i am new to linux

[kakuustaad]

hey i am new to linux .. an thinking about shifting from windows to linux os .. please give me any good reason to switch

[ille_pugil42]

hmm... (sounds like a troll... I'll bite)

Did you actually purchase your own version of windows, or do you have pirated versions of it. How about that version of Photoshop/Office/Whatever? You can download it (http://www.linuxiso.org) linux for FREE (or purchase it cheap (http://www.cheapbytes.com))

Also, with linux you can view/modify/recompile virtually anything.

You can also revive old machines (example: slackware 7.1 will install on a 386 with 4mb of RAM...)

there are many for reasons as well; these are but a few.

[bdg1983]

Highly configurable. You can change just about everything to the way you like it.

Linux can be anything you want it to be.

[j.harrison]

If you love computers, you can play and learn with the tremendous variety of Linux distos and apps out there, increasing your expertise while you're having fun doing what you love to do. And it's all FREE!

How much money will you spend becoming technically proficient in Microsoft products?

Also, with the globalization of computer technology, and M$'s new 'bleed them dry' strategy, you ought to be concerned with what O/Ss the rest of the planet will be using. Increasingly, it's going to be Linux.

Linux. The choice of a new generation.

[Cuthbert]

Using Linux is also good if you want to learn how things work. I've learned 1000 times more about computers since I started using Linux than I probably could have learned in a lifetime of using Windows.

I get a great feeling of satisfaction when I encounter and solve problems unsing lnx. :)

[superflea]

For some reason (other than the ones stated above) linux is a lot more fun. period

[Rob 'Feztaa' Park]

Nevermind using slackware to revive old comps. the Linux Router Project will install on a floppy. As in, the whole OS runs off of the floppy, no HD needed whatsoever. As the name implies, it's useful for converting old 386's with small or broken HD's into routers. Be careful with the LRP though, because in order to get linux on a floppy, they had to take out a lot of stuff, like the gui, and all the documentation (there's no whatis, there's no apropos, and there's NO MAN! *gasp*!).

Anyway, I run Mandrake, but I suspect that LRP will be useful for those computers at school. Nothing quite like installing a completely new OS and ignoring the old one to bypass the system security of any computer :). The best part is, remove the floppy and reboot the machine, and the computer is back exactly the way it was, no harm done (and no proof, either...)

Not that I'd want to do any harm, though...

[dvdnut]

AND you can have as much or as little control given to user accounts, not so easy with windoze

lno says it all, everyone is willing to help provided the question is not too simple, such as "wheres my start button#?!!!!" heheh

[evulish]

Did anyone mention stability?

I'd keep my SuSE running 24/7 if my dad had to reboot to windows to check his fscking email. :)

Lots of free games (and office suites, but who needs those when you have games?)

Developmental tools. (kdevelop, Kbabel, QT, emacs) I mean, come on, paying 2000 bucks for a fscking closed-source MS development suite when you can get nearly (probably better) linux development shtuff free!

Unlimited possibilities. Yeah, that's right. If you really want to, you could probably make linux play the 'All in the Family' theme song with system beeps while booting. (I'm gonna try that once I learn C/C++)

Options. Kde, Gnome, Blackbox, Afterstep? Redhat, Mandrake, Debian, SuSE, Slackware? or just plain Windows? :)

The error screens in linux will actually help you know what went wrong.

Those are my 2 cents!