If I may ask this

[Silvertones]

This seemed a more appropriate place to ask as opposed to the BIG forums.

Here Goes:
Do you use Linux more as a political statement? Anti MS, anti big business, anti capitalism, pro socialism?

I'm truly sincere in my inquiry. This is the impression I'm getting.

[erik2912]

No, i just want a secure os without blue screens.

[Dayofswords]

not in the NC area buuuuuutttt

i find it just runs better in general
sure some things are hard, but thats true with every OS

[kaitwospirit]

A lot of people just like it better, or use it because it doesn't cost anything. That's why I use it.

For some it is a political statement, but what statement that is varies. Some are pro-free software, some are anti-Microsoft. I don't really get an anti-capitalist or pro-socialist vibe about Ubuntu or Linux. Where do you see that?

[Silvertones]

I know those statements are sort of in the extreme but for me as a black & white person I see anti MS as anti Capitalism and I see pro free software ( all software) as being pro socialism.
I use Linux on one of my lappies for Internet only. I think Linux is best suited for this. Much more secure. My other lappy is XP for eveything else. It never goes on the Internet and has no antimalware programs installed and it runs great. It's the antimalware stuff that's really screwing up MS but it's their own fault.

[Marlonsm]

Actually not, I just use it for being better for my needs. I'm not against capitalism, and not against Microsoft. In fact, I'll soon be needing Windows, so I've also bought it, to have the best of both worlds.

[markthecarp]

I know those statements are sort of in the extreme but for me as a black & white person I see anti MS as anti Capitalism and I see pro free software ( all software) as being pro socialism.

Wouldn't this logically imply that Microsoft is pro socialism?

I do not think it fair to use economic theories or systems, both socialism [1] and capitalism [2] are economic systems, to compare the closed source proprietary and free open source software development models.

One example of that is the software company headquarted in Raleigh, North Carolina named RedHat [3]. They produce, among other things, RedHat Enterprise Linux and sponsor the Fedora project. Over the last five years their stock price has increased 131.6% [4]. Certainly that is a successful capitalist venture based on open source technology. Canonical, Inc. [5] is another example but being a privately held company we do not have access to their financials. While Canonical sponsors Ubuntu, a free open source project, they choose to be closed on the details of their financial situation. At least I couldn't google up any details.

I started using Linux in the late '90's initially because I could find so much information on how things worked. Now I find the unix philosophy of computing superior to Microsoft's more monolithic approach.

I use Linux on one of my lappies for Internet only. I think Linux is best suited for this. Much more secure. My other lappy is XP for eveything else. It never goes on the Internet and has no antimalware programs installed and it runs great. It's the antimalware stuff that's really screwing up MS but it's their own fault.

To me to own a computer that I could not safely connect to the internet would make that machine virtually useless; but that's just me.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism
[3] http://www.redhat.com
[4] http://www.google.com/finance?client=ob&q=NYSE:RHT
[5] http://www.canonical.com

Regards,
Mark

[Silvertones]

OK Mark I see your point. I'm not the most versed in political science. MS, Cononical, RedHat are all Capitilist ventures. I suppose to be truly socialist it would need to be government sponsored. So for us in the USA it's a matter of just not liking MS's strangle hold on the industry?
As far as my XP computer it's strictly for my music recording and does not need to go on the internet.

[markthecarp]

OK Mark I see your point. I'm not the most versed in political science. MS, Cononical, RedHat are all Capitilist ventures. I suppose to be truly socialist it would need to be government sponsored. So for us in the USA it's a matter of just not liking MS's strangle hold on the industry?

I may have short leg up on you having been a polysci major, with a focus on public administration, for a time. I think most of the average home computer users in the US are oblivious to how the rest of the world sees MS. Most of that class of computer user is not aware of the choices available. Many are not willing to make the commitment to owning their own computer by taking control of what runs on that computer.

As far as my XP computer it's strictly for my music recording and does not need to go on the internet.

How very interesting! There's this NC guy I know mostly over the internet that uses Ubuntu to record his jazz. I'm not sure if he posts much to the forum, But he's usually on the team IRC channel with the nick of holstein.

Just for fun look at the stock price of Novell; products and deals over time. I forgot that strange example.

peace

[europa]

I feel that I like to explore every technology i can get my hands on. After I had felt I had gone as far as I could with Windows I switched to Linux. It's fun learning experience.