Linux was also Free. It's hard to beat Free of acceptable quality - the kids would install it to check it out, see that it's cool, then leave high school ready

Linux was also Free. It's hard to beat Free of acceptable quality - the kids would install it to check it out, see that it's cool, then leave high school ready to be Linux sysadmin interns. In contrast, they might get a few minutes per week of mainframe time in University.