Perceptions of operating systems

Perceptions of operating systems results from mental models formed over time. This article discusses some of these factors.

Psychological type
An online post posted on the Ubuntu Forums investigated if there is a correlation between the preference to use Linux and personality.

The extraverted sensing types, such as the ESTJs are more likely to prefer Windows, whereas the Introverted Intuitive minority are more inclined towards a Linux operating system. ESTJs compose at least 11 percent of the population. It is possible that in a world full of introverted initiatives, Linux rather than Windows might be the dominant operating system.

Self-reported type on Ubuntu forms
Users on the Ubuntu forms self-reported their psychological type. We presented this data in a table (as shown below):

The sample (n = 17) is a reasonable size in human-computer interaction (HCI) studies. The small group suggests while intuitive types are over-represented in the sample, Ubuntu is not exclusively used by initutives. In fact several sensing types: ESFP, ISTJ and ESTJ were among the Ubuntu users. Further, at least one INFJ may have been mistyped. The representation of intuitive types could be due to intuitive bias in the MBTI community. The majority of users were INTJs and INTPs. Analytical psychology suggests that the adoption of Ubuntu by INTPs and INTJs may be to defend against the emotional pressures of society. It may also explain criticism of the Linux community as being hostile and toxic. The toxicity would stem from the inferior Fe of the overrepresented INTP and INTJ types.

Our reasoning
The table below brainstorms some ideas for psychological types, what OS they would likely prefer and why based on the field of analytical psychology.

Ubuntu and Linux
On Open Source.com, the top 25 reasons for using Linux were listed.
 * customization of the graphical user interface
 * efficiency and things just work
 * cost of using Linux
 * a wide selection of apps and tools
 * Feeling of looking like a real technician and programmer
 * No limit to what can be imagined
 * More secure and stable
 * Sense of user being in total control
 * Presents learning challenges
 * Useful for data handing and analysis

Windows
One of the selection choices governing Windows seemed to not be that of technical superiority but that alternatives such as Ubuntu lacked features such as office production tasks. Other reasons for selecting Windows stemmed from its technical support and widespread use across the business sector.