Bill Dueber <[log in to unmask]>
> Because, really, you'll spend time futzing with linux, trying to get stuff
> to work, cursing the many clipboards and config files and losing
> productivity up the ying-yang because you're using a different (and, few
> would argue, degraded) user environment.

I don't see how anyone would argue with a straight face that a good GNU
or lovely Linux is an upgrade from the Windows 7 Starter bad joke...
but I know that's not the starting point here.

I humbly suggest that long futz times are only necessary these days
when most of the following combine:

 1. unsupported/hard-to-support hardware (maybe bought for compatibility
with another even-fussier operating system?);

 2. control-freakery ("it must work/look exactly THIS way RIGHT NOW
without me doing much");

 3. not good at asking for technical help online or being patient with
LUGs;

 4. not willing to find and/or pay local experts;

 5. not willing to search/read the copious fine manuals or debug logs.

But maybe my view is coloured by using the MacOS-like gnustep on
debian for aaages (so good package management more than makes up for a
bit of configuration... it's basically the same package management
system as ubuntu or mint use), so I can set up the basics fairly
quickly and I'm quite tolerant of X11/GTK apps like firefox being
common on my desktop.  I guess newcomers still have to get used to
basics like having 5 or more useful mouse buttons instead of 1...

Regards,
-- 
MJ Ray (slef), member of www.software.coop, a for-more-than-profit co-op.
http://koha-community.org supporter, web and library systems developer.
In My Opinion Only: see http://mjr.towers.org.uk/email.html
Available for hire (including development) at http://www.software.coop/