don't develop for Linux is just money - they don't think the market is large enough to justify the development cost. Ironically, indie developers are the ones releasing on Linux most often despite the lower budgets.

[urexyvca]

+ The package manager is amazing. It updates everything (system and software) with one click/command. No background services such as many software install on Windows just to check for updates and hog resources. And it's substantially faster then Windows Update, like 1 minute vs 5-10 minutes to install system updates. Also you can install lots of software with just one command and save potentially hours that would take you to go on many different websites, downloading and running binaries.
+ No registry like we have on Windows. Wanna tweak/fix something? Look for a folder named after the program in ~/.config or ~/.local/share or /etc/ folder. Good luck finding anything in Windows Registry on your own.
+ No need to install drivers for 99% of things. Everything is built in the kernel. (except for NVIDIA proprietary driver)
+ It's portable. You can take the SSD out of one machine and put in another and it will boot and work fine. (unless you have NVIDIA proprietary driver installed, that might cause problems)
+ Don't like the way something works? Fork it, change it, build it, install it. Good luck getting Microsoft to listen what you are even saying.
+ Using KDE desktop is the best experience I've ever had on a computer. I can tweak so many things without having to use the command line.
+ Arch user repository is amazing. Install literally anything with one command.
+ Customization. You have so many distros to choose from, and even then, distros are just a starting point, you can customize literally anything. Don't like the file manager? use a different one.

[Corben78]

My thoughts on why Linux is better than Windows are:

• You still have the feeling you own your computer. Windows does things in the background you have no control over (updates, telemetry, settings).
• Faster response times with fixes. Microsoft releases updates only on patch days (there are exceptions), but I experienced fixes in the Linux kernel the next day (Ubuntu)
• You can "take part". Not only as most software on Linux is open source, but when you submit bug reports you have the feeling you could improve something.
• Better support. Lots of Linux users are devs, admins or very tech-savvy people. So you have high chances to get answers specifically to your problems from the community.
• Higher chances of fixing issues on your own. Linux gives its users lots of tools at hand to inspect and fix issues on their own.
• Communities. For Distributions, for gaming, etc. There is no Windows community.
• Friendly people (mostly). But most Windows users are frustrated and thus not as happy as Linux users.
• Linux has a coolness factor, as not everybody is using it, and there are still myths around that let people think you have to be a crack to use it
• Mindset of Users using Linux is more open. They are more patient than others.
• Linux Users give in general better bug reports, as they want to help to improve something and give detailed informations and the devs mostly don't have to ask over and over again.. On Windows users mostly just report there is something not working.
• You can easily choose flavours. Windows has (more or less) one fixed UI, you may be able to change some colours and the background, but not basic menu functionality.
• If something doesn't work you can easily revert the version. E.g. boot a previous kernel or downgrade a single software package. On Windows that process takes way more effort.

There are more reasons (for me) why Linux is better than Windows, but this is a start.

[sageofredondo]

* Privacy - I really don't believe Apple's promises on privacy. Also Apple just completely sold out HongKong to China. How long until they start requesting our info?

* Built in full disk encryption - choose luks at install, one of the most secure encryptions on the planet.

* No forced updates

* No built in ads (with the exception of Ubuntu 16.04)

* Package repos - with a simple gui tool I can download almost any piece of software I would need. From OBS, to game emulators, to any scripting language.

* No 3rd party adware.

* Almost no 3rd party bloatware. - No security vulnerable RGB controllers. No Geforce Experience demanding your email.

* No need for antivirus (there are antivirus scanners for Linux, and there are antivirus mail scanners that run on Linux to protect Windows users)

* Open Source drivers. (Almost) all drivers are included in the kernel or mesa. They often have better support for standards than closed source drivers (like Displayport works very on Linux-which James commented on DP being poor on Windows in a video). Valve loved the drivers being open as they could just look at the code to discover what the drivers were doing.

* Freedom: I know you guys are not programmers, but if you depend on a tool and the dev decides not to fix a problem you are having, if it is open source, you can pay a programmer to fix it for you, just run the fix locally or send it to project's manager to fix. You can't do that with closed source software-you don't have the rights. Choosing software where you do have the rights, can save you many problems down the road.

[Pyroven]

Control.

[kafeaulait]

The big thing that drew me into Linux was actually /r/unixporn.

Being able to customize my workspace to look and behave exactly how I want it to brings a rather warm and fuzzy feeling. That and tiling window managers are the bomb.

[Brennan Price]

I feel that the major benefits have been mentioned already, however, I still want to say that one of the biggest benefits to using Linux is the fact that you can use it to recover and troubleshoot issues with your PC. I don't think this has yet been mentioned. 

 

It just makes sense as it is almost the only OS that can be installed onto a flash drive of almost any size depending on the variant of Linux Used. 

 

I must also add that one of the most powerful tools for storage is GPart(ed) and it is available on Linux. It helps that this is pre-loaded onto a lot of Linux distros too so booting straight into a USB drive to fix your boot partitions etc is very easy. 

[r-k-soma-ya-ji]

Linux for me is better because:

 

1. As secure as you want and anything can be because its transparent, in how it works, in how things are run, and what resources are being used and by whom is it being used.
2. Updates are a breeze, not forced, happens in background, no need for forced reboots if you don't want. Can be pushed indefinitely, though not advisable, can be done never.
3. Except for a few mission critical software maybe only the kernel, everything can be uninstalled, or replaced.
4. No fear of being a part of big brother, being spied on by anyone government or otherwise.

Linux is better for gaming because:

 

1. Except for kernel and a few other applications, everything else can be stopped without crashing system. So very low resource hogging, so games can be run better, even on older hardwares
2. Cross platform development is better for overall performance on any platform.

[Kalani]

I am disabled, and one of the biggest issues that I deal with when using my computer is hand tremors. 
 

I can customize my input devices so they work for me. I can change multitouch gestures on my trackpad so movement is averaged from two fingers instead of one. I can also move my index and middle finger apart to adjust sensitivity, so if my fingers are close together, my mouse cursor moves faster, but further apart, it moves slower. 
 

That was something I could do myself via a config file!

 

Aside from that, there is some pretty cool stuff like being able to have replacement window managers and customize them to better suit me instead of needing to adapt to how someone else wants me to work. I can use every function including multi step UI interactions via Albert and map it to tapping my whole hand on my touchpad and using speech to text or when pressing ctrl, super, alt, space to keep the mic off and just let me type. 
 

In gaming, there are tools like Lutris that manage everything so installing something like Star Wars Racer from Gog requires no tweaking which isn’t the case under Windows, and exposes various options like enabling wide screen as a single on off slider. It manages emulators, Windows games, Linux ones, everything, making it super easy. 
 

And best of all is the option of file systems. I know this one sounds super boring, but ZFS lets you take whole system snapshots instantly, see as files change, when, and if needed roll back to every single save point. It lets you apply updates while you are using your computer, and if something goes wrong reboot your whole system back to how it was when it last worked. This is really cool for testing something new like a new distribution update, window manager, or whatever and have a safety net to guarantee if you need your computer to work within 30 seconds no matter what you were doing and how severe the tweaks you were doing, you’re back to good and can go back to tweaking and save your place. This is because you can even have forked, shared, and merged sub volumes. 

[ComBlockWither]

You can break stuff AND fix it yourself.

[vahtos]

Just wanted to add that if you're going to suggest anyone tries Linux, please (please please please) direct them here: https://distrotest.net/ and maybe explain a bit about how to NOT wipe your hard drive.

 

We don't need a bunch of people formatting their hard drives "to try Linux" and it not working out for them for whatever reason and now they're mad at Linux because they have to reinstall windows because they did things wrong.

[FaithLV]

• The CPU/ram consumption when idle and under load is noticeably lower
• The customization opportunities - I can make my experience how I want or what's more productive for me. For example, I don't like the traditional desktop experience and instead I use a tiling window manager, unlike windows, where I'm just stuck with whatever Microsoft big brain thinks is better. (like game mods but for the operating system )
• Any updates, except for kernel (and a very little number of programs) don't need my machine to restart for upgrades to be applied. It's usually more transparent and I can see what exactly gets upgraded. Also, I can upgrade at whatever time is more convenient for me.
• GNU/Linux is just more secure than windows by design, programs don't write to random places on the hard drive, because they don't have the permissions to do so.
• I don't have to go to sketchy sites to find software, instead we have package managers and curated official repositories where most of the software is available. Even when I do have to download something, most of that software is installed with a package manager allowing me to better manage my system. (Haven't reinstalled my machine for more than 1.5 years at this point and have no intention do it soon)
• When something breaks - it shows an error of what's wrong and usually leaves a log file. This makes it easier to fix things when they do break (hey, no software is perfect), give this information to developers to fix their software or just find that something has broken in the first place. On this topic, you can almost always recover your system without a full reinstall.
• Backwards compatibility. Older things usually work without a hassle. (We can run old windows games that don't even run on never Windows versions )
• It's open source. I just love the fact that AMD (intel/nvidia etc.) has full source code of the operating system when they write video drivers.
• Things usually just work. Printers, bluetooth dongles, game controllers don't need specialized drivers because they are already in the kernel. (This can be hit or miss thought)

[Wicho]

1. Open source / Visibility: You can see how linux works and check if there is security issues by yourself (technical knowledge required)
2. Diversity: Lots of different variants
3. Customization: You can (with some technical knowledge) make it behave the way you want
4. Docker: Native integration, DOCKER!
5. Community: It used to be a little acid, now you can find help every where
6. Educational: You'll learn how a OS works
7. Social equalizer: For me this is the most important. Mac (windows but not so much) is elitist you need expensive hardware/software to learn how to do stuff. Linux enables everyone to learn technical stuff without having to spend a lot of money to do so. It can help developing countries to leverage and export software/services without having to spend a crazy amount of money on hardware/licenses
8. Decentralized: You can create a fork of linux whenever you want. Community regulated
9. Multi HW support: it runs everywhere

[Deminarcis]

There's a few things that make me stay on Linux.

1- Freedom. There's no UELA telling me how I can use this software. nothing saying I can only have 2 people use my server. Nothing saying I cant show my friends and give them my install USB. Nothing saying I cant image my own system, make it install-able and start handing it out to my family. and I pay how much I think it's worth as often as I deem it necessary. And I can change my hardware as often as I please without voiding a license

2- A step towards making an open core system okay: I strongly believe your core components should be open source, this promotes trust from your customer's because they know exactly what they are getting and the system typically has nothing to hide in this scenario. Sure, go ahead and put proprietary tools on top if you like, but the core has gotta be open for all.

3- An organized system: In Windows, stuff is in any manner of places, and sure there is structure but not like this. executables in /bin restricted/administration tools in /sbin system-wide configuration in /etc readable logs and databases in /var

4- A cliche for sure but the customization: Windows and Mac I can pick a color, a wallpaper and maybe some sounds. But I'm stuck for choice elsewhere unless I wanna just open another App. With Linux, and famously with Plasma I can change almost anything. Want rounded windows? there's a script for Kwin, wanna use VScode as a file explorer (dont, I think it's a bug this is possible) you can do it! Wanna rip out your init system for something else? go for it. Due to Linux's modular nature, you can literally build your own frankenstein that works how you want. you can even build it from source exclusively if you want. I've never met this kind of flexibility elsewhere. I recently made a move from Ubuntu to Manjaro and Arch (I needed blackarch and a couple of other things for a contract job) migration was as simple as nuking my root drive, setting mount points and re-installing apps that didn't work.

5- A sense of security: Not in the context of you cant get hacked or pelted with malware because you sure can! But a sense that even with the fast pace of something like a rolling release, things aren't changing too much without you knowing somehow. If you built it from the ground up like Arch or Debian, or if you use something fully catered like Mint and to a lesser extent Ubuntu or Fedora. You can be confident that it's doing what you told it to do. The way system updates are handled by component as opposed to arbitrary title and Knowledge base reference means you know and have logged exactly what has changed and how

[ColaEuphoria]

I just created an account to answer this. I don't talk about freedom or philosophy, only practicality.

• I got a laserjet printer for $5 because they never updated the drivers past Vista. It was plug and play in Linux and let me frantically print my homework one morning.
• I'm a low maintenance computer user and it just works. I don't customize much. I have a default wallpaper and don't like things changing under my feet, either from system updates or tons of individual software updates. Everything on Linux updates when I tell it to, and most updates do not require a reboot, and when they do, it doesn't lock me out of my system and force me to wait while it installs before it boots.
• Development doesn't require gigabytes upon gigabytes of Visual Studio, nor a license to use it. Linux also has standard paths for putting development libraries.