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The golden Heru'wer graphics used on this page are from http://www.kemet.org. They are used with permission.  Thanks, folks, and Ankh Udja Seneb!
There are a multitude of good reasons to use Linux - for one thing, it's FREE!  You don't have to pay a dime to use Linux unless you want to.  This is not true for many other operating systems.

Linux is powerful.  It is a fully enterprise-capable system which is presently being used to serve the large majority of websites on the Internet, among other things.

Linux is versatile.  It is available for a wider range of computing platforms than any other OS to date.  Presently, the largest Linux use is on x86 compatible hardware, but Linux is available for, (just to name a few):   Alpha,  Itanium, Power PC (most newer Apple computers) and others.  Personal computers are not the only space where Linux is in productive use - embedded devices running Linux are becoming more prevalent every day.

Linux is stable.  In its production releases, it is a remarkably stable system.  Computers are out there running Linux which have seen several years without a reboot.  This is not to say that nothing bad ever happens on Linux systems, just that they are robust and graceful in recovery from problems.

Linux is configurable.  Because all of the original program code (the source code) for Linux is open to your inspection and/or modification, you can make it do what you want.  Of course, with such great power and freedom come great responsibilities, but more on that later.

Linux is efficient.  Older hardware can easily run a basic Linux system for specific tasks (one that comes immediately to mind is using an old 386-40 with 32 megs of RAM and a 206 meg hard drive for a firewall/router or gateway on a small intranet.)  While a fully configured system with the X Window System and your favorite desktop environment can make optimal use of all the hardware you can afford, such a setup runs well enough on smaller systems (such as my Pentium II-366 powered laptop) to be very useful and usable.

 There are other reasons to run Linux, but let's dispel a common myth while we're here...  It has been said by many that Linux is more secure than certain other systems.   The simple truth is that Linux can be very secure if you configure it correctly, or it can be riddled with security holes if you don't - like everything else about Linux, it's up to you.  Most beginners don't know beans from white rice about security, and won't learn about it until it's too late.  Virii and worms don't tend to infect Linux systems as often as they do certain others RIGHT NOW because a lot of people are not targeting Linux yet.  I expect, given human nature, that this will change eventually.  (I really hope I'm wrong, though.)

This webpage was created with Mozilla Composer for Linux.  Cleanup was completed with KATE, the KDE Advanced Text Editor.  Graphics were manipulated using The GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program).  For best viewing, set your video resolution to at least 800 X 600 pixels, at least 16-bit color depth.