Lifehacker asks (and answers) "Why install Linux?"

Kevin Purdy from Lifehacker has written a good piece for the Linux curious. He give the following points for reasons one would want to use Linux:

• It's free
• It works on a wide range of hardware (old and new)
• Highly customizable
• as a (computer systems) learning aid
• Lot's of free and impressive applications

A snippet from the article:

Getting Started with Linux: Why Install Linux?

 Kevin Purdy — Curious about Linux, but not ready to dive in head first without a little background? We're on it. As part of our our Night School series, we'll be detailing, troubleshooting, and taking a deeper swim into the open-source OS this week. Today, we're offering some encouragement for the hesitant.

Why, in this day of razor-thin and elegant Macs, a solid Windows 7 offering, and cloud-connected gadgets would anyone bother to carve up their hard drive and install Linux, the geekiest of the major operating systems? Linux will never be everyone's desktop, but here's why it might be just perfect for you, as a workhorse or a hobby.

In a general sense, the core operating system on your computer is becoming more and more abstract, as more services move onto the web, and as your browser and sites' own code are capable of doing much more of the traditional heavy lifting of daily work. So if you use a computer for browsing, email, IM, and some light app functions, Linux can work just as well for you as any other system.

There are many reasons to switch to Linux, as explained by your fellow readers. Here are some of the strongest cases to consider.

It's Totally Free, for Any System You Have

Let's just come right out and say it—you, or at least a good number of people you know, have installed not-quite-squeaky-clean operating systems on your computers. Maybe it was testing out Boot Camp on a Mac, or upgrading a secondary machine, or just avoiding a sudden $100-plus financial hit. You had to pull a few tricks to get it to work, then forever after had to keep a cautious eye on updates, service packs, and other potential slip-ups. The same dark alley feel often comes with hefty apps like Photoshop or Office.

Linux is free, for one or 8,000 computers, with all future upgrades and potential software included. If you've got hardware you want to use but not the software, Linux is where you can turn to make it usable. Generally, even a newcomer can get Wi-Fi access, a modern browser, and the essential desktop apps running on a system in short order. Beyond those basics, well—that's what this Lifehacker Night School Series will get into!

Hop on over to Lifehacker for the full article.