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That is no excuse. You can load up a computer with all the software you're likely to need without ever paying a single penny for it, and without going against the wishes of the copyright holders.

As an aside, using serious alternatives to Microsoft products will most certainly annoy Microsoft far more than using pirated copies of Microsoft products ever could.

install it with less clicks than it takes to install Windows. Provide apps for it.

Done.

Mainstream a Linux server.

Done.

Mainstream Linux apps.

Done, done, and done.

The point is, make the consumer, a.k.a. Joe Notageek feel comfortable that it is easy to use, that he can buy applications for it at Best Buy, Walmart, Target, or Amazon.

That's the point? That point sucks. Here's the point. Make the user (note my lack of the word "consumer" anywhere in this) feel comfortable that it is not only easy to use, but is a better way. You don't have to go buy shit. It works already, and if you need more, it's a few clicks (and $0.00) away. That's the point.

Debian ships When It's Ready.

But for those of us who are holding our breath for release time, a good and rough indicator of when it will ship is the number of release critical bugs. When the number hits zero, Debian is (almost?) ready. Since the etch freeze was announced about a week ago, the number of release bugs has wavered around 130, with a slight downward trend. This is the stock market of the free software world. :-) The etch freeze means that no packages can move down from unstable (sid) to the current testing (etch) automatically anymore (normally, packages in unstable are automatically moved down to testing by a script if no bugs are filed against them for some time, several days, iirc). Packages can still be moved from unstable to testing, but only manually if it's clear that they are stable enough for the next release.

The dunk-tank drama in the Debian mailing lists is old news. Yes, some developers expressed concerns about the dunc-tank project, but I would hardly call this "frozen development". Developers are working hard to get the Debian release. I estimate January or February at the latest will be beer and pizza party time for all the Debian developers that have produced the largest binary free GNU/Linux distribution amongst which so many other distros depend.

Personally, I'm very excited. I'm not sure how much truth there is in this, but Ubuntu has probably put pressure in Debian to more timely releases, and this release will be much more in time than the previous sarge release was. I've been given permission to install Debian in 20 workstations of our local network, and I'm waiting for the stable release and the renowned Debian quality and security to do so. I'll probably be tracking the next testing release after I install them, though, since testing works well for desktop use and workstations.

The strength of Linux is in it's stable and secure kernel and low-level "plumbing." The same as BSD. An OS that includes a "Windows" experience on top of this solid foundation would for teh first time attract real attention and a real user base.

The 'masses' would be far more likely to jump to a platform that [i]encourages[/i] hardware support and widespread distribution, such as Linux. Everyone who is prepared to launch the "Linux is hard to use" crap should check out http://www.ubuntulinux.com/. Anyway, Apple is a systems company; they do not exclusively sell hardware or software; they sell a Mac. They are not interested in competing with Windows directly; that is suicide. Linux has only beaten Microsoft in areas where MS did not have a significant domination, such as servers and embedded systems. While Apple does sell XServes, those servers mostly appeal to all-Mac shops. Unless Apple plans to add PDA functionality to the iPod, I think it will not succeed in the embedded systems market either. Too bad; that is where most of the money is nowadays.

Not true!

We have Ubuntu Linux

There is support. You can go to their website and click on the "Support" tab and then "Support Options" and then "Paid Technical Support" and see that you can purchase "commercial support" for ubuntu linux for Desktop or Server and two levels each. No this does not include on-site support but you really should have someone available to lay hands on the machine before you use any computer/OS combination.

I can say that as a Linux user since 1993, that I like (K)Ubuntu. I find it a joy to use and I don't have to spend all my time supporting and tweaking the system. This is the first Debian based system that I have used and I am growing quite fond of it. I used RedHat for many years and then moved to SuSe, but it finally got too expensive (before OpenSuSE became available). I went looking and tried GenToo (took too long to get running on some of my older hardware). I then tried Fedora (given my RedHat background), but never seemed to really go for it (primarily a KDE user). I then stumbled across and article on Ubuntu and found Kubuntu (5.04 was just out). I downloaded an ISO and installed it. I have either Hoary or Breezy running on every machine in my house now except one that is scheduled for upgrade over Christmas vaction.

I don't believe that its support is strictly from newcomers, I believe that there are people like me using (K)Ubuntu. Folks that have given their time to managing, supporting, and maintaining computers with various distros for years and are looking for the easy to maintain system. I would not be afraid to put (K)Ubuntu on a client site. I actually use it at one non-profit that I do volunteer work for also. It is used as a server, but runs flawlessly.

do you mean Ubuntu, or is there a spin-off of ubuntu that i don't know about?

I thought we got rid of the Gigahertz myth already? At the same clock speed, a PPC chip will be far faster than an x86, especially one from Intel. If you want direct proof, find a Linux distro that has both x86 and PPC versions (I recommend Ubuntu), install it on both, and observe how much faster your G4 runs.

Why bother buying a new system, when you can get a new OS for free?

And Linux distros like Ubuntu certainly haven't used that phrase to describe their OS.

It is truly amazing to me how many people equate the PC with Microsoft. People, come on! Using a PC does *not* mean you have to use Microsoft products. You do not need a Mac to escape Microsoft. All you need is broadband, Or, if you go with Ubuntu Linux (my prefered choice) all you need is a mailing address. They will ship you a quantity of installation and liveCDs at no charge, they even pay the shipping. I'd like to see apple try to beat the price on that!

It is truly amazing to me how many people equate the PC with Microsoft. People, come on! Using a PC does *not* mean you have to use Microsoft products. You do not need a Mac to escape Microsoft. All you need is broadband, Or, if you go with Ubuntu Linux (my prefered choice) all you need is a mailing address. They will ship you a quantity of installation and liveCDs at no charge, they even pay the shipping. I'd like to see apple try to beat the price on that!