Windows is like a Game Boy. You go to the store and buy one all shiny new in the box. You take it home, turn it on, and play with it. Pretty graphics, cute sounds. After a while, though, you get tired of the game that came with it, so you go back to the store and buy another one. This cycle repeats over and over.
Finally, you go back to the store and say to the person behind the counter, “I want a game that does this!” only to be told that no such game exists because there is no “market demand” for it. Then you say, “But I only need to change this one thing!” The person behind the counter says you can’t change it. The games are all sealed up in their cartridges. You discover that your toy is limited to the games others have decided that you need.
Linux, on the other hand, is like the world’s largest Erector Set. You open it, and it’s just a huge collection of parts. There’s a lot of steel struts, screws, nuts, gears, pulleys, motors, and a few suggestions on what to build. So, you start to play with it. You build one of the suggestions and then another.
After a while you discover that you have your own ideas of what to make. You don’t ever have to go back to the store, as you already have everything you need. The Erector Set takes on the shape of your imagination. It does what you want. Your choice of toys is, of course, a personal thing, so which toy would you find more satisfying?
Top comments (1)
I'd say it was like that 10 or more years ago. Right now, how I see it, you go to the store and get Linux (free) but you take one off the pre-assembled Erector Set. It has pretty sounds, it's fast, it's cool, you feel like hacker :) Then after some time, again, things start to bother you, some stuff still reminds you of (bad) windows stuff and you go back to store. Now, two types of us leave the store. Some end up with another pre-assembled set to buy a few more months of play, and some go with not assembled set. The second type stick with the platform from now on.