For the Linux newbie, Ubuntu is the oft recommended distro, for a few different reasons. It's easy to set up, works on a lot of hardware, and doesn't require a manual to understand how to manage it. For the same reason, Ubuntu seems to get a bad rap from more experienced Linux users. I say there's no need of it, and I'm about to explain why.

Over the past year or so I’ve noticed an increasing number of newbies (a term which I use affectionately) interested in taking Linux for a spin - for example, the number or emails I’m getting on the subject from zero a year ago to several dozen a week. The reasons for their interest in Linux are many and varied, as is the level of commitment to making the switch from Windows or Mac.

Most people like it, many others don’t, the fact is that Ubuntu is the king of Linux distributions right now - and for some very good reasons. Below I will attempt to identify those reasons that made Ubuntu the most popular distribution and explain why its success was “inevitable”.

Last week I read a half-witted blog post citing “3 Reasons why we shouldn’t use Linux”.

TechBirdy’s reasons are either born out of complete ignorance, or from a desire to spread pure FUD.

Being a Linux user, I thought: what are some good reasons to not use Linux? The following are the best reasons I could come up with.

Ten reasons to run Vista? There are far more reasons than that to run GNU/Linux. And it doesn't take as long to enumerate them because the reasons are simple and you do not need ten paragraphs to outline each argument. When it comes to GNU/Linux, the KISS principle applies.

To sum it all up: in my opinion openSUSE is not well suited for Linux newbies. Maybe businesses, but not newbies. Not even newbie businesses… unless they’re l33t Linux superh4xx0rz. And I just personally didn’t like openSUSE — just an opinion from a Linux newbie, so it shouldn’t reflect on whether openSUSE is good or not… but Linux Mint is WAY better.

I wanted to write 5 reasons to dump windows over linux, but soon I was so overwhelmed by rush of reasons that I could find, that I ended up making a list of 50 reasons.

By now, you might have noticed that I'm a big fan of Puppy Linux. I wrote about this tiny Linux distro in Linux (Pro) Magazine, and extol its virtues at any given opportunity. It is the distro I'm running on my workhorse ASUS Eee PC 701 4G netbook, and it helps me to stay productive not only in airports, cafés, and hotel rooms but also at home.

While we all have our own reasons for liking Linux and open source, here are my top five (and a half!) reasons why, as a power user, I prefer to use Linux. You’ll notice that these reasons are quite a bit different from why I think Ubuntu makes a great operating system for Mom, which just goes to show how versatile Linux can be.