Hi ppl .... am doing a sort ov research on linux and i need to know .. why Linux is best OS among others for learning system programming .... n wot is the competitive advantage ..... ?

Looking 4 ur co-operation ....... Plz plz plzZzzzzz ... Help me ...

And also I think it's because the source is avilable. Console based, and overall, for some reason Linux just feels more professional when comparing with other OSs. It's not made for the lazy bum who doesnt want to learn how to install a program without double clicking on an icon. It doesnt include 50 page manuel of how to change the desktop wallpaper.
Overall, it's made for smart people, people who are willing to learn, and fast learners.
I think that's the reason for that.

to change the desktop wall paper all you need is a separate program, i use my picture viewer as it can also change the wall paper background,

but as far as programing in linux, umm, its console based?, you don't have to worry about what compiler your using (well, also as gcc is really one of the only good compilers around, and free), plus, you can tweak all day and all night till you get it the way you like,,

plus its a rock solid kernel (umm, maybe i should be saying more diamond solid? ), ,, and sense you can get the source codes to things usually rather easily, a programer can just go look at the source code for a library and see what it can do, and nothing can hide.... (unless you forget what directory you put something in!),, in windows you have to trust that the Manuel's actually tell you everything (and the truth).... plus you can also look at the source and see how things are done, so you don't have to spend all year thinking about how something should be done or could be done

Free development tools. You don't have to pay 2000 annually to be able to compile hello world once in a while....

2000% Agree. When I learned Visual Basic in school, I wanted to have the program at home so I can practise better. All I wanted to do was to create some hello world programs and I had no choice except to download it from Kazaa.

Modular kernel makes OS programming really easy as you can create kernel modules and attach and deattach them from kernel in the way you want no risking the entire system's kernel integrity. Being open-source, the source code is readly available for your study enabling you to know more about the system and thefore programming better. As you know more about system functioning you see it's easier to go forth.