photo courtesy of zopeuse

For a long time I wasn’t entirely sure why I begin to use Linux as my primary computing platform. The Open Source idea had a lot to do with it, for sure, but I am no Open Source zealot. At most I’m a polite evangelist – when I have the energy. I am definitely a hacker, to be sure, but you can hack any OS to a pretty high degree if you really want (and don’t seem to be bothered by that little DMCA thing). It helped of course that pretty much everything I use a computer for plays well with Linux too, but still there was something more to it. Something I think I only now understand thanks to the Slow Food movement.

The Slow Food movement is, of course, a response to the modern, industrialized foods that are slowly killing us. Starting with base, organic ingredients, you work to create a healthy and complete meal that is not only as socially responsible as it can be, but is also more fulfilling consume.

And that’s exactly it. Using Linux is more fulfilling than using any other operating system.

While using Linux takes a lot more work sometimes – just like making slow food – the end product is something that you are familiar with to it’s very core, and it feels good to use it. To outsiders this is seen as the highest levels of computer geekiness, to be sure, and perhaps a little insane. It’s natural to wonder why a Linux user spends 12 hours to configure their wireless, or spends months writing code that they give away for “free.” Well, the reasoning, in many ways, is the same as to why a Slow food Person might spend months in their garden growing lettuce just to merely make a simple salad. Knowing that the end product is so good and pure, and your hard work was a key part of that process, makes everything about it better.

If we take Slow Food USA’s answer to “What is Slow Food:”

Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.

And make a few substitutions:

Linux is an idea, a way of living and a way of computing. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of computing with a commitment to the open source community and the computing environment.

That sounds just about right.