Why I Fell In Love With Linux, And Why PCLinuxOS Magazine Feels Like Home

Editor’s Note: We have been aware for quite some time now that non-PCLinuxOS users faithfully read The PCLinuxOS Magazine. After all, compared to the commercially available operating systems, Linux information is a bit harder to come by. This is a first-hand account from Hamza Mu, a physician, equestrian, and a Linux user, about why he loves The PCLinuxOS Magazine. In fact, Hamza is also a former PCLinuxOS user. We originally reprinted two of his articles in the September 2025 issue of the magazine. We feel (and hope) his sentiments about The PCLinuxOS Magazine are shared by Linux users all across the globe.

I didn’t just start using Linux in the late 1990s. I fell into it. Like a horse that knows the trail before you do. It wasn’t a choice. It was an awakening, then turned to a lifestyle.

Back then, I was a medical student starting my first year in Egypt, curious about how things really worked. Not just medicine, but machines. The terminal was my first teacher. Config files became my journal. Bash scripts? My daily meditation.

Some of my engineer friends were using RedHat, others Debian, but a unique friend used Slackware, and he did not even care (he still uses Slackware though). However, my geek friends used FreeBSD, Debian, and Mandrake (now Mandriva).

But the primary reason for me to use Linux, actually and the things I really liked about it, was that It saved me countless hours that I would have wasted gaming, and instead I focused on Learning.

Linux For me, More than an OS!

Linux wasn’t just an OS for me.

It was a lifestyle.

A discipline.

A mindset.

It is a self-educational discipline that will make you a good developer, researcher, problem solver, and that made me a better doctor, and a good horse rider as well.

And like horse riding, which I’ve lived with for over 15 years, Linux demands presence, patience, and listening. You don’t use it. You live with it. Every command is a conversation. Every error message is a lesson. Every fix feels like healing.

I still remember the first time I ran sudo apt update and saw the progress bar move, not because of speed, but because I understood what was happening. That moment changed everything.

I think I said to my friends, who use Mac, back then when they got excited about their new package manager, "We have dozens of them in the Linux world, I am not that excited".

Since then, I’ve carried this spirit everywhere.

Why I Do recommend Linux to my Friends (Except Gamers)

I recommended Linux to friends, teachers, students, even my own son. He’s only five. But he runs Linux on an old machine I gave him. No Windows. No games. Just curiosity, control, and quiet focus. He doesn’t want to switch. And neither do I.

I’ve hosted meetups, mostly at my house, joined workshops, built small communities around Linux (My little brother, Anas, carried the spirit to Ubuntu EG community for some time), not just for tech, but to learn and exchange knowledge and feedback.

These weren’t just users sharing tips. They were people who understood: when you tinker with your system, you’re also learning to tinker with yourself.

These friendships, forged over shared commands, config fixes, late-night debugging sessions, are real. Deep. Lasting. They’re more than knowledge exchange. They’re life-long bonds.

To me, Linux is a mental gym.

It’s problem-solving as therapy.

It’s building resilience one script at a time.

The PCLinuxOS Magazine!

The PCLinuxOS Magazine began in September 2006, not as a corporate project, but as a heartbeat of the community. It was born from real users, for real users. No developers. No official ties. Just people who loved PCLinuxOS and wanted to share, learn, grow together.

For nearly two decades, it has published monthly (with only brief pauses), each issue packed with practical how-tos, personal stories, and wisdom from everyday Linux users. It’s not about perfection. It’s about honesty. About showing up. About helping someone else find their way, just like you once did.

The magazine is built by volunteers: Paul Arnote (parnote), Meemaw, Torsten Schommer (tbs), and many others who believe in open knowledge. Hosted on David Moore’s server, it runs on PCLinuxOS itself, a quiet, beautiful loop of community, code, and care. (Editor's Note: since the fire at David's place in June, the magazine website has been hosted on Hostinger.)

I love this magazine because it reflects what Linux means to me, not just an OS, but a way of life. It’s where I first shared my voice. Where I saw my words in print. Where I felt seen. That moment, seeing my article in its pages, wasn’t just pride. It was belonging.

Why Does This Magazine Matter for The Linux Community?

It matters because it keeps the spirit alive. Not the hype. Not the marketing. But the real stuff: terminal commands, config files, bash scripts, problem-solving, late-night debugging sessions, and the joy of fixing something yourself.

In a world of polished, closed systems, PCLinuxOS Magazine stands for openness. For curiosity. For learning without fear. For sharing, even when you’re unsure.

To me, it’s more than a magazine. It’s a library of small victories.

A digital campfire where Linux users gather, not just to solve problems, but to remember why they started.

And now, after all these years, I’m honored beyond words to see my articles published in The PCLinuxOS Magazine.

It’s a rare space where open-source isn’t just code, it’s humanized.

Closed Systems VS Open Minded Systems

In a world of closed systems, AI black boxes, and digital noise, PCLinuxOS Magazine stands as a quiet, honest voice.

It reminds us: We don’t need permission to learn. We don’t need to be perfect to contribute. We just need to show up.

And that, that’s why Linux means so much more than an operating system.

It forms communities.

It builds relationships.

It teaches empathy, through debugging, through sharing, through silence when someone needs help.

Linux isn’t just software.

It’s soul.

And The PCLinuxOS Magazine?

It’s the heart of that soul.

So yes, I love Linux.

Not because it’s stable or secure (though it is).

But because it makes me feel alive.

Because it connects me, to machines, to people, to myself.

And every time I open that magazine, I’m reminded:

I belong here.

Not as a user.

Not as a developer.

But as a human, learning, growing, sharing, just like the rest of us.