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/