That seems accurate. The advent of the 'personal computer' allowed many to get away from the (often necessary) restrictions (including expenses) imposed by the

That seems accurate. The advent of the 'personal computer' allowed many to get away from the (often necessary) restrictions (including expenses) imposed by the use of mainframes. The result was freedom to program and experiment with hardware and software. Proprietary systems (Windows, Mac) once again built in restrictions and limitations for various reasons. Linux doesn't. Its many distros are the response to widely different usage needs, ranging the gamut from turnkey to roll-your-own (Arch, Linux-from-Scratch). If you don't like some feature of a program, you can modify and re-compile the source code. The software repositories contain programs offering a few to dozens of different ways for users to accomplish their goals. Many users are drawn to understand the details of computing, and to experience the power that confers, as opposed to simply operating an appliance. In short, many Linux users are the same sort of people who made 'personal computing' possible in the first place.