If "going mainstream" means looking and acting more like Windows, then No!, thanks. I'm already pissed at default double-click, having to use Ctrl C and Ctrl V in Open Office, and putting the reload button on the location bar in Firefox. Please don't dumb down Linux any further. A decent Gnome video editor would be nice, though.

Sure thing. PM me and I'll send you my PayPal info and make sure the money gets to the right place.

...this story presents me a real conundrum. Which evil organization do I root for?

If Dodd does as well for the MPAA as he did for banking, they will be bankrupt in 3 years. Couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.

And exactly what is sad about that?

Banning things has never worked and never will.

Make that "an open boil on the Anus of society" and I'm in.

.... should follow Hungary's lead. Imagine a bunch of websites designed by a high school computer class which has just learned how to use Flash.

You forgot to mention that there are more than 100,000 Windows programs that won't run on Linux. And for what it's worth, Microsoft has had over 30 years to "get it right", and their products are still not fit for anything except playing games. It takes a lot of courage to call people names under "Anonymous Coward".

Maybe Ballmer should ask Mark Shuttleworth.

...does it run on Linux?

That is the method I've been using, but it always results in damaging the networking settings. I do get a fixed IP, but after the first reboot, GRUB no longer auto-starts the system and I have to press "Enter" to get it to boot. After boot, I have to manually start Apache, Pure-ftpd, and CUPS. That's what I meant by not working properly.

...right now. I like it fine, though some changes (moving windows controls to the left side, took a bit of getting used to. The purple scheme sucks but is easy enough to change. There is still a problem with running a fixed IP, or at least there is some trick to making it work properly that I haven't learned yet. It does seem to boot a bit faster, but fast boot times are of little importance to someone who typically runs his computer 24/7. So far, I see no significant improvements, but more importantly, no noticeable degradations, yet.

...for Transonic. I also installed an HHO system and a 100 mpg carburetor that I built from some 1932 plans along with a tornado action swirl generator in the intake. My mileage and horsepower have improved so much that the car will run 87 mph in 1st gear at idle and gets over 257 mpg. It runs on Burger King bio-diesel.

...Ubuntu would fix what they broke in 8.1 and 9.xx. Skype hasn't worked since 8.04 and the new Grub is NOT an improvement. Lots of other minor stuff, but this is not the place to discuss it. I wish they would stop the every 6 months release and use that time make the next release work properly. The default color scheme is so far down on the list of needed improvements that it's only "value" is that it pisses me off that Canonical wasted resources on it. I've been using Linux for more than 10 years and Ubuntu since 6.04, but am seriously considering switching.

And you'd be right. Windows XP is Fisher-Price, not Playskool. Playskool makes Weebles, which wobble but don't fall down. Fisher-Price makes Little People; they make better finger-puppets, but if you push them they fall over. In a way, they're a lot like Windows.