Anyone trying to use Linux as an app has probably run into this more than once. I don't really know much about Debian. But when you have to spent hours hunting down 5 rpm's so that you can install one application there's no way in hell that anyone who's not a serious computer person would even consider Linux as an alternative.
An earlier post said cinerella was easy to install I only had to install an older version of libstdc. Well until every package is designed so that it can be downloaded and installed without any problems and extra-required packages Linux will not make the desktop or the mom top. It didn't mention any problems with that but I wonder what would happen if you tried to download cinerella on lindows. No firewall and root access is dangerous also. On a Mac you aren't even aloud to log into the desktop as root you can use the sudo command once you in. and root is disabled by default. If you want to install something it will simply ask you for your password. I like Linux and I think it's got a good future. The problem is that there are too many geeks that want to feel superior by having an OS that's too complex for most people.
The main hope is that lindows or red hat will charge more money. Develop proprietary interfaces and make Linux idiot proof. At that point Microsoft will become very frightened. There's nothing wrong with making money for writing software. " Its called having a job". Acting as a monopoly and forcing the industry is a bad thing " Microsoft RIAA ET all". This idea of software should be free, making money is bad, a chicken in every pot just doesn't work, " ask Lenin or Stalin. I have been using Linux ever since it came on ton floppies and there's no way that I would ever consider deploying it at the corporate level. Maybe for web print DNS and file server, but not on a desktop. Mac OS X has a solution they took BSD and found a way to make money at it. The BSD community prospered and got sufficient funds. IBM adopted Linux; it now has a possibility of wining back its share of the server community. I was finally so disgusted by the work and the problems involved with doing everyday tasks with Linux that I switched to Macs. When IBM makes powerpc64 chips for Mac the war will be won and apple will win. Finally if you're a geek that wants to enter a pissing match about how superior you are. Go get a Porsche like all the other identity crisis idiots (have you even contributed to the Linux community). So I say go lindows, forget about windows and follow the apple model it works. Charge money, customize your UI and start showing that " unlike my windows or my RedHat box, it just works" and you will break the Microsoft monopoly. At that point there will be an Msoffice for lindows.
So there's my two cents worth

-- Ideology and 1.25 will get you a cup of coffee

I have been using linux since it first came out. at first it was fun to play with and an interesting alturnative to sun or windows. the problem was that eaven thought i have been using linux for a long time i can build modify and do quite a bit. i could not compleatly switch over to linux. the main problem is. the real world uses MSOffice for good or bad. if i want to communicate with it i need to use ms office. when i was looking for a job over half the people i sent my resume to could not read it because th star office filters did not render word correctly. this can be frustrating. and eave though pdf should be a universal standard most people dont eaven know how to open a pdf document. that is just crazy. mac has office and it is unix. the aqua interface is proprietary but thats to be expected. there is nothing that i have not been able to do since i have switched over and i am sill able to do all of the unix stuff that i normally do. i remember i was at a mac store and the teck guy said " yea its all going to be one os ( refering to apple destrying ms and linux)" that was scarry . but as long as doing the simplest tasks are dificult in a linux box it will never take off. when i had a 1000 user base. i toyed with the idea of switching to linux on the desktop. but the nightmare of customer support was just too unbaerable.

I would like to write an article. either slashdot like or something like that. the chiefe reason being.
1) there ar allot of bechmarks for
a) intel
b) amd
c) powerpc
2) i cant seem to find an independant fpu benchmark for the power 4 or the RSVI processor. considering that these processors ar a factor of significace above the aformentioned proceessors i wounder why this is the case.
3) i dot want to tell my boss to spend 50K on a computer only to find out that it dosent perform the way that i told him it would.

who knows maybe i could send a piece of hard driving code to ibm have them run it and see what would happen.

I just found out that a previos navy admiral made a madate for all naval computers to be wintel based. when asked what about when navy reserch labs need real number crunching he replied. that the navy shouldnt be doing it. being that my department is heavilly invested in macs and sun workstations this is a verry bad thing. an interesting not is that said navy admiral is now retired and working as a VP for microsoft. and the new admiral is upholding the same mandate. probably hoping for a nice job with microsoft. im not sure how this bodes for the mac and unix comunity as far as nava research goes. but it would be a good topic for slashdot. i would first need to have proof though.