What Made You Switch To Linux?

[iGuest 3]

Well, I use both but I like linux more, I use Ubuntu.Once we had one pc where dad had installed linux on and I thougt to try it. Read some tutorials, done some installations I saw that I can do everything with linux, what I didn't think before, then I started to like it.

[nighthawk1405241531 0]

I will switch to linux when XP becomes outdated, I hate Vista.Linux is very good OS, but it always makes a lot of trouble when using with dial up modem.

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

well, technically Windows XP is outdated already. It's end of it's designed life.xboxrulz

[wutske 0]

well, technically Windows XP is outdated already. It's end of it's designed life.
xboxrulz

It might be at it's end, but that doesn't mean it's dead already. There'll still be loads of new apps for Vista & XP, drivers will stillbe developed for XP and XP updates are still available. I even heard M$ is making SP3 for XP, so it's still has a long way ahead even without all the fancy crap that's loaded in Vista (too much crap to be precise).

[xboxrulz1405241485 0]

I think they're making SP3 just in case Vista doesn't fly in 2007.xboxrulz

[webintern 0]

It has been roughly five years or so since Microsoft updated their Windows franchise. They used to be so prompt with the updates, upgrading the software like each version was only a small improvement over the previous ones. I remember when we still had Windows 95. I was told by a Microsoft insider that they were developing another version of Windows. When I casually mentioned this to a friend, he was adamant in disbelief that it was too soon. But who knew? 98 came out. 98 SE came out. ME came out. And so started the slew of Microsoft Windows products.I suppose this can be related to the different service packs we have been receiving, although they are not marketed under different names and they come at no cost. In any case, I am eager to see how the Vista will work for me. Of course, this would mean that I would need to invest in a new and upgraded computer (mine is 5 years old ... ancient by modern standards).

[ignite 0]

I first tried Linux a few years ago, not because I was completely against Windows or anything like that, but just because I had some free time on my hands. I started off with Mandrake 9.0 which was very user friendly and Windows-like. After reading through a bunch of message boards and learning which distros are good for what, I soon realized my current distro was great for Linux noobs. So then I decided to try something a little more advanced like Slackware which I knew had a steep learning curve.
Since then I've been using Slackware as my main OS and couldn't be happier. Of course somethings are a pain in the *bottom* to configure, but that;s Slack for you. If it ain't hard, then you won't learn anything from it.

That's my story, I basically started to learn Linux because I was bored.

My first try was in 1998, it was Red Het 5.1. Long time i use dual boot, but already about 4 years i did full switch to linux.
What made it? I think linux is a future. I prefer to be ready for future.

[yordan 10]

My first try was in 1998, it was Red Het 5.1. Long time i use dual boot, but already about 4 years i did full switch to linux.What made it? I think linux is a future. I prefer to be ready for future.

I thought Linux was future.
Until I saw this strange sentence during my last test : "Your wifi adapter needs a proprietary driver. this driver is part of the paid Linux distro".
So, the trick is really stupid : I learn how to use Linux, I like it because it's free, and then the drivers I need are part of a version that is no more free.
And of course, the source drivers can be compiled but they need the kernel sources rpms which also are not part of the free version...
So, I really feel that I will go back to Windows if it's cheaper that the paid version of Linux.

[c0kr3x 0]

My first experience with linux about 5-6 years ago, when I was in a book store. I saw book titled "Red Hat" the version may be 6.2. Then I bought the book and i got free Red Hat CD. When I want to install it, I'm very very confuse with "/", "root", "swap" and other stuff while on partition part(Text Mode Installation). I'm affraid that Red Hat could format my Windows partition. So I didn't install it. Then few years later I saw a book titled "Be Linuxer With Mandrake 8.0". I doubt to bought it because from my first experience. But I really want to try Linux. So I bought it and the Instalation was so easy, that time I remember my first experience using linux. And the GUI is more beauty then my Windows 2000. After that I try Red Hat 9.0, Fedora Core 5 and my last distro was Ubuntu.I'm really comfortable with Ubuntu, easy install, clean looks (GNOME), and have very nice hardware detection. In my Acer laptop I never need additional driver for my hardware like, modem, Wi-Fi adapter, Bluetooth and many more. I'm Using ubuntu since 5.04. Now i'm using 6.06 and i've plan to download 6.10 since the free shipping disk only for 6.06.I haven't plan to make linux my only one OS installed on my desktop and laptop. This is because in my college the project always use Microsoft Visual Studio. So Dual OS is my option!.So my experience using linux:Red Hat 6.0>Mandrake 8.0>Red Hat 9.0>Fedora Core 5>Ubuntu

Edited November 19, 2006 by masterio (see edit history)

[trinifawk 0]

I started using Red Hat Linux in 2004 when my brother installed it on my computer. I couldn't understand anything and I did not know much about computers. I eventually just ended up using Windows XP all the time and not even going into the Linux partition on my hard drive. In 2006 (summer), someone told me that Xandros was awesome, and I decided to give it a go on my laptop. I didn't back up anything, and due to a problem during installation, my hard drive could not be read... I still don't know exactly what happened there. In early 2007, I decided again to give Linux a go and use Ubuntu. The GUI is awesome for a totally free OS, and I use it when I want a change from Windows XP or if I want to try to impress my friends... So I guess I can say that curiosity made me switch to Linux.

[Jewbacca 0]

I chose to install Ubuntu 7.04 a couple of weeks ago because:- I couldn't run Office and another program without Windows crashing and the computer rebooting for some reason. This was particularly annoying when I wanted to copy and paste something from Firefox but simply couldn't. On Feisty, I can use any number of programs with OpenOffice at the same time without problems, even though I'm only running 512MB of RAM.- Microsoft keeps adding validation to everything, as well as keeping a validation process running in the background which calls back every so often just to make sure your copy of Windows hasn't suddenly become illegal. At first I didn't mind but now it has gotten over the top and I don't want to support it any more.- Security threats. Although I managed to keep Windows safe by using the firewall in my router and keeping up to date, I didn't want the risk to be there when I just want to browse the net. With Ubuntu updates for all your software come automatically if you install them using Synaptic which is a real time saver and the kernel is simply more secure and, if a security flaw is found, the community works together to fix it asap.- And finally, I've used Windows since I was 5 years old and I simply got bored of it.

Edited June 22, 2007 by Jewbacca (see edit history)

[briealeida 0]

I started using Linux sooo many years ago. It's always been a part of my life, thanks to my dad! I recently deleted my very last Windows partition because the only thing keeping me there was my iPod and my (admittedly ridiculous) love affair with iTunes.I'm now using Amarok. And I've fallen in love with it! I keep falling in love with software!

[Alegis 0]

Not sure if this reply counts, but started using Linux now and then for disk maintenance if Windows would have a bad day. It's great to have a live disk ready to solve troubles quick.

[PhilosophiX 0]

I started using Linux at the beginning of this year. I tried many different distros and eventually settled for Suse Linux. I have to say that Linux is much better than windows. I'd been using windows for years, but what finally made me switch was Vista. I read the technical specification for vista and realized that with all the DRM they were putting in it, they were turning windows from an Operating System into an Orwellian System. As a writer, my writing is very important to me, and I don't like the idea of Microsoft having control of my files - but that's exactly what you get if you use Vista. They can change their agreement at any time, and once you're locked into their proprietary formats then it's game over. I found it rather disturbing to learn that if they decided to lock out your copy of Microsoft Office (perhaps they think your copy has been pirated), it wouldn't just stop working, but all the files that had ever been created would stop working as well - so you couldn't just nip across to another system and use your files, they wouldn't work. Even worse they would be able to delete any file on your computer they wanted. Then there's the Trusted Computing Group they set up, with the purpose of putting chips into computers so that only trusted software will work. Well, I'll be damned if I let Microsoft decide what can run on my computer. Then there's part of the specification where every driver has to be designed separately and the solution kept secret - which reverses the current situation where many drivers are open, and often the devices will happily interface with generic drivers - that's just going to push prices up and it will be us (the consumer) that's got to pay for all the extra development. Then there's the overhead all the DRM and encryption Vista uses when it runs, the processing overhead for which I'm sure I won't be paying for. Not to mention the paranoid defenses that come with vista, that would shut down the system at the slightest sniff of an attack upon so called "Premium Content". Won't be long either until Microsoft are trying to claim the internet for themselves. So Microsoft can swivel. Suse Linux is brilliant. I keep XP on a small partition and dual boot just in case I need it, but I hardly ever use it anymore. I think a lot of people shy away from Linux because the myth that it's hard to use still persists, but I found adapting to Linux rather easy.

[unimatrix 0]

Originally it was to develop websites in PERL for deployment on Unix based servers. Eventually though I moved to FreeBSD because of the ports system and then to OSX as the complete package including all the commerical applications like Dreamweaver, Photoshop, and Office on one platform with all the Unix goodness underneath. Great combo.