The reason I use Linux is not because I hate Microsoft, but because of innovation. Linux has the potential to be the launch bed for the advancement of technology. Not in terms of "everybodies desktop" either. We really have not seen a large advancement of techology in many years. Sure, we have faster components, larger drives, etc, but nothing that has been really ground breaking.
I personally put the blame on a closed market. Closed source may very well be good for financial gain, but by limiting the abilities of individuals to think creatively we have driven ourselves into a rut. Microsoft, by way of limiting what can be done with Windows, has removed any real potential to be better than what it is today. You may get a new wizard every time they make a product release, but they are still upgrading instead of inventing. Large companies fear the loss that change can bring about, and will blindly fight that change till the end. Microsoft is not the first company to fight such a battle, nor will they be the last.
I say that if someone wants to use a certain operating system, then so be it. Many argue that Linux still is not ready for the desktop, and in some respects it is true. But the same held true for those of us who were using DOS in an Apple\Commadore dominated world. Linux will come into its own. We will see it grow. By using it today, you may very well come out with a highly desired career tomorrow.
Twenty years ago, and before that even, we would dream about a future where computers would simplify life. A time when my chair knew what position I liked my leg rest, and the television knew what I would like to watch. Not by means of gross spyware either, but because we would be able to interact with the hardware to a point that it could almost think on its own. Sounds far fetched? Sounds like a great marketing scheme for the information collectors? It is today, thanks to greed and the political views of how our lives should be. Companies would rather shape our "experience" with their products than create a new innovation. They want to tell us what we can look at, what we can do with our computers, and ultimetly how we can use technology to shape our future.
Linux has the power to break this paradigm. It's not limited to stock percentages or return on investments. It's not controlled by those that want to control us. Linux can be loaded on our largest computers, as well as devices that are small such as a wrist watch. It is written by the people, for the people. It has the power to do what we need today, and the flexability to do what we want it to do tomorrow. Let's see Microsoft try and do that without a patch.
Take away a man's ability to think, and you take away his reason to live.
