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*Windows and OSX are closed source and when you use them you trust your privacy to Microsoft and Apple. Linux is a good alternative because many distributions are completely open source which means 3rd parties can vet the software and give you confidence that it is not gathering information about you and sending it back to Windows or Apple. In addition the culture of Linux is largely one of free as freedom and free as in beer. Therefore many of the tools and programs designed to work on Linux are inherently more privacy-centric (and often free!).
===Distribution===
*''Not Ubuntu'' Ubuntu used to be my goto distribution. It was cutting edge and easy to use. Unfortunatly, Ubuntu has gotten too big for its britches and no longer respects its users as it once did. Ubuntu now comes with a "feature" turned on by default that is a user privacy breach. Using their new "Unity" interface any time you search on your own local machine a string is sent to Amazon to target ads to you. This basically means that Amazon knows everything you are requesting to run and all the files you search for on your own, personal, private machine. Therefore I cannot recommend using or supporting Ubuntu any longer.*''Mint'' [http://www.linuxmint.com/ Linux Mint] is, essentially, the spiritual successor to Ubuntu. It is a Linux distribution that is designed to be very easy to use, just like Ubuntu, be the designer of Mint respect their users and their users' privacy. If you are new to the Linux world get this distribution.*''Fedora'' [https://fedoraproject.org/ Fedora] is a very popular Linux distribution that is aimed at a slightly more tech savvy audience. Fedora aims to be on the cutting edge of software development. The maintainers come out with a new version, roughly, every 6 months. This aggressive release schedule along with their commitment to the latest software keeps this distribution very up to date. If you are comfortable at a command line and enjoy the latest and greatest the Open Source Community has to offer, get Fedora. This is the distribution that I, personally, run on my machines.
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