Why I Could Never Fully Switch To Linux.

I figured you'd all read about music from me, so I though I'd switch to that other thing that occupies my mind, operating systems.


Now for those who know me intimately, which (I assume) few do, You'd know I have all three operating systems situated in my room, an iMac, which is my main machine, and the laptop on which I type up this blog, which contains both Ubuntu and Windows 7, and if you know me well you'd know I'm not the biggest fan of Microsoft, but I digress.


As much as I highly enjoy the latest Ubuntu release  (10.04 for the record), I don't think I could ever use it as my primary OS, not for a while anyways, and here I explain why.


Firstly, it's just not ready to be a primary operating system. Sure it offers everything you need in an OS, with multiple options for each task, but it's not like other operating systems. Let me explain. It's not like Mac OS X or (and I can't believe I'm saying this) Windows in the way that you can't just jump on it and expect it to be able to do anything you want it to with no problems. It's like having an engine and you're expected to build the chassis. Sure, at this point there's a very helpful manual and a bunch of people willing to help, but sometimes there's going to be problems where you're basically rooted.


Secondly, and probably finally because my main concern is stability, is myself. An operating system that's completely open source is an amazing thing, but I feel bad not being able to contribute back to the community that has given me an alternative to Windows that isn't as bad as or worse than Windows. Also, I just don't feel I'm an expert when it comes to Linux, let alone Ubuntu. When I put trust in an OS, I like to know as much as I can about it, and with Ubuntu, or Linux in general, I just don't feel I know enough.


At this point, I feel Ubuntu has come amazingly far, but I think it will be a while before I can trust an OS as much as I do Mac OS X.