Some thoughts about using Linux on your desktop

(I wrote this with Erik in mind since he has been thinking about switching to Linux when it's time for an upgrade.)

It took me a while to get to the point where I could go back to using Linux as the exclusive operating system on my PC. What made it easier was getting busier with wedding preparations, preparing my apartment for moving out and finding a renewed interest in the joy and simplicity in console gaming.

It must sound strange that someone would choose Linux because they have less time--not more--available to them than they used to have. Granted, I'm pretty familiar with Linux; my first experimentation with it happened about eight or so years ago when Mandrake 6 was coming out. I'm neither a newbie, nor am I a true guru or anything like that. For someone who is pretty comfortable with Linux already, it takes a lot less time to get up and running properly, and to maintain.

Now that I am using Kubuntu (a KDE-flavored version of Ubuntu), maintaining everything is a lot simpler. The most important thing for newbies to understand about using *Ubuntu is that it's slick and gotten a lot easier to use. However, a lot of the cool things about it will require you to learn how it works. It's the price you'll have to pay to take advantage of it. Think of it like learning how to drive a manual transmission car (which I am starting to do soon). It's a pain-in-the-ass at first that will allow you to drive many really, really cool cars that you could never drive if you only know how to handle automatic. The price is, it requires you to learn a lot about the car you're driving and to work closely with it.

If that's not for you, there's no shame in that. Stick to Windows or buy a Mac (preferably this option). Both of them are extremly mature, useful platforms in their own right. It's not that Desktop Linux is not ready for you yet, it's more of a question of whether the two of you belong together in the first place. If you want absolute simplicity, don't require anything beyond utilitarian functionality, then Windows really is right for you. Pushing Linux on you would be like pushing a Porsche onto a soccer mom who really needs a sedan or a minivan to take the kids to their activities. Doesn't make much sense, does it?

In the past, before I made peace with my increasingly simple needs, I struggled to use Linux over Windows. I'd find myself lusting after a game or something like that that couldn't be coerced into working on Linux with WINE. If you want to give it a shot, the best thing you can do is to download the Kubuntu LiveCD and try it out. It'll be slow because it's running off of a CD. Sometimes you'll find it jerky and spasmatic because it's having to spin the CD back up and access data. Ignore that in your evaluation of how well you like it because that won't happen if and when it's running on your hard drive.