@Tomcat said:

That was probably just a convenient number to agree upon, I definitely know some who went for a clean install every 3 or 6 months. Oh, mein Gott! What needs to be done with Windws that would require "a clean install every 3 or 6 months."? Although… if those who specialize in checking the stability of the system, it's probably okay to reinstall more often… but I doubt that this is a common user scenario…

No, this was definitely a 'cool thing for power users' to do. Not for your average gramps browsing the web for news or whatever.

I don't try to get people to change operating systems, any more than I try to get them to abandon their religion -- that's a young man's game. However, linux gives me more value. If I was still using windows, I'd have a harder time customizing it to fit my tastes. And although windows strives to run older software in newer versions, linux actually does a better job of it -- the caveat being that you may have to compile something now and then.

And while I appreciate being able to run a stable system with a distribution like ubuntu or debian, it's much more fun to tinker with things in gentoo. My gentoo systems don't run systemd, dbus, consolekit, polkit, or elogind. In the (very likely) event that anyone doesn't recognize those names, they're slightly controversial projects that most linux distributions use by default. I can choose whether or not to use pretty much any software that makes up the operating system, which saves me time patching bugs (but mostly just gives me bragging rights).

My linux "desktop" is pretty much non-existent -- no taskbar, no icons, etc. I figure any time you spend looking at the desktop could be better spent looking at an actual program. I use key-chords to start my favorite programs, and generally start anything else from a shell. I'm sure I could find something similar for windows, but it probably wouldn't be included in the installation.

However, when I look for a new laptop, I have to spend extra time ensuring that I can find hardware drivers for it -- you can almost always count on windows drivers. I can't realistically run some games. It's nowhere near as easy to use hardware security on my computers, since I'd have to sign the kernels I compile, to get the hardware to recognize them. I suspect that there are nice programs that don't have a linux equivalent, though it's been so long since I touched windows that I can't think of an example.

But I think that the best thing about linux is just the feeling that I get when I realize that 99%* of the software I'm using was made by people who didn't worry about making a profit. They just had an itch to create new software, and were happy to share with everyone.

* I have some for-profit games, and one utility (makemkv) which is technically for-profit, but seems to be in permanent beta testing.

Yeah, I just feel better using Linux. I also feel better using Godot. I can overlook some small faults or extra configuration if it's going to make my life better. Optimize your life, not your computer.

@duane said:
My linux "desktop" is pretty much non-existent -- no taskbar, no icons, etc. I figure any time you spend looking at the desktop could be better spent looking at an actual program. I use key-chords to start my favorite programs, and generally start anything else from a shell. I'm sure I could find something similar for windows, but it probably wouldn't be included in the installation.

It's a standard option in the shortcut properties, probably starting with XP or even earlier. Sorry, it's in Russian.

But there are free programs for this.

…you can almost always count on windows drivers.

Exactly, it is. "Try it, maybe it'll work."

But I think that the best thing about linux is just the feeling that I get when I realize that 99%* of the software I'm using was made by people who didn't worry about making a profit. They just had an itch to create new software, and were happy to share with everyone.

I'm working with completely free software right now — that's what I need for my project. And it seems to be working. And Windows itself… well, it came with the tablet.

@cybereality said:
Optimize your life, not your computer.

By optimizing my computer I make my life more comfortable.
__

I have plans to try Linux, but not before I build a desktop computer.

Personal preference? Ubuntu Budgie.

Practical reality of needing best of both worlds for work with minimal fuss? Windows 11 + WSL Ubuntu. . . . and an ESXi server.

Well, I like Windows 11 as well, I have a second computer that I use for testing and for school. And honestly, I really like ChromeOS too. I think it's good to have options for different people.

I upgraded to Fedora 36 today (from Fedora 34) and it's been working great so far. I've been using the same installation since Fedora 30 released in April 2019. This is the longest period I've used the same OS installation in my life so far :)

@mYusufSuleman said: I have started a fight.

That's a predictable side-effect of posting on the internet. ;)

Choice of OS should fall under the politics and religion category (particularly with FOSS advocates).

Anybody ever use QNX? Not QNX Neutrino, the embedded system OS, but the desktop QNX? One of my previous jobs was train network control software on QNX. I never want to touch that OS again. Back then it was about $4000au for one copy of QNX with a C++ compiler and TCP/IP networking.

a month later

@cybereality said: Choice of OS should fall under the politics and religion category (particularly with FOSS advocates).

I dunno. Aren't different brand computers uniquely good at certain things? It might be interesting to know more about other devices, what they excel at, what their weaknesses are, etc.