So you are saying Linux had a desktop you liked at one time, but no longer? At least Linux had a decent desktop at one time, unlike Windows.

Strange, given that the site recommends OpenOffice and Gnumeric as alternative spreadsheet applications.

Such as?

Except Libre office has much better functionality, even though its less on price. Better integration with Calc, better formatting, better large document handling, the ability to extend it through the language of your choice, the ability to use scripts to update presentations without ever opening them, etc. I had both Microsoft and OpenOffice years ago, and when working on large (3000 + page documents) that I didnt want to use Latex for (mostly due to sharing with my editor), I prefered OpenOffice. In the end, we all use these "office" suites for purposes that are better served in another application. How many of us fought with layout in a word processor, when we all know Illustrator or Inkscape would have been a better choice? In the end LibreOffice has functionality, particularly today, that rivals or exceeds the suites you pay for.

To address your father, he really should not be sending documents to his clients in a processing format, but rather a PDF or use an online tool for collaboration. In the business I worked for, you could get fired for sharing a document in its raw format: too great a risk of sharing redacted or edited information.

I wish I had mod points. Nice work.

Yes, it will all lead up to some non-sensical ending that unravels everything before and makes you wish you had never bothered seeing it in the first place.

Really? It does feel a bit heavy sometimes (for what its delivering anyway) but its not particualary intrusive or bad to use. Certainly not spawn of the devil, like for instance iTunes.
Steam on linux is better (except for the lack of games of course). Alt-tab is perfection, smooth and slick, and etras such as steam folder locations can be anywhere and you can have multiple destinations too.

Had to use Calc the other day due to an office 2010 bug in Excel that caused it to crash (doing a simple find and replace no less). Calc has always been there for me when excel wont work. Integration with Writer is better then in MS office.

Powerpoint, is way over used, and very limiting.

I have been using HTML online presentations, and I have been very intrigued by the way some people are delivering presentations using live web papge updates. You go to a web page at the beginning of the presentation and the content on the page changes with the presentor. Additional links and information are contained within, and to review in the future you just go to the web page. Additionally, if the content changes, if the presenter adds more information at a later time, you will see that when you return.

However, if you do choose to write a powerpoint like document in Libre, a simple script can update the title, date, and other information so you dont have to open it again if you are presenting in different venues or for different groups.

Yes. Itunes on Windows is the spawn of satan. I do own an iphone but I have never connected it to itunes and never will.

This is what I keep thinking. Games are not really that important, and as I only pay at most maybe $10 and seem to get years out of them on steam, then if it all goes away, so what?

The difference is that these are games. Idle pass-times. Nothing important or personal.

Thank you. I can talk about the lack of a decent desktop environment in windows, or how linux provides me a choice of tools, among other things. But at the end of the day, the Corporate feel of windows and the apps that run on it, just suck the fun right out. Windows is boring, dull as dirt, and uninteresting. Doing work there never gets exciting, nothing new really happens. Thanks for mentioning it.

This is a good explanation, even though I did know what Diaspora was. I usually prefer the privacy angle, but your definition really applies to a broad number of potential users.

I forgot to mention something important. Probably what you are thinking of is the mass produced crap beers, mostly attributed to America.
However, they aren't American. Coors is Canadian, Miller is UK, Bud is Belgian/Brazilian and so on.

True American beers are small operations, and they are the ones that count. Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado have the best beer in the world, bar none.

Sigh. So that brew pub down the street from me that makes beer with fresh organic ingredients, works with the local farmers during purchase only 60 miles away, and serves on tap at all the local pubs is lower then any where in the world? Not to mention the other 100 or so breweries doing the same thing within 60 miles of that one? Sorry pal, I been around the world, and this is the best beer you can get, particularly in terms of quality.