Linux

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Linux is, strictly speaking, a system built on principles much older than the principles Windows are based on (if you could say Windows are based on any principles at all *g*). I'm actually quite surprised it has caught on like it has -- today, it's no longer some obscure unknown operating system, but it's actually a force to be reckoned with, even for mighty Microsoft.

I run Linux based on personal preference -- and because I fundamentally agree that software should be free (but not at any cost); that is, free in the freedom sense, not in the price sense (although the latter is also certainly nice). I've been running it since 1997; as the only operating system since about 1999. Windows feels just odd to me these days :-)

(The Linux penguin Tux, drawn by Larry Ewing, was originally only an unofficial logo for Linux 2.0, but has later grown to be the de facto standard mascot for Linux. :-) Interestingly enough, that image is one of the primary attractors to my site, as people find it on Google's image search by searching for "Tux" :-) )