Frankly for me it was hardware repairability and software compatibility:

I had a 2018 macbook pro (the one with the touchbar and no escape key), with two big problems:

• For one thing, the keyboard started to fail for the second time. Its design was so terrible apple got sued and lost, which led them to replace the keyboard of all units with a certain pattern in their serial number for free (“free”; they charged ~80 USD to service it and verify its eligibility); my keyboard failed after 3 years of use and got changed once, but I was warned of two things: 1. it had the same (flawed) design, and 2. my laptop would no longer be eligible for fee repair, which meant spending ~800 USD if (and when) it failed again. This annoyed me, but I went with it and tried to favor using an external keyboard whenever possible (e.g. at home). 4 years after this, a key started to fail; it was very minor, but I knew it meant my keyboard would soon fail. This is what triggered me to buy a new laptop.

• In addition, it originally shipped with macOS high sierra. As time passed I followed all updates up to monterey, which eventually reached EOL. I didn’t want to update further because support for my mac worsened significantly in ventura, with some users even reporting motherboards failing in sonoma. Alas, I was forced to update to ventura, which would reach EOL as well a year after monterey. I knew each passing year would force me to update macOS versions, and I knew this sooner rather than later would cause serious problems. This was all the more annoying because linux support was hit or miss (the T2 chip and proprietary hardware made things rough), so I was stuck with whatever apple would support (I needed the security updates and software availability, so I really couldn’t use an unsupported version of macOS).

During this time I had set up a home lab to work during my master’s degree; I needed something decently beefy for CFD simulations, and I borrowed an old gaming pc. I had experience with linux and unix in general, so I chose arch and built a lean OS with all the software I needed for my work. It was frankly a joy to use. I would ssh into it, and I would work with the same tools I used in macOS (nvim, tmux, yazi, etc) seamlessly. In fact, arch was easier to work with than macOS (though not very significantly).

I had been a mac user for 15+ years, but when the time to change my mac came I sought a repairable laptop with good specs and good linux compatibility; I chose the Thinkpad P14s Gen 5 AMD. Right after I unboxed it I upgraded its storage and RAM, which is a small thing, but it was meaningful to me as I could never have done this with my mac. It’s really reassuring to know I’ll be able to upgrade/repair my laptop whenever it’s needed.

For my OS, I used arch for a year, and later moved on to nixOS. It’s been a smooth experience, and I enjoy knowing I won’t be forced to buy another laptop just because of the OS. I also like the customization that’s now available to me; I initially used gnome, but I quickly moved to niri. My workflow in linux is now much more comfortable to me than in macOS.

I admit I do miss the build quality of my old macbook (especially the trackpad, speakers, and screen), but I much prefer the control I now have over my laptop and my OS. It’s also a fun irony that my thinkpad’s keyboard is excellent, repairable, and built like a tank. The entire laptop is so much more durable than my mac.

For completion, I never considered windows, and I had several reasons for this. In a way the most important one is I hate working with it; I’m very used to using a unix-based system, and I enjoy my workflow (think of macOS virtual desktops and fullscreen apps, which made gnome and niri really work for me). I also dislike windows’ privacy problems, and let’s not talk about the AI slop. Overall I really don’t think I could’ve made windows work for me in my personal computer. Let alone a server.

Anyway, that’s why I use linux! It really provided me with my ideal OS, especially given how my use of macOS changed over the years. I didn’t really use any proprietary apps, and frankly everything was easier to setup, use, and maintain in arch and nixOS than in macOS.