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Ubuntu isn't that bad, Firefox, Evolution (email client) and Open Office are very nice. I ran Ubuntu in Parallels on OS X for awhile and liked it. Ubuntu will get the job done but it does not have the polished look you would expect in a 2007 app. I think other "home apps" could use improvement - photo editor, mp3 manager, video manager. Most linux apps are ugly, IMHO.

Get one of the new color Dell's (black looks cool) that supports Ubuntu and you can get in-home hardware replacement (next business day - after you talk to the support guy in India or Argentina over a shitty VoIP connection) including a laptop. Dell has done a good job at building a support infrastructure to do these on-site hardware replacements. I have been impressed when I had to use them. Apple should use this same support model.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/ubuntu

System76 looks like they have a full hardware (laptop, desktop, server) offering with Ubuntu. I am not sure of System76 operational hardware support model though. Will Dell or someone else eat their lunch in the market for Linux based systems? Will they be around next year? who knows.. But they are worth looking at and asking them a few questions.

http://www.system76.com/

BTW, Here is a better Linux IM client (it is not as ugly).

http://pidgin.im/pidgin/about/

So to recap your questions:

1. Better corporate based hardware support to Linux is available even on laptops now.

2. Ubuntu has done a better job at asking: what are the core apps that need to be on the desktop. The other options is to just install the OS with only what you need. Easy problem to solve.

3. I 1000% agree with you on getting work done vs. supporting or managing the system. I think you are going to run into this with any OS you run and not likely to go away any time soon. Pick your poison.

4. There are better IM clients now than ugly GAIM. See above.

You can always get Vista and turn on all the eye candy and repeat: this is OS X, this is OS X, this is OS X. j/k

Decius wrote:

The last time I ran linux on my desktop, it had the following problems:

1. It didn't really work right. It sort of worked, but not really. Things were broken. Things weren't well supported. Things like the mouse. It actually didn't click exactly where it pointed some of the time. And this was an IBM laptop. Not something oddball. And some hardware was tweaky... like wifi adapters that had to be unplugged and replugged sometimes in order to reload the drivers.

2. It came with WAY, WAY too much shit by default. Every jackass who had ever written an open source GUI application had managed to get it placed in the default menu.

3. Things needed to be screwed with a lot. A lot of tinkering, a lot of configuring and compiling and updating. Systems Administration. People who run linux desktops like to configure stuff and seem to enjoy applications like mutt that are way too feature rich and are basically useless if you don't want to invest a few hours into getting them to work right. I don't want to do that. I want basic shit to just work. I have work to do. I want to get it done. My computer should enable that. The reason I'm sick of my mac is that its getting in the way.

4. Firefox was fine, everything else was crummy. The IM clients were just downright ugly.

RE: Desktop Linux

He goes way to far, but he is trying to make a point.

Jim Cramer Blows a Head Gasket 8/3/07

Seven of the most important Sunni-led insurgent organisations fighting the US occupation in Iraq have agreed to form a public political alliance with the aim of preparing for negotiations in advance of an American withdrawal, their leaders have told the Guardian.

In their first interview with the western media since the US-British invasion of 2003, leaders of three of the insurgent groups - responsible for thousands of attacks against US and Iraqi armed forces and police - made clear that they would continue their armed resistance until all foreign troops were withdrawn from Iraq, and denounced al-Qaida for sectarian killings and suicide bombings against civilians.

Insurgents form political front to plan for US pullout

Marking a significant step towards resolving a four-and-a-half-year stand-off with the US, North Korea has shut down its only operating nuclear reactor, the country's state-run media announced yesterday.

The 5MW facility at Yongbyon, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, was closed on Saturday as international nuclear inspectors returned to the site for the first time since being asked to leave in 2002.

With Yongbyon offline, the site will no longer be able to process weapons-grade plutonium, though the plant is thought to have produced enough material already for six to eight warheads, including the one exploded underground in North Korea's first nuclear bomb test in October.

North Korea shuts nuclear plant in disarmament deal with US

The balance in the internal White House debate over Iran has shifted back in favour of military action before President George Bush leaves office in 18 months, the Guardian has learned.

The shift follows an internal review involving the White House, the Pentagon and the state department over the last month. Although the Bush administration is in deep trouble over Iraq, it remains focused on Iran. A well-placed source in Washington said: "Bush is not going to leave office with Iran still in limbo."

Cheney pushes Bush to act on Iran

Red State Update -- the wacky redneck vidbloggers. This week of our In-dee-pen-dance, they're taking on Transformers.

Rednecks - more than meets the eye

My challenge here is to write the one zillionth iPhone story (and MY third) without repeating too much what has been written before or failing to include at least a couple new items which -- trust me -- you'll find below. This column is mainly about how to properly manage the introduction of a disruptive technology, which is harder than most people would guess. It's also about how Apple plans to make this an iPhone Christmas.

Yeah, what about Christmas? Apple couldn't risk introducing the iPhone at Christmas. They had to get all the bugs out before Christmas in order for the iPhone to be a risk-free gift. Knowing that the phones work, and work well, people can get used to the idea of giving them as gifts. That's one reason why it is easy to predict that iPhone sales for Christmas will be robust. Only for Steve Jobs "robust" is not enough. He wants iPhone Christmas sales to EXPLODE. How do you make that happen?

Faster iPhone faster! Kill!! Kill!!: Expect a 3G iPhone by Christmas.

Iran is secretly forging ties with al-Qaida elements and Sunni Arab militias in Iraq in preparation for a summer showdown with coalition forces intended to tip a wavering US Congress into voting for full military withdrawal, US officials say.

"Iran is fighting a proxy war in Iraq and it's a very dangerous course for them to be following. They are already committing daily acts of war against US and British forces," a senior US official in Baghdad warned. "They [Iran] are behind a lot of high-profile attacks meant to undermine US will and British will, such as the rocket attacks on Basra palace and the Green Zone [in Baghdad]. The attacks are directed by the Revolutionary Guard who are connected right to the top [of the Iranian government]."
...
US officials now say they have firm evidence that Tehran has switched tack as it senses a chance of victory in Iraq. In a parallel development, they say they also have proof that Iran has reversed its previous policy in Afghanistan and is now supporting and supplying the Taliban's campaign against US, British and other Nato forces.

Iran's secret plan for summer offensive

The Bush administration is developing plans to "internationalise" the Iraq crisis, including an expanded role for the United Nations, as a way of reducing overall US responsibility for Iraq's future and limiting domestic political fallout from the war as the 2008 election season approaches.

The move comes amid rising concern in Washington that President George Bush's controversial Baghdad security surge, led by the US commander, General David Petraeus, is not working and that Iran is winning the clandestine battle for control of Iraq.

Bush may turn to UN in search for Iraq solution