Why do you choose Linux?

(I'm not a Linux expert in fact I have only been using Linux as a dual boot for the past 2 years as ubuntu / debian based distros. Therefore there may be gaps in my Linux knowledge) I don't see why people say that Linux is so much better than Windows when from my experiances of Linux its not even close. Don't get me wrong, I do love the idea of open source software and Linux as a concept but it just doesn't meet the needs of the average user. Linux supports less software and the software it does have is only "as good as" or worse than Windows equivilents. A prime example would be Libre Office, Skype. need I say more? Performance wise linux has some advantages but so does windows. Sure linux uses less ram and can probably copy a file faster but does that really matter on a home PC now with 2-3Gb ram. (I have 6Gb). Games, they just don't work on linux. Ok there are a few exceptions but for the sake of splitting hairs windows takes this round. Reliability, I find both linux and windows to be equally reliable. I never get viruses on either OS although linux has the advantage of requiring little to no maintenace. In terms of crashing I've had both OS's crash equally but more issues in linux than windows. Even if I just want to boot up my PC (which when using a ubuntu distro, is close enough the same boot time was windows 7) and browse the web / play minecraft (java based game) I would still do better in windows since it uses less power and has better drivers. Linux has become a lot easier to use compared to how it was near the start but it has also regressed somewhat more recently, regressions which cost Linux on the portable hardware front. (Power usage) The only real advantages of Linux I see are; little maintence and legally free at the cost of everything else. EG Say if I want to buy a printer theres a chance it might not work on linux. On windows I can buy anything I want and it will work. The world revolves around windows and that isn't going to change for the forseeable future, until a time comes when its viable for companys to support Linux, Linux is useless for anything other than servers and routers etc. How would linux become profitable? Well it would need a big user base. Do you really think that that many people will put up with all the flaws of Linux long enough for it to be comercially viable? Finally to wrap up my post I'd like to use Mac OSX as a final example. An OS backed by a company as large as Apple yet still has a much smaller software library than windows. Although it does hold some benefits over Linux such as Steam / MS Office and other companies supporting Mac as comercially viable, yet still Mac OS is not anywhere near dethroning windows. I'm not trying to slam Linux or Mac here, but what ARE the benefits here? and why do YOU choose linux?

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