[PLUG] I say "Uncle"!

[Chris Genly]

I have just about given up on Linux.  I feel bad about it.  Linux has
many good things going for it.  I love the KDE destkop, I love the power
of the command line, and I love the networking power it empowers me
with.  I love that it is free in both senses of the word.  But I'm
getting tired of the missing things.  Things like device drivers that
fully support a device, video and audio codecs, and games. 

I don't want to support Microsoft,  a confirmed monopoly.  But in fact
every time I buy a machine it comes with windows anyway.   I support
them against my will.

In the wireless area I have never been able to get a laptop to work well
with wireless.  I can configure it to connect to a particular network,
but I was never able to get it to scan for available networks and then
configure for one of them.  I think the problem is my wireless driver is
not complete.   Under windows this just works.

In the codec area, I am tired of having to boot windows to listen to
certain audio and video feeds.   For example I like to listen to
zefrank.com occasionally.  But I haven't been able to get it to work on
linux.  In windows this just works.

And of course the problem we are all aware of with games is that
manufacturers write for windows and don't give a care for linux.

And finally, I am getting tired of all the tinkering I have to do to
keep things working.  I might be able to fix the codec problem with
enough research, but I just don't want to do that anymore.

I am a proponent of platform independent software.   I write in Java, I
use thunderbird and firefox.  I'll continue to support platform
independence when possible.

I want Gnu/Linux and FOSS to succeed.  I hope these problems are fixed
over time.   But for now I think I'm going to switch.  Who knows, after
a while I may be so irritated by Windows and Microsoft that I'll switch
back.

Chris