When I changed my computer in 2018, I installed Linux Mint because I didn't want Windows 10. I was concerned about privacy and it also seemed like Microsoft was more and more interested in telling me how to use my computer.

That being said, I chose "Paying for software is soooo noughties" because I feel like people behind free software are more interested in making good software and sharing it with everyone than they are interested in my wallet. To me, the main goal of proprietary software is to make billionaires even wealthier, which I think is detrimental to everybody.

In general, I believe money takes way to much of our headspace and we really should change that. So Linux better suits my beliefs. (Things are probably not that simple, but nothing really is.)

(Sorry if I'm being too political for a topic that was supposed to be lighthearted.
I'm not trying to start a debate, I swear! ^^'
Feel free to ignore or delete this comment as you see fit.)

Last edited by Sigbjorn on 7 January 2022 at 9:01 am UTC

I think this question leads into my expectations of items that I purchase.

For me, when I purchase something, it is a transfer of ownership from the seller to me. The item being sold is now mine, and it should only work to fulfil my needs. However, slowly and surely Big Tech corporations have been diverting that full ownership of tech products, so they can use it for their own purposes *and sod the customer and what the customer wants*.

Modern Smartphones are unceasingly spying on their purchasers. This is supposed to be a device which you completely own, and here it is sending off 24/7 telemetry to Big Tech, completely against your wishes. Who is paying for the internet bandwidth - You are, yet Big Tech is using something else of yours (your bandwidth) to send your personal telemetry back to them.

In the case of Windows, Microsoft bloated it up with undesirable software, adverts of their other products, installs of other developers' promoted software. They don't let you use your software the way you'd like - Forcing updates on you at inconvenient times, and so on.

I started off with Linux as a tech-loving tinkerer. But now I see it as one of the only ways to retain control of my purchased hardware to follow my own wishes and not the wishes of some manipulating Big Tech corp.

Last edited by g000h on 7 January 2022 at 4:10 pm UTC

Quoting: PublicNuisanceI started using Linux because Microsoft made Windows more and more unbearable for me.

I wouldn't have thought to phrase it that way, but it pretty much was my situation: Microsoft aggravated me into switching.

I had been using Windows 2000 since its release, and I liked it. Then, around 2006 or 2007, I needed a new laptop and bought a Thinkpad that came with Windows Vista pre-installed. I was more annoyed than anything - I hadn't liked the UI of Windows XP, and Vista was as bad or worse in all similar respects. The laptop had hardware that wasn't supported in 2000, so I couldn't just wipe and install.

So I tried an Ubuntu 6.06 boot disk. All the Thinkpad hardware was found and supported, and the desktop was clean and sanely designed, and I wasn't constantly grimacing at the operating system. I had dual-boot set up, but Ubuntu almost immediately became the default OS.

I've stayed with it ever since, across laptops and desktops. Windows 7 was a return to the good usability and design of Windows 2000, and I had that installed for work purposes, but it was never my default OS. I kept and shrunk the Windows 10 partition on my current laptop, but again that's more for the rare instance where I really do need a compatible setup. I boot into it about once per year to install system updates and patches. My desktop is on Ubuntu 21.10, and Windows 2000, 7, and 10 all live within VMs there now.

Quoting: GuppyHaving said that though the reason I game on Linux is because I've become too damn lazy to bother with dualbooting

The increasing options of native Linux games (I leapt at the original Humble Indie Bundle), Valve bringing Steam to Linux, the continuing development of WINE and now Proton, and the amazing work done on console emulation (Dolphin, in particular for me) all mean that I haven't played a game in Windows on my desktop or laptop in at least five years. It's great.

Joking aside.. I use Linux simply because it's the only operating system where I feel at home and that works in the same way I do.

I recently had to try to use a Windows 10 computer.. see that operating system doesn't work in the same way I do, as such it resulted in me holding the power button until it switched off after cursing at it.

With Linux, that never happens.

Oh, and then there's the updates that fix security problems and bugs, I love me some updates in the morning

privacy is missing
windows is spyware

Quoting: g000hIn the case of Windows, Microsoft bloated it up with undesirable software, adverts of their other products, installs of other developers' promoted software. They don't let you use your software the way you'd like - Forcing updates on you at inconvenient times, and so on.

The last time I saw Windows, it had phone app games preinstalled and all kinds of animated promotionals in their start panel. I know it's cliche to reference Idiocracy but modern day Windows really is beginning to resemble the entertainment terminals in that film.

Quoting: GustyGhost

Quoting: g000hIn the case of Windows, Microsoft bloated it up with undesirable software, adverts of their other products, installs of other developers' promoted software. They don't let you use your software the way you'd like - Forcing updates on you at inconvenient times, and so on.

The last time I saw Windows, it had phone app games preinstalled and all kinds of animated promotionals in their start panel. I know it's cliche to reference Idiocracy but modern day Windows really is beginning to resemble the entertainment terminals in that film.

The "Live Tiles" features of Windows 8 and 10 are immediately off-putting to me. They can be stripped out in Windows 10 without reskinning the entire shell, at least. I can't imagine anything less geared toward promoting productivity and concentration than obnoxious, extraneous animations and an updating news feed.

Here are my reasons:

• Linux just feels good to use.

• It is made by people who really care about what they are working on.

• The freedom the operating system gives you compared to Windows and Mac.

• <3 The amazing community of people contributing via code, documentation, forum support and so much more <3