UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM:
Rebuilding the HTPC. Doing some searching for good htpc software (MediaCenter: DO NOT WANT), and find
KnoppMyth. Well, this thing looks just peachy.
Now, I wouldn't call my past experience with Linux either great or bad. I WOULD give it a net positive, because my installation of Yellow Dog Linux to a first generation iBook worked great...until it stopped working altogether. Used it one day, shut it down at night. Went to start the laptop the next day...the OS was trashed. Repartitioned, reinstalled; worked great for a few months again, then crapped itself again. Not exactly the same, but similar.
I've tried running Linux instead of Windows a few times...I just couldn't get the same stuff done as easily as I could in Windows. When something doesn't work in Windows, I can get it running pretty quick. Hell, it usually only takes a reboot. To get something to work in Linux, sometimes even a new download that's SUPPOSED to work, sometimes you have to manually modify the OS. If you like that sort of thing, and you have the time and interest, great. You get a powerful, free operating system. If, like me, you want to INSTALL THE DAMN SOFTWARE AND GO...you might want to stick with Windows. Or even Mac. But I would stick with Windows (don't argue with me, I USED OS X for two years. And don't email me about how it's "all better now"...been listening to that crap from Apple for years.)
So anyway, KnoppMyth. Looks great. All-in-one HTPC solution. It's Linux-based, so what? It installs and runs, right?
Well, apparently is does for some people.
I had to do a work-around to get the install to work, but it worked. Took two days to find the right answer to my problem, but I found it, sure enough. Got the software installed (I'm skipping a bit here)...didn't find the network card, didn't identify the sound card properly...those could be problems, but it's working. Played a DVD, played some wrapped mp4's. Copied some movies to the hard drive. The shell crashed. Won't start again. Reboot the computer...the screen fills with gibberish and the box locks up. Wonderful.
FDISK. WINDOWS XP Pro SP 3.
.........
This is my experience with Linux, just about every damn time. Please quit telling me it's "almost ready to replace windows on the desktop". It's not. It's not even close enough to WISH it could. Is it powerful, and reliable, and usable? Yes, if you know how to work it, and don't mind the time and effort. I DO MIND THE TIME AND EFFORT. Computers are HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES now, and Linux is just a hobby.
Want to see the next part of the argument?
Kaedrin ran into it while looking for some software recently.
UPDATE:
A clarification to be fair, especially since Kaedrin was nice enough to link me back (Thanks, Kaedrin!) and I don't want to get flamed. It is certainly unfair of me to make the blanket statement that Linux, as a whole, is nothing more than a hobby. I am aware that Linux is not only a viable, but possibly even the best solution for many backend applications. THIS website is hosted on Linux, and I have no complaints. I should have been specific: Linux as a *Windows Replacement" is almost entirely a hobby. There have been MANY attempts to provide a Linux desktop solution professionally and unprofessionally, but they all suffered from the same faults: fixing even minor issues sometimes requires major customer support. While Microsoft and other major software producers have to deal with general computer-user ignorance and even stupidity, Linux has to provide this support from within the user community AND have to deal with fixes that involve manually modifying the OS at the programming level.
And that is why I say that Linux not only missed it's desktop opportunity, but never really had a chance at it in the first place.
