This post is not a typical post. I’m not going to change your life, or teach you a new trick. Instead I’m going to dragyou down the rabbit hole…
I had to Google a rather drygrammatical enquiry from my sister earlier. See, she’s in the process of going back to college to study nursing andhas become fastidious about punctuation in the process.
She turned to me because her iPhone did not, in her words, ‘give the correct answer’.
What she meant is thatSiri didn’t give her the correct answer (or rather, an answer presented in a way she wanted). Like a lot of passive technology users the separation of deviceand service layer is moot. As far as sheis concerned the thing she talks toget answers isat fault, regardless of which bit.
I re-worded her query in a way that shouldbring up a better match (long tail search term, ahoy). I opened a new tab, went to Google, and began about slapping the attention-tangent into the search box.
But I stopped.
Before Icould finish typing, as myfinger only just leftthe lastletter in the second keyword, my attention washarpooned by the auto-suggestions.
See it? The fourthentry down, the fourthmost searched “why use…” term, mentions linux.
“ Why use Linux? ” it asks.
That was it; insteadof finding out precisely why oneshould use an Oxford comma (what I was original sent to finda concise answer to) I got all…Icky and introspective.
Why Use Linux?The question posed is not onethat Isincerely ask myself very often. The answer has, over the years, become complicated. It’s grown into abloated ball of elastic bands, each reason stretched around and now reliant on another.
But I wanted to answer.
Helpfully, mybrain began tospitout all the predictablenouns:
Why use Linux?Because of security! Because of control! Because of privacy, community, and a general sense of purpose! Because it’s fast! Because it’s virus free! Because i’m dang-well used to it now! Because, heck, I can shape it to look like pretty much anything I want it to using themes and widgets and CSS and extensions and blingy little desktop trinkets!
As answers they’re all valid, but they’re far fromconcise. They’re, at best, bullet points belayinga broader motivation.
And then it hit me.
I don’tneed towrestle with anything profound because answering why use Linuxis actually very, verysimple.
Subjective, but simple.
I use Linux … because it’s better .
It’s better than windows 10 and itsnightmarish exam ofprivacy check boxes, opt-outs and hidden toggles. And it’s better than macOS and its insistence that I only run it on the pricey hardware they sell.It’s better than Android at being a desktop OS. It’s better than ChromeOS at being a desktop OS.
So there: that’s myanswer to “why use Linux” answered inthree short words and one (rather lengthy) blog post! Now it’syour turn.Share your response to the same question inthe comments!