I first met Bill Gates at the age of twenty. He stood in the yard of his Washington lakefront home, Diet Coke in hand, a tastefully small ketchup stain on his shirt, which no one had the courage to point out, and answered our questions, in-turn, like a savant.

"I am a supporter and user of free software (though I admit I have not migrated entirely). I research and write about the social movement aspect of free software, and its potential as a model for alternative social organization beyond the realm of software development. I am inspired by the future envisioned by free software and take heart from its existence here and now.

One of the most oft-asked questions I get is “Why should I switch to Linux?” It comes to me either via inbox or sound waves attacking my aural system every day. So I thought I would bring these answer to the outstanding readers here at gHacks to inspire conversation on the topic.

In a couple of weeks I’ll be switching my main computer back to Ubuntu from Windows 7. But the reason isn’t exasperation with Windows 7, and it’s not one that should give Mac fans hoping that the new Microsoft OS will be a failure any kind of comfort.

ONE particular new thread that caught people's attention began with this revelation: "You know what scared ME from using Windows? Working for Microsoft for 14 years, 4 of them in the Windows division.

Political parties in the country embrace FOSS, but Microsoft carries on with EDGI, gifts, and dumping of software

This is somewhat of a simple observation on my part, but one of the things I've noticed of late is how the cry for Ext4 is growing, and fast. Sure, recent benchmarks make it look like the ultimate solution. But I don't recommend moving to the Ext4 file system just yet.

What drives users to try Linux, only to fail to make it work for them in the long haul? Once you get past the fact that there is no concrete way of tracking desktop Linux usership and all indications based on existing trends indicate that there are potentially millions of us worldwide, it would seem that while some fail to stick with it, others are making it work.