Is Open Source a Moral Imperative?
SwellJoe: It's all about your priorities...but I'm surprised that you think switching to Linux will make you less productive (at least you've qualified it with, "for a while").  People who uses computers a lot, as I presume you are, can generally be more productive on a Linux system...it's just dramatically more flexible, and so it can be tuned to suit your requirements in ways that Windows and Mac OS X cannot.  I'm completely useless on a Windows or Mac machine...not because I don't know how they work and all the things I need to do to make them more useful (like installing vim, Cygwin, and PuTTY on Windows immediately), but because they are just less friendly to software development work.  Package management is also a joke on Windows and Mac OS X...every time I have to install a new piece of software it makes me want to stab someones eyes out.  There's sort of a belief that Windows has more software than Linux...but, to me, it always feels like it has dramatically less, because the base system is so limited.  A stock Linux system has tons of software, and hundreds or thousands of more apps are a single command away.  Mac and Windows are simply anemic by comparison, and you have to hit the web to find additional stuff and install it using whatever archaic process the developer opted to use.Anyway, back to the point, if you believe Open Source is a good thing for the world, then using more of it, supporting more of it, and building more of it, should be among your goals in life.  I happen to believe that, so those are among my goals each day.  However, they aren't my only goals, and I don't think they necessarily need to be your only goals.  I also have to make a living, so I work on some small bits of proprietary software that coexists with the Open Source software I work on.  I also have to have some fun, so I have a Nintendo Wii running all proprietary non-Open Source software.  I have to test my commercial products on Internet Explorer and Safari, so I have a dual booting system that can boot Windows for running IE and Safari.  When I built an HTPC, I used Windows Vista, because there are no Blu Ray player software products for Linux (and there may never be an Open Source Blu Ray player).  I'm less extreme than I once was; there was a time when I had no proprietary software in my life, and it worked fine for me at that time.But, I take satisfaction in taking part in the Open Source community.  I wouldn't find using a Mac or a Windows machine as my primary system as satisfying.  Some folks have other priorities.  UI and hardware beauty, as found in Apple products, are important to a lot of people, and they are willing to accept the higher cost and the legal restrictions that come with it.  I find Open Source and freedom dramatically more beautiful than the restrictive and infantilizing Mac experience, but I'm probably wired up funny.  Using a Mac makes me angry, while most people seem to find it peaceful, or something.