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Is Linux a better operating system?

Yes, it is. Why you ask?

Configurable - Highly configurable and tweakable if you want that sort of
thing. You can mod a distro for performance, stability, security, speed
or a nice combination of all of these. With Linux, you can be assured
that you are getting the maximum performance from your hardware.

Variety - Different people have different priorities. The "one size fits
all" way of commercial operating systems usually doesn't. To get the
tools and apps that are important to you it is often necessary to spend
hundreds if not thousands more. Linux distros come in a variety of
different flavors to suit justabout any need. Their are pre-packaged
distros geared for ease of use, security, gaming, AV, producivity,
servers, and many other specialized areas.

Portability - Linux runs on every major hardware architecture in use
today. This means that you are not stuck with a particular OS just
because you use a particular arch. Got a PowerPC Mac? Linux will run it.
Got a SPARC? Linux will run it. Got a AMD64? Linux will run it. Etc.
This opens up choice to the user, so they are not limited.

Security - Linux was developed from the ground up with security in mind.
Unlike many commercial OSen where security was given a back seat to
"convenience", security is apriori on Linux. Patches and updates are
released AS NEW VULNERABILITIES ARE FOUND, *not* according to some
pre-determined release schedule. This means that fixes are available
before exploits are even made, which means that a regularly updated system
will be practically invulnerable to attack. Even a default distro out of
the box is multitudes more secure than an equivelant commercial OS like
Windows.

Cost - This is important, especially to someone who doesn't have thousands
of dollars to spend just to get basic functionality with their systems.
Distros of Linux come with the Open Source equivalent of thousands of
dollars worth of commercial applications and do just as well or better
than their expensive counterparts. Many of these packages are installed
by default, which means that there is no need for a user to have to
purchase or otherwise obtain and install anything extra in order to make
their systems useful to them. Literally thousands of additional packages
can be freely obtained from various online seources to provide even more
functionality.

Setup - Linux is designed to do as much as possible without user
intervention with regards to setup and maintenance. This means that
hardware is very often recognized and configured and ready for use at
boot, internet connections are automatically configured, new hardware can
be installed on the fly and setup with little or no user intervention.
Installing a distro is a relatively painless procedure even if one chooses
all defaults. Usually there is no need to install additional drivers
and/or software to have a fully functional system on common hardware.

Ease of Use - For an average user, this is important. Major modern
distros of Linux are just as or easier to use than Commercial OSen.
Distros such as Mandrake, Fedora, Xandros, Linspire or Suse (Novell) are
configured with the user experience in mind and make it a straightforward
and simple matter to use, maintain and configure the system with a wealth
of integrated management packages. Desktop Environments like KDE and
GNOME provide a completely self-contained, fully integrated and feature
rich environment with a wealth of native applications and an unified look
and feel to facilitate use. Many persons with little computer knowledge
have few or no problems at all making the transition from Windows or OSX
to Linux.

Functionality - For 99% of what the average user does with a computer,
Linux has more than enough fully featured, easy to use applications to
accomplish them that are available right from a base install. Creating
and editing documents, Burning CD's and DVD's, Reading and sending Email
and News, Web browsing, Playing various multimedia, file sharing, instant
messaging via various protocols, Managing finances, Transferring files,
Managing Files, Updating, installing and removing software, Getting Help,
Playing games, doing homework assignments, Creating and Editing video and
audio projects, Playing various Games, Viewing and editing pictures,
Printing, Scanning, educational software, chatting online, telecommuting,
doing research, etc. Even stuff that advanced users want to do can be
done with the free applications made available in Linux like programming
and development and running various servers.

Linux has unsurpassed value for the amount and diversity of software for
the price. It can be purchased as a boxed set or obtained for little or
no cost for free online. It can be installed on as many systems as you
like for free legally. It has no activation policy. It does not dictate
how you can use your own computer systems. It is practically malware
free. It is rock-solid stable when properly configured on good hardware.
It can be personalized to look and feel exactly how you want as an
individual. It supports virtually unlimited concurrent users. It has
many advanced features that facilitate use as a desktop system. It can
multitask efficiently even with many intensive tasks running concurrently.
It enjoys the support of millions of developers and users worldwide. It
is been used all over the globe by various governments, corporations,
businesses, institutions, organizations, and individuals on a daily basis
to provide their computing needs. It is the backbone of various crucial
services for various areas and is deployed in many mission critical tasks
on a global scale. It is being used by many Hollywood FX shops on both
the workstation and render-farm to create Movies and cinema. It is
deployed in the most powerful High Performance Computing Clusters in
existance.

Linux is the pinnacle of computing. It incorporates all of the best
ideologies, methodologies and technologies of modern computing into one
system that can be had by anyone for a song.

Your petty squabbles with Linux and Open Source are really irrelevant to
anyone but you in comparison.

--
rapskat - 20:10:05 up 3 days, 10:01, 6 users, load average: 0.35, 0.42, 0.43
The whole world is a tuxedo and you are a pair of brown shoes.
-- George Gobel