Good Bye Linux

[Tom Achtenberg]

After several weeks of unsuccessful effort to install Linux on a desktop I am giving up and returning to more profitable activities.  I have tried 3 different distributions (Mandrake 9.1, Red Hat 8.0 and Knoppix 3.2) all with much hassle and no success.  Some on this list have alluded that I have a hardware problem yet the same PC was rock solid on Windows 98 SE.  Last night I installed Windows 2000 server on it with no problems whatsoever.  The evidence leads me to conclude that Linux has some small niche areas it is good at, as a desktop OS it is simply not there.  Yes, if you are geeky enough and have the time to spend editing config files by hand and recompiling every app so it works on your machine it may be fun.  I need to spend my time in more productive environments.  Using Dereks criteria when he labeled FoxPro a "toy" database I have to say Linux is a "toy" OS.  Good for specific narrow applications but run the whole enterprise on it?  No way.

So I wish you all well with your endeavors with Linux but I am moving on. 

Tom Achtenberg