Recently, I've had several opportunities to be asked why I use Linux (and would rather not use MS Windows), and each time I gave two or three aspects of the reason - which, on their own, don't nearly give the whole story...
Why, then, Linux and Open Source rather than MS?
- Linux is licensed with respect. The license treats me like an esteemed colleague, not like a thief. It doesn't claim ridiculous, probably illegal "rights" for the vendor (basically, the right to control my computer without my further consent).
- Higher quality and reliability; mature open-source software tends to have fewer bugs per KSLOC.
- Thanks to the quality, there are no viruses.
- There is less friction obtaining software. If I'm momentarily curious about a software package, I can just go and try it out, thus keeping up my general skills. I don't have to spend half a day going down to the shop, nor expect it to run into weeks if they happen to be out of stock.
- It comes with the open-source guarantee of permanence; this is more important in professional contexts, where it is the equivalent of multi-sourcing other components. (See also Alan Cox's article on this topic.)
- It's more expert-friendly. The user-friendliness is not tuned so single-mindedly to absolute beginners that it gets in the way of experienced users.
Last updated 12.5.2004
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