Unlike a lot of Linux distros, things in OSX just work because the drivers you need are there and they have been tested with the hardware you purchase from Apple. 'Nuff said.

I _really_ *want* to be able to use Linux on my desktop. Seriously, though, why does sound support break on recent releases of the kernel? Why did my nvidia driver become completely unusable in 2.6.27? I did have everything working... which took nearly a week. My time is worth money to me and my family. Maybe my money and time is better spent purchasing a Mac where all that stuff has been done for me. As opposed to wasting hours on IRC and forums attempting to patch a broken ALSA module. I still have the benefit of *nix compatibility and the command line. So I'd be right at home.

And of course, I could finally have full support for my iPhone.

It seems to me that the Linux kernel could use a bit more QA. Perhaps just some QA at all would be helpful.

If you want to use Xen, I suggest RHEL 5 or CentOS 5. They both have support of libvirt which provides an API to work with Xen and other virtualization technologies. Additionally, RH has provided the "tools" which many seek.

Also I saw a web application that seems to support plenty of virtualization technologies and is accessible via browser. I cannot recall its name at this time, however.

I have also tried Citrix's XenServer which appears to be a customized version of RHEL 5. Their tag-line of "10 minutes to Xen" isn't off base at all. You can really be setting up VMs within minutes. It does include 'yum' but I've found the default repositories to have nil in the way of updates. So 'borked' package updates aren't likely. I have found that it performs well on a single-server instance. But have been unable to test it in a multi-server pooled environment. Although it has the capability. That said, XenServer does seem to be focused on a more virtualized Windows environment.

They've already disabled USB storage devices on ALL DoD information systems. Not just ones with access to "sensitive" information.

Yeah, thats not too difficult for those more advanced users. But what about the novices who want to get in on the cracking too? those are the people who get caught. The person who receives a disc from their mate at work | school | strip club. Those people run home, install the app, don't know how to block FNPLicensingService.exe from talking to the world, and they unwittingly report themselves.

How Windows-like is that? I need a third party application to protect me from evil software companies who want to steal my money in court?

Speaker: That is when we send in the nano-sized repair bots. Who repair and/or disassemble the defective units...
[Enter aide, stage left] An aide walks briskly into the room and heads for the speaker.
Aide: (whispering)
Speaker: Oh...
Aide: (whispering)
Speaker: ...Hmm...
[Exit aide, stage left] The aide leaves.
Speaker: ... nevermind.

I agree with this sentiment. There is no way to reject such SMS messages. That said, the kid probably saved it. So that would provide reason to believe he was interested in keeping it.

I still have a Quantum Fireball 10GiB running in my pfSense internet gateway box. They keep on keepin' on. :) I can vouch.

I've lost a few 80GiB Maxtors over the years. I've had a few Maxtors that didn't like to live in a RAID array and would just drop out every 24 hours. Seagate techs (level 3) were pretty good to talk to, though. It is fairly easy to get past their Indian level 1 and 2 techs.

I work for $LARGE_US_DEFENSE_INSTALLATION where the policies are in place, nobody follows them, and the 2 guys that are in charge of risk and infosec are so overloaded with "password reset" requests that they can't even look at the performance of those policies. Furthermore, if they wanted to change something, they'd have to wait for a bi-weekly configuration control board meeting, where the four other division chiefs would quickly shut down any project they propose because it would be too much work. and their people already have too much on their plates, etc... you name it. Its happening there.

Oh, look, a Storm Trooper. Lets throw rocks at him!

I might remove my routers' DNS override of thepiratebay and other torrent sites just to download it! ;p

(I'm not about to let my wife get me litigated because she can't resist downloading Sneakers ISOs. True story: She got a cease and desist letter from the cable company for downloading the Sneakers ISO. How ironic.)