There are so many forums deluged with an unimaginable array of questions based around problems. I don't have any problems with my machine, so I thought that I'd post - and encourage others to post - on that fact as well.

So. I am here, proud to announce to anyone willing to read this that I am immensely satisfied in my choice of OS, GNU/Linux, and equally proud of my choice of distribution, Slackware since 8.1 to latest stable. I have every confidence that I made the right choice in opting to go for the learning curve that continues to spiral way out of my sight but I have learnt enough to run three Slack machines (1 a laptop and 1 a dual Win 98 boot), and I have also learnt where to come to for answers when a problem or desire to tweak is beyond my limited range of knowledge, and that's here.

In exchange for embarking on that learning curve, my machine is a stable, reliable, always-on system, except for a controlled power down (current uptime 21 days), and typical will be running a number of apps simultaneously (email clients, browsers, music system, OO.o2 app(s), konsole, amor, etc.), and runs on XFce4 - which seems very lean on resources. My only complaint is with the default rodent icon set for XFce4 - but since I change that pretty fast on the panel, it's an insignificant difference of opinion rather than any fault.

There is nothing in the MS world that interests me. But, there again, I'm not a gamer and I'm not into the latest A/V experience either, so my tastes are reasonably moderate and hence my happiness with my GNU/Linux Slackware 10.2 machines is from this perspective. But, even if I used a machine from MS, I'd still use it the same way as I use my GNU/Linux box: the point is, under an MS version I'd be rebooting almost every time when installing software, I'd be locked out of my own machine and could only explore/fiddle in pre-designed ways. There is a strong likelihood that the MS machine's architecture and security would already have been compromised by the time I get my individual machine, given the slowness of MS's patching response, and there'd be no alternative except to risk dodgy software from the web. Then there's all the additional, third party software that you need to have anything that seriously resembles anything more than a cobbled machine. All that multiple sources of dependency (and hence vulnerability), the additional expense attached, the worry about updating from multiple sources in order to upgrade or patch existing software. Man - this list goes on ... and frankly, I just couldn't be bothered with it all.

I see a computer as a tool, something by which to accomplish some specific task, a means to an end. I find that, generally speaking and no doubt bolstered by the confidence that comes with experience, it is far easier for me to accomplish any given task I set myself to do using my Slack box at home. Whilst I see it as a tool however, I also am deeply appreciative of the aesthetics of the software I am using. I am not fluent in code so am not proposing aesthetics from a source code level; rather, I am thinking about the modular design, the straightforward way of doing things, the ease of finding configuration files, and the standardised way of tweaking these until one gets the desired result. Pretty much anything on a GNU/Linux box is hackable and can be made to work. Of course, when hardware or software is made deliberately to thwart modularisation and share usage then that is the fault of the hardware driver makers or software designers, not of the host system.

From experiences of MS products both old and new, as a prior home user five years or so ago, and as a user at work only, I can't say that I am at all impressed with the gear. And boy, am I glad that Slackware doesn't come with any equivalent to Dr. bloody Watson!!! If I get that dialog box again at work I'm gonna freak!!! Using Slackware, on the very odd occasion I might get a hang - or rarely a crash, triggered by a file usually, rather than the app - the process is easy to kill, and when the hung process is killed, it doesn't disable some other key components of the system that will only come back if you close everything and reboot!!
Now that's how computing should be!! Easy, reliable, and stable. Well done all of you thousands of hackers who've crafted such a wonderful system; and thank you Pat for bringing together something as smooth and as stable, and as fun to use as Slackware. You've done yourself proud

So, one more happy customer Thanks to GNU/Linux and Slackware!!!