I go over some of this in my “Choose Freedom” essay, but I thought I’d take a moment and write up my top reasons for using the operating system that I do. This is  inaugural post for the “Linux” category!

1) Freedom. Yeah I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times…freedom rules. Since Linux and most associated software is open source and free of charge, I can do what I want with it. Modify it, give it away, start a business, sell it, whatever.

2) Community. I love being part of something bigger than myself. Being part of the Linux community is more than a club of people that use the same the product…it is a group of individuals that combine to create something themselves and each other. I may be hippie for this, but I just love the idea of everybody pitching in to create something useful for the whole.

3) Security. No viruses. Frequent security updates. Easy-to-use encryption software. Out-of-the-box encrypted home folder on new Ubuntu installs. It doesn’t get much safer or more secure than Linux, folks.

4) Quality & breadth of software. Some of the best software in the world in birthed on Linux. Pro-quality audio? Got it. World-class office productivity? It’s there. Music notation and Photoshop-class image manipulation? Not quite there yet, but well on the way (with near replacements ready now). All free of charge, and with the opportunity to have your voice heard in the development process. Love it.

5) Ease of use. Yeah, Linux used to be power-users only…and I find nothing to be ashamed of there. But these days, it’s coming pre-installed by Dell, HP, and others, and is so easy for basic tasks that pretty much any one can use it. GNOME and KDE (the two main graphical interfaces) both provide great, consistent user interfaces that are easy to learn and use.

6) Constant innovation. New and creative ideas are constantly flowing from the Linux camp, from combining sticky notes with a personal wiki, to radical changes in the way we do computing, to unique ways of installing the operating system…it never stops.

7) Customizability. Almost anything can be customized on the Linux desktop…it works the way I actually want it to, not how customer panels and research groups think I’ll want it to.

8) Frequent release cycle. Improvements are happening all the time, and many Linux distributions release every six months. How long did you have to wait for a new Windows version, again?

9) It can be as light or as heavy as you like. Run it on 5 year old computer, or the latest in quad-core technology. It doesn’t matter…Linux can make pieces of junk valuable productivity machines, and make the latest hardware look awesome.

10) It runs most of the world’s super-computers. Need I say more?

Why do you use Linux?

Looking to get started with Linux? I recommend Ubuntu.