In the "fixing Firefox" thread, Eric Bixby wrote:
 > Sorry.  Somehow, I got it in my head that the
 > problem was the executable, itself...  If it's
 > your profile, I'll have to defer to someone
 > who's spent more time horsing around with
 > such things.  :)

On a similar thread, Craig White wrote:
 > It is how we deal with that lack of knowledge that
 > differentiates us.
 >
 > I would suggest reading the book 'Zen and the Art
 > of Motorcycle Maintenance' as it covers this subject
 > rather thoroughly.
 >
 > Basically, you have to make a decision on what type
 > of user you wish to be...

This is a wake-up call for me.

I'm an experienced Unix developer.  By day, and
sometimes into the evening, I am mired down in
something over two million lines of complex C code,
performing diagnosis and remediation, and
participating in all sorts of talk on system
architecture.  Building a release of this software
is a black art.  Starting it up, shutting it down
and controlling the debug tools is a whole specialty
in itself.

At work, I also use a Windows XP desktop where I can
just install new apps and have them right there at
my fingertips without diverting my attention from
my main task.  This is just a tool.  I use it.

By night, I would like to use Linux.  But my "parts
is parts" view of the *nix world leads me to want to
just plug things in and configure them.  It also
makes me want to install distribution "A" here, and
"B" there, and be able to experiment with each
without effectively reverting to my day job.

Frankly, until Craig's comment, I was going on the
very naive assumption that there was some level of
commonality and cooperation among the user interface
efforts in the Linux world.  Thinking back, I remember
all these discussions about the various distros and
window managers, but failed to get deeply enough into
them to realize that each of them is *exactly* like
my day job:  you have to pick your distro and then
become a wizard at it.  The Windows world is what it
is because of standardization:  Even if an app is
Free Software, its Windows version is likely to just
plug and play, because it is installed into a known
environment.

My son is a Unix administrator and security guru.
At home, he loves his highest-end Mac with OS X
because he never has to lift the hood -- it just
works.  He doesn't have to *work* at home, he can
just play with his pictures and music and gaming
systems, and focus his technical attention on those
areas.

So, I'm beginning to get it.  If I just want to be
a Linux *user*, not a Linux *hacker*, then I must
choose a distro and make it my home.

What is the closest thing, in the Linux world, to a
distro that just works, where new releases of apps
are available promptly and just fall into place?
I'm enough of a hacker to get the results I want
in specific cases, and to build special tools to
do non-standard things; but I don't want every
install, and every update, to become that kind of
exercise.

I'm sure that Linspire would *not* suit me.  Maybe
Gentoo, which I've been thinking about, is more on
target.  I'm not in a hurry, I can wait for things
to compile while I'm off at work ...

... speaking of which, it's time to make the donuts.

Thanks,

Vic

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