How do you pronounce Linux?

Oh, this is a fun topic. And an embarrassing newbie question. You might be told, "In this group, there are only three forbidden subjects: Religion, Politics, and how to pronounce Linux".

All seriousness aside, I am aware of three pronunciations of our beloved system:

• "Linnicks"  This pronounciation is probably derived from looking at the first syllable and seeing "Lin", which might properly be pronounced like "linn" or "lynn". This usage is very common. Also, Linux originated as a replacement for (or improvement of) Minix. Minix was always pronounced "minnix".
• "Line-icks"  Linus Torvalds wrote Linux.  When we think of Linus, we think of Charlie Brown's brother, and of Linus Pauling, Dr Vitamin C. In this country, we pronounce the name "Line-us".
  Spelling rules also suggest "Line-icks", since "Linnux" really would need two n's. "Line" becomes "Lin" (no change in sound) if stuck against another syllable. So, people who know too much about English tend to use this.  I'm one of them. I also heard it first this way.
• "Lean-oocks"  Linus is from Finland. They don't say "Line-us" in Finland, they say "Lean-oos".  If you can play a 30K wave file, Linus will explain it to you!

Armed with this knowledge, you would expect the Linnicks camp to "put down" the LineX camp; for the LineX'ers to demean the funny accents of Linnicks guys, and the Ulta-Purists to be madly waving their arms and shouting "No! You have to say it the RIGHT way, the way LINUS says it"!

But Linux users are cool bunch.  They don't really care. They know that Linus doesn't care, either. They've got the best operating system money can't buy, and you can say it any way you like.

Linux is one of many words and acronyms to grow out of the computer age.  And, due to its origins in cyberspace, no one ever had to say the word until they met face to face...long after each had created his own idea of how the word sounds.

My own suggestion is that you rotate the pronounciations and therefore give each one equal time. This should have quite an effect on your audience. And you'll be demonstrating that it really doesn't matter how you say it.