Our house has become a "Linux household" in the last couple of months, and the boys have been furiously drawing stuff, apart from working on the computer. Sketches of Linus Torvalds and Linux-related themes are all over the house. Varun Baba even has Tux (the penguin) with the features of Linus on one of his drawings (the second picture)

We have had a phone for two years now, a computer for a year and a half, and an internet connection for just under a year. For the last two months we have been using a Linux OS : Ubuntu. So we are newbies and what I write will be naive in parts. I would urge all those who read this post to comment on what I have written and what I haven't, on your usage or non-usage of Linux/Ubuntu/FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software).

To connect to the Internet using Ubuntu was an issue and Badri Baba and I ("with a little bit of help from our friends") managed to do it after a week or so of frustration. Once online, we mucked around and over time completely stopped using Windows. With the evangelism of the new convert, I would urge all of you to try Ubuntu in a separate partition if you do not want to get rid of Windows. The whole feel is great from the Desktop backgrounds and Screen savers to the fact that there are no virus issues.

Q1: Why does Linux not have virus issues?
Q2: Relatedly, why are there viruses at all? Is it criminals who are trying to steal credit card details or your phone number or what-have-you; or is it "hackers" doing it for a lark?

The philosophy behind the Open Source movement seems sound to me. Sharing means that everyone who uses Linux is a potential contributor to it, whereas Proprietary Software means that the people who work on it are a small fraction of the people who use it.

But how is a company like Canonical (which "makes" Ubuntu) financially viable? You can download Ubuntu for free, you can even ask for an installation CD, and they will mail you one for free. Obviously I am missing something, but I have to ask, with Badri Baba, " I know how Microsoft makes money, but how does Canonical make money?"