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This Mac devotee is moving to Linux

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zridling:
Dan Gillmore says enough is enough and he's checking out of Steve Jobs' pleasure prison:

I realize that I won't persuade the many people who prefer to live in gated communities, believing they can leave any time they wish. But switching costs will only get higher over time for those who choose to live in the Apple ecosystem.



That leaves, for practical purposes, Linux, which is freely available and not controlled by any one company. Linux is anything but a walled garden. It's almost nothing but choice, with all the good and bad that comes with it. Linux comes in all kinds of flavors. Volunteers around the world, who value freedom of choice and the ability to modify what they use, have created an ecosystem of their own -- software based on the concept that you, not Steve Jobs or Steve Ballmer, should have control over what you own.

Curt:
Women don't care much about if an operating system is "free" or in a "walled garden", but if the system is easy to understand how to use. And this is exactly where Linux is failing BIG time. The very way a Linux works, proves beyond reasonable doubt that it is a system written by male geeks, for male geeks. Nowadays the authors are told Linux must be easier to operate, so some of the Linux software authors try adding userfriendly procedures, but so far only "some" & "try". There are still so many details under the surface where a request for help will result in an answer including geek talk impossible to understand for normal people (man or woman!).

My point is, that Linux never will be a major system until women easily can operate it.
- and this should give people like me a chance as well ;-)

40hz:
^ My GF is a Mint user. Does that count?  8)

Carol Haynes:
I would use Linux if ...


* there was decent software for graphics and video (at least as function as Photoshop Elements and Sony Vegas
* decent office software (not OpenOffice)
* any sort of drivers that work with all-in-one network based printers from major players (and in particular Canon)
* drivers that work with wifi (not just a small selection of esoteric hardware that you can't buy)

40hz:
@Carol - I was pleasently surprised to find Ubu's 10.04 wifi handled anything I own including one oddball USB MIMO adapter which never worked with any other version of NIX I tried it with. 

"Plug&Pray" picked it up on installation. All I had to do was pick the SSID and enter the password. It even correctly identified the protocol and encryption type.

I'm used to ditzing around getting wifi to work. This time out, I needed no drivers or firmware hacks. I booted to my desktop and was politely informed that WAPs were in range to connect to. (I almost fainted!)

Give the live CD a try. You may find some joy with that yet.  :Thmbsup:

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