[Techtalk] I want Tux Racer dangit

[caitlynmaire at earthlink.net]

Hi, Carla,
> 
> Good points, and I have no problem with Red Hat for exorcising mp3
> code. but what is the poor end luser supposed to do? The point of
> buying a packaged distribution is to be relieved of aggravation, not
> to get more! It's a different world than server and networking.

In a word, Windows.  I'm serious.  If you really don't care about GPL or
commercial code or the issues behind the FS/OSS movement and want to use
what every manufacturer writes for, then Windows is it with all of it's
problems and baggage.  Yeah, it's a ripoff.  Yes, it's bloated, buggy in
all versions, and treats security as an afterthought.  Everything under
the sun works in Windows, though.

Red Hat has proved themselves to be a principled company.  If you want
to use their software you have to agree with their priciples at least
enough to live with any trade off in convenience you might make.  The
same goes for Debian, Slackware, Vector, and any number of other distros
who are committed to FS/OSS principles.

I object to the term luser, BTW.  My users aren't losers.  They may need
to be educated is all.  I certainly don't consider you a loser, so I
won't answer your question as phrased.

What are you to do?  Decide what is important to you and use the distro
or OS that meets your needs best.  For me, right now, that's RH Linux
because it does what I want at home and in the office and has good
support for the corporate world.  If I was independently wealthy and
didn't care about the office then I might be inclined to make FreeBSD my
OS of choice.  YMMV, of course.

All the best,
Caity