What started off as a kid as mild interest in something “different.” Different in the sense that it was different than that of what I grew up using. Anywhere from the lame old school Mac computers in primary school, to the Windows PCs that were everywhere. I did go to school for a degree in Cyber Security; and of course got my hands on some different Linux distros over the years, so between my younger years of tinkering, and schooling I had exposure to Linux early on.
Fast forward a bit, years and years pass by and I was a Windows user because that was just readily available and accessible and what I had primarily used for most of my life; and I was getting fed up with what Microsoft was doing and pushing. That being said, I initially switched from Windows 10/11 to Arch Linux out of hatred for Microsoft.
Well, my reasoning has changed drastically. It used to be because I hated Microsoft and all of their shenanigans. Now I use Linux out of love for Linux. Sure, I still hate Microsoft; but that is a naturally progression the further I get into my niche.
I love open source, and my beliefs on open source has permeated through other beliefs. I think that the collective of human knowledge should be effectively “open source” and available to all. We shouldn’t be limited on what we want to learn just because of a corporation or business entity says they arbitrarily own a subset of knowledge.
Anyways, tldr; started as hate for Microsoft, and turned into genuine love for Linux and Open Source Software.