Concur with Jurily; using Ubuntu with light desktop manager (Openbox) as a non-gaming desktop.

It fast, stable, no hassles, installation was easy, everything worked--easier than a Windows installation with hunting down drivers and installing them in the right order, actually.

Hmmm, Mandriva is #13 at Distrowatch: not so lucky, apparently. Was surprised to see it is on there, actually.

2012, Year of the Linux desktop? For some!

RTFA, VTFWs (visit the web site?)

That, or ICE took it back again.

Yes, a Soekris unit, or a Supermicro mini ITX cost more than an Asus, but putting together something like a Soekris opens up many more software options.

OpenBSD if you're paranoid? Check.

Monowall, sure.

BSDs, Linux, and Plan 9: all good to go.

Also, Soekris and Supermicro both have great reputations for reliability--set it up, forget it, it works for years.

Quote: "PC Engines is so behind the times that you might as well just go Soekris. Oh wait, they don't have gigE either."

Um, no, you are wrong, AC, they do:

http://soekris.com/catalog/category/view/s/net6501/id/76/

Four Genuine (R) Intel (C) GB adapters, Atom CPU, small form factor, low power consumption.

And no I do not work for or at Soekris....I am rocking a cheap Airlink 101, ten bucks from Fry's.....

*Landing an object on an asteroid is neither cheap nor convenient...even a robotic device is difficult. *

Yes, but it has already been done:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hayabusa

In fact, Hayabusa wasn't supposed to actually land, but it did, for about 30 minutes. It may have a sample of the asteroid that it is bringing back in 2010, just in time for a re-issue of the Late Michael Crichton's Andromeda Strain.

The asteroid was not destroyed by the landing....just like the comet that was hit by a space probe did not disintegrate either:

http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/050704_deepimpact_success.html

"Next to impossible": I do not think this means what you think it means.

Oh, that has already been done:

November 1999-- Nawaq ALHAZMI (whose name is on the lease) and Khalid ALMIDHAR move into apartment 127 at Parkwood Apartments, a 175-unit apartment complex in the Clairemont, section of San Diego on Mount Ada Road near the mosque off Balboa Drive. Neighbors report them playing flight-simulator videogames late into the night. They are constantly on their cell phones. They drive a gray early-90s Toyota Camry, but are seen getting into limousines late at night.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/683026/posts

Clearly: Toyota is the terror car of choice. Except for limosines, which should be banned.

"I've definitely priced myself out of this market. "

Dragon THC:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_elasticity_of_demand

If you are not getting work, drop your price. Do a great job, get referrals, raise your price as your time becomes more in demand.

Also, your handle, "Dragon THC". Quick James Joyce stream of consciousness:

THC = marijuana = doper.

Dragon = aggressive, destructive:

"Like most mythological creatures, dragons are perceived in different ways by different cultures. Dragons are sometimes said to breathe and spit fire or poison. They are commonly portrayed as serpentine or reptilian, hatching from eggs and possessing typically feathered or scaly bodies. They are sometimes portrayed as having large yellow or red eyes, a feature that is the origin for the word for dragon in many cultures. They are sometimes portrayed with a row of dorsal spines, keeled scales, or leathery bat-like wings."

Be positive; read Dale Carnegie:

http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/0671723650

I am not suggesting you change your user name to NiceChinchilla, but, maybe consider an attitude adjustment? Change your attitude, change your life.

HTH