well, for the IDE part it really depends on which language you're programming in right? C, C++, C# and Java (not really w/ this sentence 'cuz it's cross-platform) are usually developed on Linux.

xboxrulz

I've moved to linux because it has lots of applications beign developed exclusively to it. But the main reason is that I am too curious with OS and its capabilities. Then I just can't use the WInXP anymore, because of the VIRUS and SPYWARE problems. You can't open anything safely in a Windows system. Right now I'm using Open SuSE 10.0. I were using Debian 3.1 Sarge, and Slackware 10.2. Disliked Debian, but still, my main option is the Slackware. But I'm getting along well with this SuSE.

FASHION lol

Seriously... i work in science, i program in C a lot. Sometimes i need to use some tools i have plenty of under Linux... GNU rocks!!

The situation radically changes when it comes to playing computer games
Converting such stuff to Linux is not profitable -- people are used to it's being free and the system changes too fast... faster than i change my BFs

I like Linux for the flexibility it gives. You leave what you will need, removing the rest. Even P2, P3 can run as routers with Linux.
The other advantage of it for me is that you do not have to choose among proxy servers, firewalls cause there are de facto standards (Squid for example) that are included in the distributives.

I had tried Linux at home and learned a lot on some early Distros of RedHat but it was at work where the big changes happened to me!
I moved to Linux when I was working at an ISP-I had to design a network for our NOC-Network Operations Centre that was a windows and Linux environment.
The whole network was thin client based with 5 massive Compaq Citrix servers hosting every single app in the company.
We had 250 users and about 5 real pcs..the rest were thin client devices.

We had two flavours of thin clients Windows Nt4 and a Linux version called NeoLinux which like the NT4 Os was burnt on to Flash chips and booted real fast into the Citrix environment.
It was cool for the NOC operators cos they had 4 flat panel each one kb one mouse and switches to switch from 2 windows terminals and 2 Linux terminals..this meant they could could look at soo many diag tools on both platforms.

It took a long time to get Citrix to talk to Linux and set Samba and other servers but once it was was running it literally had minimal problems.
I had a couple of Solaris servers under my desk and an old Slack ware distro on a dual boot on my pc so that I could administer Citrix in Windows and Linux in Linux..
After a while I found I would use the Windows Partition less and less and then finally one day rebuilt my pc only with Linux ( a copy of SUSE) and also changed my laptop over...I havnt looked back since..sure I still have Windows 2000 (I will NOT use XP ever!!!!!) on a pc at home that me and my son play games on ..every other pc in the house is a Linux powered pc now;)
Next to change is my phone..I have a very nice pocket pc that runs on Windows for mobile version 5 ...ive been reading and researching a Linux distro that could be flashed over to my phone...as soon as the service contract runs out on it then I will try to change that over to it too LOL I hope it survives!! ive heard some nasty tales on a few forums!!

I'm all for a LINUX only world just wish games manufacturers would see the light too!!
Imagine a bootable cd with a REALLY light OS on it just to play the game that the cd comes with...this HAS to be a good idea right? more resources for the game to use?

Wake up people!!

Wow, Mark, that's a story! I absolutely hate citrix with all my heart. My vocational school uses it to provide students with Office 2003, network file shares and other things. My Cisco teacher is also anti-citrix because it's gotta load everything from the web and our proxy server likes to cut internet connections after they're idle for X minutes to free up resources so if you haven't saved, you'll get a message saying "Your connection to the Citrix server has been terminated" or whatever and poof! There goes Word with everything. Another thing I hate is sometimes I can't get to MY My Computer and will end up at the server's. Same with Control Panel.

I'd be using SuSE as my primary OS if everything I did didn't require the use of Windows. I know I'd be running my laptop on Linu but darn Averatec hardware seems to favor Windows over anything else (if I set a switch, I can install just about any flavor of Linux I so please but I won't have USB nor PCMI support which laptops are worthless without.). Just another reason why I hope MS falls. But the good news is I'm working on getting my Cisco teacher to switch us over to SuSE linux. Finally, Linux in a classroom! Even most of the class seems to agree. Even though we need Windows, we could probably dual boot.

[N]F

That would be like if your computer was an Xbox360 or PS3 ... cool . Or maybe having an onboard-flash chip that boots into a gaming environement that allows to play games on any OS .

I myself switched to linux a week ago. I don't have much experience, but I liked Slackware10.2 so I'm now running Slackware11.0 and I must say, it's a pain in the but to get it running the way it should be, but hell it's much more fun than just pressing a few buttons and having a ready to use OS. At least I'm learning something now .
There are 3 main reasons why I actualy switched. 1st was the challenge to switch to linux (that why most people won't use it), 2nd one is because I want to know how to work with linux, 3th reason is because I have linux courses at school (so cool , but he's going a bit slow atm ). Perfect combination to make the switch and I'm a pretty happy linux user atm, it works, it works good, not perfect, not superfast, but it works. I can chat, I can surf, I can compile, I can make website, I can make report, ... don't need more atm. The only thing I'm missing is wine so I can try to get those app from school .

The only thing preventing me from switching over from windows is that my work requires either windows or mac OS. I am a designer who needs industry standard software that is only available on a windows/mac os. I know that it is possible to emulate some of these programs but I need all the speed I can get with my limiited RAM.

Right now I run a replacement shell for windows which gives me a little more control over my GUI and shell functionality/navigation, etc. The shell runs faster and more stable than the default explorer shell. I have been thinking about setting up a dual boot linux/windows system but I don't know when I would really use the linux since I am working off and on throughout the day and night on sort of a sparatic schedule. It's just easier to have everything in one place.

I recently switched to linux about 2 months ago. mostly because I idea of open source and and the community support of it. I started with fedora core 3, then I kind of went away from it and went back to windows. More recently i got fedora core 5 which i enjoy.

I shifted to Linux purely for interest reason. Just wanted to experience the new operating system on the block. My first distro was Redhat 4.1 back in 98.

After that I left using it and came to it recently in 2002 and was amazed to see the progress it had made. These days, it has sufficient resources to be your primary operating system. My favourite distro has been Mandirva 2006 and OpenSUSE 10.1.

But frankly speaking, a switch has never been possible... It becomes a pain in the ass to live without the sheer support windows offers. I dont have a proper DVD writing s/w on Linux since K3b doesnt do the job. So have to revert to windows to perform the task. But however, there are certain things for which I prefer using Linux, specially general internet surfing. I am sure while surfing that I am safe from any new kind of worm/trojan just invented...