8 definitions by former penguin
A non-operating system that still hasn't lived up to its excessive hype, because the geeks in the community are;
(a) too busy arguing with each other over which distro is the best,
(b) blaming Microsoft even for ridiculous things such as huricanes, tsunamis, and last year's boom of aphids, and
(c) producing variants of Linux that are completely incompatible with each other.
While distros of Linux such as Mepis and Ubuntu are showing some promise, it would be logic-defying if the Linux community FINALLY produces something that actually is worth using on the desktop without any program installation hassles by 2010.
(a) too busy arguing with each other over which distro is the best,
(b) blaming Microsoft even for ridiculous things such as huricanes, tsunamis, and last year's boom of aphids, and
(c) producing variants of Linux that are completely incompatible with each other.
While distros of Linux such as Mepis and Ubuntu are showing some promise, it would be logic-defying if the Linux community FINALLY produces something that actually is worth using on the desktop without any program installation hassles by 2010.
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the REAL cost of running Linux on the desktop:
Linux distro: $0.00 to $99.99 if you have high-speed internet access, $9.99-$179.99 if you don't.
Linux manual: $19.99 to $79.99
New Modem (because "winmodems" don't run under Linux): $29.99 to $59.99
New Soundcard (because the soundcard you have is not supported): $19.99 to $89.99
New Internet Service Provider (because no popular ISP supports Linux) $7.99 to $39.99
(Note: The non-popular ISPs often don't have free minutes and will charge you like they would a regular phone call).
New graphics-card (because your integrated video card is not supported) $29.99 to $199.99
New printer (because your printer is not supported) $39.99 to $159.99
New scanner (very few are Linux-compatible) $49.99 to $199.99
The sheer frustration of finding out that, despite buying the new hardware and spending weeks of relaxation time tinkering with the command-line code, Linux STILL refuses to perform on the same level as OS-X or Windows XP: Priceless
Windows XP: $99.99 to $199.99
Cost of new hardware (all the hardware you bought for Linux is Windows-compatible) $0.00
And this, my friends is the true cost of running Linux on the desktop.
Linux distro: $0.00 to $99.99 if you have high-speed internet access, $9.99-$179.99 if you don't.
Linux manual: $19.99 to $79.99
New Modem (because "winmodems" don't run under Linux): $29.99 to $59.99
New Soundcard (because the soundcard you have is not supported): $19.99 to $89.99
New Internet Service Provider (because no popular ISP supports Linux) $7.99 to $39.99
(Note: The non-popular ISPs often don't have free minutes and will charge you like they would a regular phone call).
New graphics-card (because your integrated video card is not supported) $29.99 to $199.99
New printer (because your printer is not supported) $39.99 to $159.99
New scanner (very few are Linux-compatible) $49.99 to $199.99
The sheer frustration of finding out that, despite buying the new hardware and spending weeks of relaxation time tinkering with the command-line code, Linux STILL refuses to perform on the same level as OS-X or Windows XP: Priceless
Windows XP: $99.99 to $199.99
Cost of new hardware (all the hardware you bought for Linux is Windows-compatible) $0.00
And this, my friends is the true cost of running Linux on the desktop.
by former penguin May 14, 2005