Here's my computer story.

Old DOS C:\ prompt 2.11

I started using MS-DOS 2.11 when I was eight. Later, I refused to move exclusively to Windows and lived mostly in DOS, but by the time Windows 2000 came along I was forced to leave DOS behind. In 2012, after 24 years with Microsoft, I was done and I switched exclusively to Mac OS X (later Mac OS). Later, in 2019, I chose Windows 10 for my new company so I used Windows at work and Mac OS at home.

By 2021 I was sick of all the bullshit, and though I'd tinkered with Linux for 15 years, I went all-in and switched to Linux for everything. My Windows work computer, my fancy iMacs and Macbooks, everything got formatted and replaced with Linux, and I didn't even bother dual-booting.

I doubt if I'll ever go back. Without question, I'm happier with Linux than any OS I've run in 34 years, MS-DOS included. I should have done it years ago. Hell, I'm in the process of gradually moving much of my company to Linux, even the desktops.

I distro-hopped for a while but soon realized that, aside from details, Linux is Linux. I settled on Debian, but I'd be just as happy with Arch or Fedora or OpenSUSE. I tried pretty much all of the desktop environments (DEs) and decided on KDE.

The reason I don't think Windows or Mac OS will ever lure me back is because Linux is infinitely customizable and changeable. If I don't like something or of I get bored, I can change it. I can make it my own, over and over again. My work computer and my home computer look and behave almost like different operating systems, but the same Linux terminal is always available in both.

In our modern SAAS-infested world, I can't quit Microsoft entirely, unfortunately. We still use Azure and Microsoft Active Directory at work; the value is just too good. (Our Azure VMs run Linux, though.) And we still have tenured holdouts at work who insist upon Mac OS or Windows so I still use both sometimes, mainly to fix them.

It'll be Linux for me for the long haul. I'll take my place in the Hall of the Geeks and that will be that. But I'll never again be hounded by my operating system for my money or my attention; it'll never needle my brain for social media integration; and it'll never prod me to use one browser or another. If that were all (and it's not) it would be enough.

posted by Mike A.