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Are You A FOSS User?

I have been a user of FOSS (Free Open Source Software) for a while now, I currently use a Linux platform on every computer in my house and I even converted my smartphone and my ipod to use Linux. I have dabbled a bit into BSD and the likes but I much prefer the world of Linux.

The joys of Linux are too far and wide to compile into one post but here is some fun details.
-It was written by users for users without profit in mind. This means almost everything is free, photo / video editing to office suites are all at no cost.
-The development team usually consists of fans of that distribution who feel that their abilities may be useful.
-Linux also lets you have complete control over your computer. Meaning you can edit or delete any scrap of data on your computer without an administrator lock, which may cause you to mess with something you shouldn't and crash your system but look at the bright side: You can fix things that break from a command based terminal following simple commands which are often shared by users to help each other learn or a quick internet search will give you the same results.
-You can make your desktop look like virtually anything you want, you can colorize the theme, change entire panels or even rebuild your start menu. This is not to even hint on the customization details though as I could rant all night.
-Almost anything you would ever want or need to download is found right inside most distribution's free software centers. Yes meaning you double click an icon and search for all of the basic software you need to complete your computer.

I have really come to love the freedom and learning that Linux has brought me and it has forever changed the way I view technology.

What are your thoughts and experiences on free open source software? Have you used it? Do you want to try it?

Edited: Anoki on 30th Jul, 2013 - 11:23pm

User FOSS You Are

Good Topic. Linux for running servers and online pages is great. There is tons of FOSS / BSD software out there with good use, although updates may be harder to come by. I have thought about using it as a home based OS but I don't have time to mess with kernels and incompatibilities with Windows based software.

Are You A FOSS User? Gaming Video & Issues Computer

I have found FreeBSD the best for running servers, nothing beats it. But CentOS on the linux side is a close second.

For everyday users linux would be perfect and not much of a learning curve, hardly anything to worry about in terms of kernel instability or hardware. However if your job relies on your computer you may find that the tools you need are not supported (Most of which has some linux variant but it can be a setback). Or if you do a lot of gaming you will find that you will not find great support. Games work perfectly with linux however [most] games are not written for compatibility (Although Steam has just been ported and I quote "Runs better on linux than windows" So maybe there is hope in the soon future).

User FOSS You Are

That is the exact reason I will not attempt it as an OS even if something like Ubuntu seems promising and mimics Windows. When I get on my computer I have enough to deal with fixing and executing code to then have to worry about why a program is not working as expected or even not loading. However, we have Apache and some FOSS software for certain things and it is a big help as far as serving sites like this is concerned.

User FOSS You Are

I understand how this could be frustrating, I used to play around with D.M code (Basically C++ light) back when I was doing some beginners video-game creation. This was around the time that I converted to linux and had no idea of the consequences, I managed to install the tool that allowed me to code, and also the tool that allowed me to host because they both were supported natively by linux but to compile and run it I would get no GUI display. It took me weeks to figure out all the little tricks to get it to run but finally it did.

I even tried to shortcut myself by using a program that emulates windows dependencies for running applications but everything was buggy and slow, and then I tried running a virtual machine of my windows disc to run that one program. This seemed unnecessary to to have a second operating system running in a collapsible window to run one program. So I had to go back to the basics and ask around in various forms and instant relay chat channels until I learned how to force it to behave properly.

Edited: Anoki on 31st Jul, 2013 - 12:09am