I've had sort of a love-hate relationship with Linux over the years. Many years ago, sometime in the mid-late 1990's, I first tried it. I recall it was an early Red Hat distribution (back in the day when RedHat was free). It wasn't a happy thing. Notably, I remember I had a lot of trouble getting it to work with my modem. That was a long-standing problem around that time. So I stuck with Windows.
Then, just a few years ago, I had another (and much more substantial) fling with Linux. I don't remember the exact distribution. I had a dual-boot system and I used primarily Linux for the usual web and productivity applications.
I really liked it. The operating system was fast and lean, and was much more forgiving of little hardware errors (I had some disk problems that kept crashing Windows). It was a challenge to install software, though. Regardless, my experience was quite pleasant.
But I'm a PC gamer at heart, and Linux just doesn't do the job. When I got some new hardware that prevented the crashes, I ended up going back to Windows. It was simply easier to run Windows than have to reboot every time I wanted to play a game.
In the last couple weeks, I had a chance to dip my toe into Linux once again. I use my laptop for only school-related productivity-type things, and it is not a powerful computer. It's feeling its age. I wanted to get a pretty lean, uncluttered OS that would work for what I need it for. And since Evolution works with MS Exchange, I thought now might be the time to move to Linux.
Well, I tried it out (Ubuntu), and in so doing, I decided not to make the move just yet and I can articulate why Linux is simply not ready for wide distribution. The big deal-breaker for me was that I couldn't get my wireless to work on my laptop, an essential accessory. My problem is not unusual, particularly on Dell laptops.
But there were other things about the OS that made me realize that Linux just isn't ready for wide distribution. I say that with my criteria being that computers should be easy for most people to run common applications on a daily basis.
The thing about Linux is that installing programs is hard. Essentially, for those not in the know, youhaveto download the source code and compileit yourself. Various distributions have tried to simplify the process, but often this only results in, from what I can tell, several different packages available when you want to download something. You'll pick a different one depending on what Linux distribution you are running. It is not simple enough for Grandma.
I hate to say it, but I think this is a byproduct of the open-source process. Anybody can take this stuff and put a personal spin on the OS, and they have. While it promotes competition, it also promotes fragmentation and incompatability.
So I'm giving it a pass, at least for a while and full-time. I'll probably look into it again eventually, but in the meantime, I'll probably be a firm Vista user. Besides, I'm a gamer and gaming is absolutely lousy on Linux.
Have a Great Weekend!
What I'm Reading:
The Autobiography of Mark Twain (Perennial Classics) by Charles Neider
