On the other hand, for a while it seemed that more often than not an idealistic stand against Windows was the only viable type, and I daresay we're all better off for those who took it.
I've been using Linux since I started developing professionally, in 1997, and for the things I've worked on (mostly the web), it's always been a valid alternative.
Sure, for some things. But it wasn't a valid alternative before a bunch of people decided to spend an awful lot of time making it, despite the unlikeliness of it ever being a real competitor to DOS.
And years before that even, the GNU project was powered almost entirely by idealists (albeit the kind of idealists who actually ship code). Rewriting Unix from scratch for free? That sure sounded crazy at the time.
