The UNIX kernal has been pretty much "open source" since it's inception. My understanding is that (to oversimplify) LINUX was a name change to make it easier to track who was going to "oversee" the additions to source code.

My first encounter with LINUX/UNIX was more than forty years ago. It's been an "in a few months" product since well before then.

It is a very good system, if run by knowledgeable people who exert strict control over what users try to do with/to it. Unfortunately, it is also more complex than the very great majority of people are willing, or able, to contend with.

For anyone willing to expend the necessary effort, and who feels that they gain something from it, I'm all in favor of them using it.

I've had enough experience with it to know that I'd rather stick with Windows.

The absolute number of people using LINUX (and a couple of other op systems) has been growing, simply because more people are using computers. The "market share" (percentage) has shown little growth for several decades. This is one reason why device manufacturers may tend to put low priority on writing drivers for LINUX. Another factor is that, though most of us can't, a lot of people can write drivers, and the LINUX user population is full of people who will try to "top" anything the manufacturer puts out. It'd scare me some.

There is some satisfaction to be had from being "different" from "the herd." Been there. Done that. Bought the T-shirt. Now that I've learned that I am not likely to significantly advance the state of computing arts with my efforts, I'd rather just get some work done in the fields I know and enjoy. Windows works fine for me.

John