I voted "its a superior operating system" which really means all of the above!
Linux pwns windows any day.
Its free(ok so u need CD(s)/DVD and a internet conection)
No spyware, viruses, ect.
Its open source(im not good enough to change stuff yet but ill get there)
Its free!
Its 1337(leet)
Windows sucks (as if we didnt already know)
I control it, it does what I want it to do (mostly, cept when I dont know what to do)
Freedom of choice
Lots of free applications to do everything that windows does for free! (you can even run windows programs via WINE!
Its free!
Geek OS
Normal people can use it easly too, all that shit about Linux being harder to use is false(ok so I dont like the file system)
Its free!
Did I miss anything?

I am a student doing IT at college we do mostly windoze administration but touched linux lightly. I First started using Linux cuz of curiosity but quickly came to realize how much more performance you can get out of a computer when it doesnt crash every 30-mins (Slight exagaration), and also if my linux box ever did crash I have so much more chance of finding and fixing the problem instead of pressing the reset button and living with it. TWO THUMBS UP FOR OPEN SOURCE

Of everyone I've converted, nobody has returned to windoze, and everybody has asked why they waited so long to go with Linux.

All of the above.

It's just a much more superior operating system. :)

I would have like "ALL of the above" option. Since that was not an option, I chose 'Superior Operating System' with reference to Winblows in mind.

IT'S SWEET, AND BY SWEET I MEAN TOTALLY AWESOME!!

None of the options really fit my case either. I started using
Linux because I was weary of all the changes made whenever I installed
software on my system. Without warning, my default browser would be
switched to IE and I was not asked. The name "personal computer"
was becoming an oxymoron--more like on loan from MS. Then there
was the early talk from MS about wanting to become a
"computing" utility like the power company. We would have to
pay a monthly fee to keep our OS working-what a draconian idea
from the consumer point of view but what a great cash-flow device
for a monopoly! There was also the threat of being held hostage
with data formats as efforts were being made to outlaw reverse
engineering of them.

I wanted freedom of action and greater control over the computer that
I purchased. It's not that long ago that I was tied to main frames
(using computers since 1963) and now that a large degree of freedom
was available, I was loath to return to centeralized control from
a non-benevolant monopoly.

Marcel was certainly right, I could easily have answered "all of the above" for this poll, and I would have been 100% spot on as well.

I guess my primary motivation, which stems largely from supporting Wintendo machines, has been the plethora of viruses (virii ??) that I have had to clean off clients' machines (and repeatedly so, some people never learn !!) - I just got so fed up with wasting my time !!

But when I think seriously about it (and those of you who know me will reaslise just how funny that is !) the primary motivator is CONTROL !!

With Windows, you have little control over what happens "internally", and even sometimes little control over your own desktop. With Linux you have TOTAL CONTROL - if you don't like the way something works, get the source and change it !

Yes, it's a big learning curve at that level, but it sure is a lot of fun, and you meet the wierdest people ("wierd" in the nicest possible way, of course !!)

jon

I run free source software in general because I keep control of my system. Framemaker is a classic example. I have used it before, it is wonderful, but it is closed source. They came out with a beta binary for Linux, I tried it, and it was still wonderful, but I did not keep any documents in its closed format, just generally leery of such things. Lo and behold, they announced a bit later that there would be no production version for Linux, and the beta would expire.

That is why I don't run closed source software. It is my data, I do not want it held hostage by companies which change their minds or go out of business.

As for why Linux and not one of the BSDs, I like the GPL better, and BSD has forked a few times too many for my taste, which I attribute to the license.

Boy, this poll was a "toughie". Ultimately, I went for the stability - got sick of Windoze crashing all the time - even XP which my son runs, although more stable (I guess) than Windows '98, still crashes more than Linux.

All the other answers are true as well, but to a lesser degree - I was curious and wanted to try something new. I got sick up viruses and spyware, and think the open standard is great. However, I guess next to my ultimate reason of stability, I got sick of Microsoft trying shove updates to a buggy operating system that they couldn't code right in the first place down my throat. I hope Linux stomps Microsoft but good and kicks their butts!! Posting venue dictates that I use less colourful vernacular than I would like too! :-)

Although all of the answers are true at this point in my Linux experience but it was curiousity more then anything that got me to try Linux in the first place. I bought Xandros to try first but because of it was too easy for a newbie to break and buggy l just about got turned off first thing. I then tried Debian and it was a little much for a newbie. I also tried Mandrake and found that l was getting back into the windose think as it is very commercialized. I tried Fedora but by that time l had experienced Simply Mepis and it has been what really made a turning point in my Linux experience and what has kept me from returning to windose. I still have a dual boot because there are no really good genealogy programs in Linux but if there were l could probably turf XP. I think Warren Woodford is the first OS builder in Linux to really understand SIMPLE. He has made a real good effort to make the perfect Linux distro that virtually any one can use irregardless of their computer knowledge ... this is what the newbie has been waiting for and l believe he will only make it better as time goes on. If the Linux community truly wants to lure people like myself to Linux then Mepis should be encouraged strongly for any new user.

Thanks

Wayne Whalen

To tell you the truth the reason I'm running Linux is to keep my skills fresh and to learn more. I am a Windows Admin and I understand a lot about how things work there. I run Windows because work requires me to.
However, I have the freedom to run linux if I want to which I am doing. THere are great things that Linux can offer, however, in a small business it is easier and more cost effective to stay with Windows.

Well, that's why I use it now, but back when I was using Windows 98 any alternative seemed worth a try.

My main reason for enjoying LINUX is that I'm a longtime UNIX geek (since early 80s). As a one-time Microsoft developer I got really tired of having to re-learn "new" technologies every year in the MS world; most of the time the "new" stuff was just "old" stuff with new names.

I actually have a physical stack about 6 feet high of MS-related programming books I've bought through the years.

In the LINUX/UNIX world, however, C programs I wrote 20 years ago still (for the most part) work fine (often with just a recompilation); the shell programming and commands I learned 10 years ago still apply; and the "new" stuff in LINUX is truly "new" (such as KDE, GNOME, LAMP, ...etc) although usually throughly based in backwards-compatible terminology and methods (exceptions exist, naturally, but they are relatively easy to learn and don't require RE-learning!)

My $.02.

C

Yes...all of the above, plus choice. Choice is the primary factor for me.

All of the above and more....