As a Linux Journal editor, I'd love to claim that in my college years I realized the oppression stemming from proprietary operating systems. I'd love to confess that Linux was the natural choice amongst a sea of other options. Heck, I'd even like to say back then Linux was my first choice. For me, however, the story played out a bit differently.

I was just plain old poor. In 1994, I started a computer repair business. I had failed Econ the previous semester at Michigan Tech, so you can imagine how successful my computer business was. It turns out, I didn't like charging people to help them with their problems. Much of my "profit" contained chocolate chips, and for some reason, I'd take people's old broken computers instead of charging labor. (Again, "PowerNet Computer Services" didn't last very long)

So the next year, I enrolled into a local community college. This was both because it was close to my "business", and because university was too expensive. It was during this time I started building computers from all the parts I'd taken as payment. It was also this time that I started using Linux. The price was right, and my Unix experience made Linux a viable option. I fell in love very quickly, and what started as merely a cheap way to learn about *nix developed into skills that would form my future career on several fronts. Thanks Linux!

So now it's your turn. Why are you a Linux user?
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Shawn Powers is an Associate Editor for Linux Journal. You might find him chatting on the IRC channel, or Twitter