Cost once was and still is a driving factor when considering free software, but free software's feature set has now exceeded that of commercial software in all but a small subset of tasks. Today's distributions provide stability, function, ease of use and even beauty that rivals commercial software.
Free software will stretch your hardware and software budget. Free software is much more efficient than it's commercial counterparts and can run on older hardware. If you are a home user or small office considering a large hardware investment, you should consider free software.
At home, when you are told that the best fix for your old computer is a new operating system, a free one might be the best solution. A minimal reinstall of your old software to maintain compatibility with your existing hardware, while having a second free operating system for daily use is the cheapest and easiest way to go. Free software can read your old operating system's files, so the divide is smaller than you might think.
My computers are a good example of this. I have Windows 98 on one computer that talks to a scanner and some old digital cameras. It's a 450 MHz K6/2 and mostly runs Debian. Windows 2000 would not install on it.
At the office, you are typically driven by new file formats, and here the free software solution really shines. Open Office and Star Office can meet most of these needs without buying new hardware. One or two Microsoft translation machines can take care of the rest of those kinds of needs. The benefits home users realize are multiplied by the number of computers in a small office.
Free software also has superior networking, work sharing and collaboration tools because free software is typically developed by teams who's members are spread all over the globe. I have yet to get a computer virus, trojan or other piece of malware on any of my computers since moving to Linux.
Largo, Florida is graphic proof of how free software can save lots of money and trouble in the office. Greater control, security and ease await.
The biggest hurdle to free software use is installation. Franchise shops that make money selling commercial software are afraid to offer this kind of service. I don't, so I'm not. I'm able to offer you software at no cost but my effort. Most of the software I know how to install and configure is easy to maintain once it is in place. If you run into trouble, help is available. I don't anticipate many call backs of that nature.
You might want to know who am I and why do I do this. I'm a mechanical engineer and student at of Health Physics at LSU, doing this to earn some extra money. I learned about free software as a graduate student of Nuclear Science at LSU, where it was very useful. At home, I've been running free software exclusively for more than a year now. You may remeber me from my work at Computer Heaven and Bits Technical. I've also been a volunteer lecturer for the newbies group at the Baton Rouge Linux Users Group. (Lectures here) It's been fun. Who knows, I might be able to make more of this than I think. This is my resume and this is my web page if your are interested.
There are practical and ethical reasons to run free software. Others have written at length about them. Essentially, makers of closed source software have little respect for you and are acting unethically. While ethics are debatable, the superior performance of free software is not. People who have the courage to put their work up for peer review generally have better ethics and greater respect for their fellow man than than those who don't. The difference in attitude has an exponential and demonstrable effect. If your bottom line is money, free software wins out. Here are a few links you might be interested in: