It just works

The argument continues.  I received another email stating:

"It comes down to Mac just works, Windows just works, Linux requires time and effort to get it to work.  If the Linux community was not so fragmented, this problem could easily be solved (and I'm not just talking about the UI)."

Enjoy my rant, part 2:

Ever try to get Windows to install from the store-bought CD and find all of the drivers and devices?  I've had serious problems getting Windows to "just work".  With Linux, the drivers are already included.

I remember setting up a computer for my brother was a real headache in windows.  After installing the OS, the video card (nvidia) wasn't recognized.  I went to Nvidia's site, all while in 800x600 resolution, to download the drivers, and the driver said it required Direct X to be installed first.  I went to Microsoft to get Direct X, and they wouldn't let me get the download until I verified my copy of Windows.  I downloaded the Windows verifier, and it said I needed to upgrade Internet Explorer before I could verify my copy of Windows.  I updated Internet Explorer, verified my copy of windows, installed direct X, then finally installed the nvidia drivers, all while browsing the internet in 800x600 resolution and getting errors like "This page may not display correctly, please update your browser."

That was just for the video card.  I've had to pull my machine apart trying to figure out what devices they have because the device manager won't tell me until AFTER the driver is successfully installed.

I installed Ubuntu on a computer with the same hardware.  Everything just worked.  Sound, video.  I just had to customise things like the themes I wanted.

My parents have an old desktop that dual booted between Windows and Linux.  I had all sorts of problems in windows with getting things to work correctly.

Anyway, I hope this doesn't come off as argument.  I just think the "just works" slogan is over-rated, especially for Windows.  At least with Mac, they have a limited set of devices to work on.

Now, to play devils advocate, I had some fellow students at the U that came up with this slogan to make fun of me when I was having problems configuring linux:

"Linux is only free if your time is not worth anything"

That used to make me pretty upset :-)

I've had my share of headaches on both Windows and Linux.  Both Windows and Linux can be imaged so you can easily install in bulk.