Why I use Linux

As just another normal techie type, I read as much slashdot/digg as the next guy. And if you have spent more than a finger hovering second on those sites you will no doubt have noticed the OS flame wars. That is the endless Windows/Linux triad shouted across the ether.

I would put myself clearly in the Linux camp, but not quite at the fan boy status. The reason for this is I do not think that Linux is technically superior to Windows. I fully realise I am not knowledgeable enough of either operating system to make that call. I use Linux as much for its philosophical superiority as for any other reason.

It must sound strange to claim one operating system is philosophically better than another, but let me explain. Windows is all about business. Bill Gates set out with the noble sounding goal of putting a computer into every home. Now, in the first world he is almost there. Yet he did not do this for any reason greater than the almighty dollar. Yip, any way you look at it he did it to get rich, and succeeded on a never before seen scale. Is this a bad thing? No, not in and of itself, but now literary millions of people rely on his product for their very livelihood, and in some cases lives. And ultimately Microsoft will only care for these people if they can make money out of them. Whatever direction they take, products they produce or problems in their systems they set about fixing, they are always bearing in mind the driving principle, “Will this make us richer?”. Because of this they cannot afford to let others see how their system works. The source code is hidden. Their plans for the future of their systems and file formats cannot be revealed. Everything they do or don't do is completely outside our control as users of their systems. We either tolerate it or shut up. Until recently there was no other option.

Linux is an altogether a different kettle of fish. It is not, never has been, and lets hope and pray never will be about the money. Sure people make money off it, but at its core it is about creating a legacy. Everyone who is working on it, is doing so for their own reasons. (and I thank them all) but ultimately they are doing it to make Linux itself a little better in some way. To create something that anyone can use, without cost or obligation. Some people might be tempted to try to make themselves a fortune out of it, but the vast majority of people working on it do so for little reason more than the technical challenge, the advancement of knowledge and to gain bragging rights with their peers. Yet by coordinating these efforts they have created one of the largest and most complex technical achievements in human history.

And this achievement is for all of humanity. Ok, you do need access to a computer, but that all. After that anyone can use this tool for all of eternity. They need never pay for it, need never be barred from their own data due to file format or licensing changes.

Often when we think of the future we think of robots, super computers and AI as a reality in our lives. I hope when that day comes we might be using a Linux like OS to run them. So that whatever code is running these machines that will not be locked away in some corporate vault, with the only people understanding the motivation behind it been a exclusive corporate elite. Rather I would like to see a future which is more equalitarian than the present. Where the average Rwandan citizen has the same access to understanding the workings of the operating systems running the planet as the president of the European union. Of course the likelihood of the president of the EU understanding it is the same as the Rwandan citizen, but the fact is they have that access not whether they use it or not. Of the operating systems in place right now, only Linux offers that possibility (OK, free BSD too, plus a couple others, but you get the idea)

It is this philosophy that I like, this dream of the world being a better place for all that I feel like promoting by using and to some degree championing Linux. A society where excellence is more important than money and the spread of knowledge more desirable than the hoarding of it. Of course Linux and the Open source software movement is not perfect, with its own set of petty rivalries, personality clashes and bitter disagreements, but as long as the final choice lies with me the user, I can live with this.