GNU/Linux comes in many 'flavours', commonly known as distributions. The main selling point of a GNU/Linux-based operating system oughtn't be low cost but the freedom which it enables. It respects and empowers the users, not vendors that sell software and other digital merchandise.
Contrary to common misconception, GNU/Linux is a visually attractive platform. Here is an example demo of the system.
They don't care about the users and issuing a few bytes with random characters costs them next to nothing. It gives them control over billions of human beings.
If even one media outlet told you in 2010 that Microsoft would fall from 100% (of Web requests) to about 1 in 8 Web requests, you'd probably struggle to believe it