Very few users of Microsoft Windows can do any programming. Linux users can almost all do at least a little programming. So here we have another one of those defining differences between Windows and Linux. Obviously this is partly a question of self selection. For an experienced programmer, having access to the source code of the operating system is a big plus; so naturally they choose Linux. Lots of people who can program learned to do so in University using UNIX, so Linux is like coming home. Anyone who can't program but wants to learn will find that Linux is a good choice to learn on, both because it is an open system, and because the software they will need, the documentation and advise on problems they may hit is all available free of charge on the Internet.
Even taking all of this in to account, I still do not think we have the full explanation. I think that at least partly it is due to the higher use of the command line interface under Linux and the fact that giving instructions on the command line leads very naturally to programming. One form of programming under Linux is called "shell scripting" and is the Linux equivalent of the .BAT files under DOS. Instead of typing in each of the commands in turn, along with all the options which they require, if we use that same sequence of commands often, it is more efficient to type the commands in once, put them in a file, and later be able to just type the name of the file to get the whole sequence of commands executed. With a little reading anyone can learn to add conditions under which some of the commands should be executed, or ignored. Also the instructions can be made to operate more than once. Three small steps and anyone can be a programmer under Linux.
Some may wonder whether being able to program would have any point for them and from what I have already written I really don't have to say that these doubting Thomases are the Windows users. Watching Windows users at work I often see a new type of sweat shop labour. A colleague preparing a product catalogue under windows will have a set of scanned photographs. Each of the photographs needs to be the same size on the page, so he loads a photo processing program and with his mouse selects in the menu "file" then "open" clicks on an icon for the file in
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