Over the Christmas holiday I got tired of having a computer that worked but didn’t work well. I had installed Knoppix Linux on it ages ago (alongside Windows) and been learning on it. I’m not new to Linux, but this was the first real working Linux install I have ever had. But the things is this: it was never fully working. It was always just adequate. It was rock solid, but it couldn’t print to my printer correctly, couldn’t boot properly, and there wasn’t a convenient way to upgrade to OpenOffice 2.0. That last was the breaking point.
Before I get hit with any flames from Linux guys, let me make a couple things clear.
- I was one of those Linux guys.
- I have two kids and my time is limited.
- I just want things to work well without my having to spend hours getting them that way.
And so, after years of really trying to be a Linux user, I’ve thrown in the penguin and am looking in through the window. I’m still using most of the same software, especially Firefox and OpenOffice. I miss some of the other stuff, but I’ll get over it. And, for now, though I’m stuck on Windows ME (a pretty bad system, but one that works right now), when I switch to XP, I doubt I’ll miss Linux much at all.
Do I feel defeated? A little. But it shouldn’t have to be a competition.
Maybe someday I’ll go back. I’ll buy a new machine and see what happens. But for now, this works and that didn’t. There I go.
