Two words my friend
"Learning Curve"
I can screw up a Windows Server Platform like one could not imagine
I can make mistakes in the Linux as well and greatly at that
But.............Configured properly, the Linux is ***el and yes, it is indeed open source, less expensive and since I went to college, late 70's, I'm more familiar with grueling hours of typing (our computer classes of the day had more to do with programming vcr's
and copying data to cassettes)
I'm new at this
So, as far as it goes, I would prefer to work with a platform that is chocked full of great ideas from everybody,
as opposed to one that is soley reserved for the one microsoft way elite.
..................LOL
And yes............You are quite right. It very much is hotly debated
amongst the guru's out there.
Diversity
is indeed a good thing, and with the Linux, there's a feeling of knowing that everybody had a hand in it's evolution