Why Linux?

I was reading an article on slashdot today about why people switch to Linux. Included in the article was a question for /.ers on why they switched. Reading through people's various stories, I began to reminisce about my roots in linux usage.

My first experience with linux was in early high school when I bought a network card that came with some version of Redhat. I never really installed nor used it, but I distinctly remember how boggled I was that I was given a copy of (what I considered) a professional Operating System. I didn't really have any real concept of what it was. I thought it was like being handed a version of Windows NT. I didn't actually use linux until 2001 when my friend Carl gave me a copy of Slackware 8.0. I still remember using it; KDE 2, Kernel 2.4.5... oh it was something else. I had to be walked through so much just to get X up and running. Unfortunately, I had gotten bored with it once I finished playing with all the installed applications... and promptly returned to Windows, where all my games had been installed.

My next chance to explore the OS came in 2002, when I began college. I had gotten a much better grasp of various network services, and began to realize practical applications of things like FTP daemons and the like. My roommate and I were always trying to quench the boredom of in-between classes, so we had done some silly things; i.e. building a computer (sans case) into my sock-drawer, selling expired bread on Ebay, etc. With the sock-drawer computer I had installed Slack 8.1 and was messing around with various things, but was still heavily dedicated to my main computer, which ran windows. As winter approached, I was running out of things to keep my attention in Windows, so I investigated more linuxy options, settling on giving Redhat 8 a shot. Starting off with a distro that did stuff for me, then working my way backwards into the insides of the system proved to be that educational boost I needed to beat the learning curve and start doing trying unique things. Unhappy with the automation of RH8, I went back to Slack and there I've stayed for the most part. I've messed around with various other systems, such as FreeBSD, Debian, RH9, but I always come back to slack.

All in all, I've come to the conclusion that the reason I use GNU/Linux is because it allows me to do more tinkering than I can with Windows. And this point was presented to me by a poster on slashdot, the reason folks switch isn't because they hate Bill Gates, or because they're simply looking for cheap software, but because they can do things in Linux that they can't in windows. I find myself agreeing with this poster wholeheartedly. If the people who are trying to gain a market share don't focus on making something different, Linux will never become popular. Critics talk about Linux being poised to finally take the consumer computing world by storm, but if it's only a windows clone, it won't ever be anything but a distant second. Why do I use linux? I can be creative and do many different things at a different level than you can in windows. Why would Aunt Mae use linux? She wouldn't, and won't until Linux does something else.

Of course, there's the option of simply getting linux more visibility to bolster use... anyone want an "LPod?"