Free Software that isn't compatible with what folks need/want to run for apps is no value for most folks.

If you're going to push the Linux Cheerleader line, it's useless to anyone thats not a High end tech user. The rest of us are not engineers, and my programming days were back when Cobol, Fortran and Dartmouth Basic were the options available for languages. Too old to learn a new op system or language just as I'm too old to learn Korean or Finnish.

Free Software that isn't compatible with what folks need/want to run for apps is no value for most folks.

If you're going to push the Linux Cheerleader line, it's useless to anyone thats not a High end tech user. The rest of us are not engineers, and my programming days were back when Cobol, Fortran and Dartmouth Basic were the options available for languages. Too old to learn a new op system or language just as I'm too old to learn Korean or Finnish.

Just a minute Joseph. Most people use a browser, an e-mail client and an office suite. That's it. Nothing more. For them, you can literally throw windows out of your computer right now. This isn't the '80s where you had to spend weeks to install and configure the system. Stick in a live CD/DVD or flash drive and do it, no experience necessary. Most people won't event be able to tell the difference of the OS underneath, and nor should they need to.

Some others will want to edit photos, audio and so on and here the difference starts to make a difference. There are real alternative available and, OK, they may look and feel dffierent and so you will have to get used to that.

The more esoteric the need, the more work you'll have to do but for the vast majority of users, it is a matter of inertia and vendor lock-in.

Thanks for this....I'm trying to re-evaluate, re-boot, re-start after many years of virtually nothing (other than painting birds eh?)

I've been reading all my back issues of Ploughshares over the last few weeks, worked on my goals for the year, subscribed to a couple of magazines (Harpers and One Story) for the fiction. Going to work on my specific goals and put them into action to get my writing going again. I haven't submitted anything in years but will have that on the list as well as spending dedicated time on writing, marketing, study/learning etc.

@kennyc I think this will be the year we repeat the Serenity Prayer until it is burned into our brain cells. It is an excellent formulation for appropriate responsibility:

May we strengthen within ourselves the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other.