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I didn't choose GNU/Linux because it's free..

Off-Topic discussions about science, technology, and non Debian specific topics.
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thamarok

I didn't choose GNU/Linux because it's free..

#1 Post by thamarok »

..but I chose it because:
1) There are barely any viruses for this platform and the risk to get malware or spyware is very low.

2) If I want to install something, I do it with a single command in the Terminal; no need for downloading lots of setup executables that waste space on my hard disk.

3) It doesn't read the file extension to determine what type a file is. You can rename a PNG file to MP3 if you like, but GNU/Linux still understands it as PNG.

4) No need for drivers. Ok, your mileage may vary, but I got GNU/Linux to run on my PC without any drivers smoothly and every device worked correctly.

5) It gives very useful debugging data incase a crash happened; In other platforms, they just give you a blue screen with data that even alien wouldn't understand (I guess you know what platform ;) )

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many say that the strength of GNU/Linux would be that it is free as in free speech freedom whatever, but that isn't the case (for me, atleast). I would happily pay for Debian if it was commercial, simply because of the above mentioned plus-features. GNU/Linux does have some minus-features, but that is most likely caused because companies won't port their drivers/programs to GNU/Linux.

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Dargor
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#2 Post by Dargor »

Same, i was quite happy pirating windows:)

Linux is more interesting/leet'er and it doesnt assume I'm a noob.

But most importantly i can do whatever i want, no one is forcing DRM on me.

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sinical
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#3 Post by sinical »

DRM is a non-issue. Its a hopeless cause, crackers will win
Every cloud has a silver lining, except for the mushroom shaped ones, which have a lining of Strontium 90.
---------------------------------------------
umop apisdn

thamarok

#4 Post by thamarok »

Oh yeah, I forgot the most important one: No DRM.
Thanks for pointing it out Dargor!

I actually don't understand why Microsoft and the other companies want to "control" the way how we use our PC's.. it's like we would be their marionettes.. right?

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sinical
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#5 Post by sinical »

thamarok wrote:Oh yeah, I forgot the most important one:
Most important reason,

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install supertux
8)
Every cloud has a silver lining, except for the mushroom shaped ones, which have a lining of Strontium 90.
---------------------------------------------
umop apisdn

thamarok

#6 Post by thamarok »

sinical wrote:Most important reason,

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install supertux
8)
:lol:

rasebo
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#7 Post by rasebo »

Well... I've chosen GNU/Linux for all the reasons that thamarok put above but also because it was free. At the beginning because I saw it being free as in free beer. Later on, i found out that the real freedom was as in free speech. And I began to really love this kind of freedom...

Sebastian.

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AgenT
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Re: I didn't choose GNU/Linux because it's free..

#8 Post by AgenT »

thamarok wrote:I would happily pay for Debian
No one is stopping you. Donate! Donate to the Debian project, to non-Debian programmers of projects that you use, and/or to the FSF. You may not think that freedom is important, but without it and the FSF neither Debian nor GNU/Linux would exist.

thamarok

Re: I didn't choose GNU/Linux because it's free..

#9 Post by thamarok »

AgenT wrote:
thamarok wrote:I would happily pay for Debian
No one is stopping you. Donate! Donate to the Debian project, to non-Debian programmers of projects that you use, and/or to the FSF. You may not think that freedom is important, but without it and the FSF neither Debian nor GNU/Linux would exist.
But if the whole world would use free as in freedom software like GNU/Linux, how can people pay server bills and other stuff? Collecting donations only just isn't enough. That's why I somehow prefer the idea of having a commercial and a free "lite" or limited version of some software.

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Fluenza
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#10 Post by Fluenza »

I didn't choose Linux because it was free either. I just wanted to try it. That's really all there is to it. I installed it to try it, and I liked it. So I kept it.

It was love at first install. :lol:
Visualize, Describe, Direct (VDD)
Common Operational Picture (COP) --> Common Operational Response (COR) --> Common Operational Effect (COE)

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Hevoos
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#11 Post by Hevoos »

I see no other reason why to choose Debian other than "apt-get moo". ;)


No really I chose it because it has no DRM, it's free and it's much better than windows. Windows doesn't let me do what I want with my system, the Debian developers don't care and that's freedom for me. ;)

benuski
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Location: Richmond, Va.

#12 Post by benuski »

I didn't begin to use GNU/Linux because it was free; I did what a lot of people did, tried something new after being fed up with Windows. However, now I've become dedicated to free software principles, so I guess I've been totally converted.

nP
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#13 Post by nP »

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_viruses wrote:Virus scanners are available for Linux systems in order to scan for Windows viruses and protect downstream Email users with Windows systems.
^_^

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Jackiebrown
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#14 Post by Jackiebrown »

h3llfire wrote: At the beginning because I saw it being free as in free beer. Later on, i found out that the real freedom was as in free speech. And I began to really love this kind of freedom...

Sebastian.
I couldn't have said it better myself. If windows became more secure and free (as in beer) I still wouldn't go back for that very reason.

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Pobega
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#15 Post by Pobega »

http://marc.info/?l=debian-user&m=117563015610121&w=2

A mail I wrote today on debian-user. Pretty much sums up how I feel about Debian, why I chose Debian, and all of that.
Jabber: pobega@gmail.com
Pronunciation: Poh - Bay - Guh

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SweetLou
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Re: I didn't choose GNU/Linux because it's free..

#16 Post by SweetLou »

thamarok wrote:.
Many say that the strength of GNU/Linux would be that it is free as in free speech freedom whatever, but that isn't the case (for me, atleast). I would happily pay for Debian if it was commercial,
Huh? Pay for freedom to do what you want? I am confused by your statement. You seem to say that you don't use GNU/Linux because of it's freedom, you would happily pay for it. Does this mean you would be happy to pay for an OS as long as your 5 reasons were met, yet you didn't have the freedom to do what you want?

If you don't care about FOSS, there are other distros that are not as free as Debian, so why did you go with Debian instead of another?

For me, it wasn't really the free as in speech that got me to use Linux, but that I wanted to try something new and I could download it for free as in beer. Once I started to use Linux, I gradually moved over to Debian because of it's policies towards FOSS and because it is the best distro that I have found, easy to use, install, great packaging system, great community to get help, etc. Now, I am a big fan of free software and I try to only use free software. I can't totally since I need to check webpages in IE and some other things like that. If someone made a free browser that acted like IE, I would use it instead of installing WINE and IE.

thamarok

#17 Post by thamarok »

Well yes, I would pay for freedom.

morax
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#18 Post by morax »

Dargor wrote:Linux is more interesting/leet'er and it doesnt assume I'm a noob.
That is the one of the main reasons that I chose Linux too.

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Dargor
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#19 Post by Dargor »

morax wrote:
Dargor wrote:Linux is more interesting/leet'er and it doesnt assume I'm a noob.
That is the one of the main reasons that I chose Linux too.
sorry which one, i stated three reasons.

morax
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#20 Post by morax »

Dargor wrote:
morax wrote:
Dargor wrote:Linux is more interesting/leet'er and it doesnt assume I'm a noob.
That is the one of the main reasons that I chose Linux too.
sorry which one, i stated three reasons.
It doesn't assume that I am a noob. :P

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