I'm looking to buy a new desktop computer for my house and am wanting to stay away from WinBlows. The problem is that my new job keeps me quite busy and neither my wife nor I have time to maintain an OS. Is there a way to find a local person who can install Linux on a new PC and get it properly configured? How do I find someone who knows what they're doing and is reliable?

Thanks all!

If you absolutely have no time, then what about purchasing a system with Linux pre-isntalled? Although, I have found the forums (like LQ) to be quite helpful if you do not mind working on a problem over time.

You can go to these (and there are plenty more) sites to look at pre-installed systems:

Dell (search for open source or Ubuntu)
System76

for starters. This link might be of help:
http://www.linux.org/vendor/system/

At least then, you could purchase some support to help you maintain the system.

As I am sure you know there is regular maintenance with Windows. You have to download regular updates, and, assuming you'd purchase the Windows system with virus/intrusion protection, you'd be making sure all that updates, too.

Umm, you've got Worcester Polytech just around the corner. Google that and linux users group, and you get:

http://www.wlug.org/meetings.html

right at the top.

Stop in and say hello, or contact them by email.

Or if you really don't have time to get into it, and really want to stay away from WinBlows, and seem to have money you are willing to pay a consultant, then why not just take what you were going to spend on a computer and a consultant and buy a Mac and be done with it? ;-) It's not Linux (initially), but Mac OS X is BSD underneath, and it just works. Plus, if you ever want to, and end up having the time, you can install Linux, maybe Solaris, or even WinBlows on a Mac now, since they are Intel. Dual boot. Triple boot. Or run Parallels. We have a MacBook Pro with Parallels running Mac OS X, Ubuntu Linux, and Windows XP.