What is Linux really for? Why would you switch to Linux instead of windows? What makes it better than Windows?

What is Linux really for? Why would you switch to Linux instead of windows? What makes it better than Windows?

Freedom

linux is for posting pingus

This

Windows just gets in the way. Once you set up a working Linux system, so long as it's a stable distro, you're pretty much set. The operating system just stays out of your way, and you really don't ever even have to restart your computer unless you do a security update. And even then you can do those updates whenever you want, and audit each system upgrade to approve or deny each individual package to be upgraded.

Well, it's like this. Imagine the internet is a medieval fantasy land. The Windows users are peasants who live in shitty little towns that get frequently raided by dickhead orcs (the hackers and script kiddies). This is because they live out in the open because it's easy for them. Linux users are the dwarves who live in mountainhomes surrounded hundreds of feet of solid stone. The orcs aren't getting in and any siege by them is worthless. Also there are no dragons or forgotten beasts or balrogs or any of that nonsense. That's how it is, that's why I use GNU/Linux. If you're wondering about who Apple users are, they're mainly fairies who live safely in elven woods.

what about freebsd?

can i save that?

Only if you use save it as .gpl

For being IT hipster or expensive system admin

No Apple users are faggots.

yeah it's a free pingu

and freebsd

licenses for servers and shit

linux b free yo we got mad servers at my job

Linux has a better terminal, windows has a better gui

Here OP, relevant pasta:

When a someone other than a NEET who browses Sup Forums recommends using Linux, what they mean is that they recommend that you take advantage of 35 years of the most talented programmers on earth actively trying to make a system that helps them program better, as part of a culture that expects a certain set of tools to be available and operate in a particular way. They encourage you to become familiar with what serious professional developers use, in part because it means they don’t have to cater to the idiosyncratic behaviors of half assed development environments, and in part because knowing how to use these tools properly will make you a better programmer — because that’s what those tools are for, and that’s what they’ve been optimized for.

It's really not for the average gamer/media consumer. It's for programmers and computer scientists. I would never recommend it to tech normies. What you need to understand is that this isn't really a Linux vs. Windows issue, it's more of a Windows vs. UNIX thing. Windows was designed with end-users in mind, just average people who don't understand computers and don't want or need to. UNIX on the other hand is almost a philosophy, a culture of hackers and computer scientists who wanted an environment that makes development and algorithmic computing easy without the operating system or a million layers of "user-friendly GUIs" getting in the way.

UNIX is designed to make the computer scientist's life easier. Everything at the foundation of UNIX is a small program that does one thing and does it well, as opposed to one huge program that does a million different things and opens the door for sloppy or convoluted design.

tl;dr Windows is designed for people like you, with developers as an afterthought. Linux and Unix-derivatives are designed for developers, with people like you as an afterthought.

>There are more than one option.
>Only one can be chosen
>Only one is best
>Can only have one.
>Have to choose.
>One is superior.
>The other is inferior.
>An authority must know.
>Maybe consensus can lead the way.

Kid, you're denser than led if you didn't pick that up from what I said.

I'd just like to interject for a moment. What you're referring to as Linux, is in fact, GNU/Linux, or as I've recently taken to calling it, GNU plus Linux. Linux is not an operating system unto itself, but rather another free component of a fully functioning GNU system made useful by the GNU corelibs, shell utilities and vital system components comprising a full OS as defined by POSIX.

Many computer users run a modified version of the GNU system every day, without realizing it. Through a peculiar turn of events, the version of GNU which is widely used today is often called "Linux", and many of its users are not aware that it is basically the GNU system, developed by the GNU Project.

There really is a Linux, and these people are using it, but it is just a part of the system they use. Linux is the kernel: the program in the system that allocates the machine's resources to the other programs that you run. The kernel is an essential part of an operating system, but useless by itself; it can only function in the context of a complete operating system. Linux is normally used in combination with the GNU operating system: the whole system is basically GNU with Linux added, or GNU/Linux. All the so-called "Linux" distributions are really distributions of GNU/Linux.

at first, it was just because I didn't want to keep trusting some random activator for my pirated copy of windows

now it's just better in every single way, even vidya fags can use a VM to play, or if you're not poor win7sp1 in your gayming PC and linux in your laptop

Contrary to popular belief, Linux, the kernel from kernel.org is not free software. It not only recommends non-free software but also actually contains it (i.e., software that does not respect your essential freedoms). Linux hasn't been Free Software since 1996, when Torvalds accepted the first pieces of non-free software in the distributions of Linux he has published since 1991.

I'm using it for fun mostly. It turns everything into a kind of puzzle so I'm constantly learning and improving.

Installed Mint a couple weeks ago and I'm really enjoying it so far.

What say about plan 9?

>What is Linux really for?
For getting shit done.
>Why would you switch to Linux instead of windows?
"Switching" to Linux is autism. Machines with Unix-esque OS, however, are best suited to run local/remote servers to develop on.
>What makes it better than Windows?
Access to particular software paired with overall simplicity and direct control being given to the user. Developing on Linux you need to know and care about less stuff compared to developing on Windows or, to an extent, OSX.

WSL allows you to benefit from the most advantages Linux offers, albeit it still isn't perfect.

lol, well good thing you are free to use the more freedom respecting Windows 10.

WSL allows you to benefit from the most advantages GNU offers*

FTFY

The WSL contains 0 (zero) Linux.

Because it's the right thing.

I don't care if Windows or OSX is better, it might very well be for most stuff. But technical merit is the least important thing to me.

Linux is a standard in web development and visual effects for films industry.

>visual effects for films industry
yes, but only on the rendering side. users never touch it.

Well, yeah, but I was speaking in a more commonly comprehensible way.

Yeah, he said that they're elves.

Linux is a standard for workstations in VFX, not only for render servers. Windows or macOS is used only in rare cases, were an artist needs Photoshop or something like that. They use Foundry's Mari for painting textures.

what about the photoshop, premiere pro enthusiast & illustrator? Linux for them too? free Linux software cant cut it I'm sure?

What Linux is for
- document processing
- programming
- web browsing
- multimedia consumption

Why Linux is better than Windows
- minimal to no spying/telemetry
- fine control of operating system
- mostly free of costs
- mostly free of malicious intent
- mostly open source and documentation

What Linux is NOT for
- gaming
- multimedia creation
- premium support

This list applies to mostly normies. You fags with quirks go fuck yourselves

This isn't really true, you know. It doesn't reflect the goals of the Linux kernel nor does it reflect the UNIX philosophy. GNU/Linux distributions have a wide range of primary purposes, of which quite a few are ease of use and compatibility. If something doesn't work, or is complicated to get working (and often in a state worse than in Windows of MacOS), it is nearly always because proprietary firmware and manufacturer/developer negligence. That has nothing to do with the kernel devs nor the distribution nor GNU. Additionally, you have to consider the difference in motivation between operating systems. You pay, directly or indirectly, to use Windows and MacOS; it is someone's job to help you install VLC. GNU/Linux is free, and the developers (mostly) work on it out of hobby. They have no obligation to help someone, or answer device requests, except out of the kindness of their heart. Many of them do answer those kinds of requests, or sit in IRC channels and help out anyone asking nicely, or even try to RE firmware that they will never use and whose compatibility issues could be solved easily by "buy a new NIC."

tl;dr: This is wrong. GNU/Linux is not a programmers workbench unless you want it to be.

>it is someone's job to help you install VLC
Yes, you local system administrator, who isn't related to Microsoft at all. icrosoft doesn't give a shit if you can install VLC or not, they'd actually rather you using their own media player.

>GNU/Linux is free, and the developers (mostly) work on it out of hobby
No, most developers are paid to do so, by big companies like Red Hat, Intel or even Microsoft.

>Most
Thousands of people contribute to Linux. The vast majority of them are hobbyists. Not everyone is David Miller.

>What is Linux really for?
Servers.
Developers who target servers.
Phone and embedded devices.

This was in relation to the contributed development. Most of the development isn't done by the hobbyists anymore.

>Update from the2016 Linux Kernel Development Report, issued by the Linux Foundation, covering the period from 3.18 (December 2014) to 4.7 (July 2016): About 1500 developers are contributing to each release from about 200-250 companies on average per release. The top 30 developers contributed a little more than 16% of the code. As of companies, the top contributors are Intel (12.9%) and Red Hat (8.0%), the third and fourth places are held by the 'none' (7.7%) and 'unknown' (6.8%) categories.
So ~21% are paid, while ~15% are not. Worse than I thought, but still significant enough to mention. The other point about many kernel devs helping out and providing tech support for free still stands.

If you want to continue on with this semi-Cryptonomicon like example:

Normies that use Windows and Mac OS are like Hobbits. They may venture out into the scary world of computing every once in a while, but at the end of the day they run back to their Hobbit holes and call it a night, satiated with the excitement their curosity brought them. Living with a sort of innocence about the world around them. Defenseless against the evils that roam.

While Linux users, IT people, programmers, they are like Dwarves. They are seasoned, they know the ins and outs of the computing world and the WWW. They've seen some shit. They keep to themselves, and live in the traitorous mountains, protected by its high walls yet always on guard against the foul beasts that roam the caverns below.

Then there are people like Dennis Ritchie, Linus Torvalds, and Alan Turing. These people aren't people, but wizards, who shape and guide the world around them with magic of their own making.

This is so old and wrong

>What is Linux really for?
it's a kernel. it manages memory, CPU time, hardware (via drivers), exposes system calls, etc. you can pair it with a wide assortment of other shit to make up a complete operating system. what you run on top of Linux depends on what you need said OS to do.

>Why would you switch to Linux instead of windows?
you mean why switch to a desktop Linux distribution? in all honesty, Windows is gradually getting worse and desktop Linux is gradually getting better. the specifics have probably been covered by now.

>What makes it better than Windows?
Linux is decades ahead of Windows' NT kernel. it supports more filesystems, more architectures, can work with more memory and logical CPUs, runs faster and lighter, is far more extensible and (in my opinion) more competently developed.

as far as the rest of the "ingredients" in a modern desktop OS go (which are, in quasi-totality, unrelated to the Linux project itself), the quality ranges from superior to abysmal and even if you remove third-party support from the equation, it's a tradeoff for most users. there's far too much to elaborate on in a single post so I'd suggest you give it a shot yourself since it's so easy to do.

it's also free (as in gratis) and free (as in freedom) and that means a lot to some.

I'm a programmer and sysadmin.

Linux makes my life much easier than windows or mac.