Without an operating system – Mac OS X, say, or Windows XP – a computer is just a dumb box of chips, and even the most exciting application will have no environment in which to run. And, it's easy to forget that you have a choice of which OS you run.

"When I wrote a passioned statement about how having a choice of distros was a good thing, I decided to list 359 other things that it was good to have choices for. I thought it was a good effort, and still do. But in the course of a week I have also come to realize that other points of view may have some validity, too."

"Look through a list available packages for any free OS and you’ll find a sometimes bewildering choice of browsers, mail readers, editors, desktops and tetris-clones available. Despite this many will just blindly install the first one they’ve heard of. Is this a good policy? What good is all this choice if we don’t use it and what are those choices? ..."

Linux is used as a server all the time. From branch-offices using Linux and Samba to Google running, well everything, on Linux, it's the operating system for choice for most businesses. Except that is, for small offices. There, Microsoft's SBS (Small Business Server) is the server of choice. The Clear Foundation wants to change that with their ClearOS 5.1 small business server distribution.

Ever since windows came out, until Linux and it's brethren came along, there has really been no other choice of operating system. Before you get your knickers in a knot and start spouting off the multitude of operating systems that were available at that time, let me explain.

The Ubuntu 8.10 server is an especially good choice for services that are based in the Ubuntu repository. Ease of use is one of the main interests in the Ubuntu 8.10 server so administrators tend to look at Ubuntu not only because this is a staple of the Ubuntu Desktop but the server version has been known for...

Do you remember a time when Linux was a niche OS? Beyond college kids and a few converted Unix nerds, Linux was something for hackers, Ham radio operators and ivory tower dwellers. No one would ever put a Linux-based computer into a data center.

How much did your computer cost? $500? $1,000? $2,000? How much has it cost you since you bought it? The price of a computer is not a one-time expense — it is rather, an ongoing one. How much you pay for your computer over a year's time, or the entire lifetime of the computer, depends greatly on your choice of operating system.

Linus Torvalds, head of development for Linux, comments on the operating system, its rival Windows, what motivates software developers and the occasional messiness of free choice