I'm sticking with Windows 7.

MSE
HOSTS file
Adblock, NoScript, Disconnect (Ghostery was sold to an ad company)
EMET
MalwareBytes

Job's done!

I am nowhere near an expert, but as someone who uses Linux everyday (Ubuntu. So what?), I have to say Pulse doesn't give me much trouble. It's annoying that I have to edit a conf file to set up my 5.1 audio channel map, LFE remixing, and resampling rate, but after that, all I have to do is adjust my volume in alsamixer and call it a day. Hardly a catastrophe. Systemd, on the other hand, I agree with in theory: I agree the boot process should be handled by daemons that dynamically load and unload what is needed. It should have been that way from the beginning. A simple script, I suppose, could do the job too, but it's 'dirtier', and seems rather ... hacky. However, systemd's tentacles have now begun to dig themselves into other parts of the system and that, to me, is wrong. It should handle booting and dynamically unloaded/loading modules that are needed. That's it. Why does it need a console? Debugging purposes? That can be done with the Terminal we already have. TL;DR: Systemd's roots are growing too big for the pot.

I have it running on my Nexus 5, and it has come a long way. Just two or three builds ago (241 I think?), scrolling was slow and choppy, swiping between screens was laggy, and touch sensitivity was way too low. Text was hard for me to read (due to font hinting) and "apps" felt like they took forever to open. But the RTM release turned all of that around. It's actually a pleasure to use, and not only do I use it as my DD, I actually removed my CM backup. I'm not saying it's the best OS ever (there's still plenty of bugs to work out), but it works FOR ME and I like it.

Someone? Anyone? Bueller?

You would think that, by now, we would have some compnay like Red Hat or Google contracting out Linux-based systems and support for critical infrastructure. Since *nix/*BSD is the backbone of the Internet, why do they depend on Windows?

How's the Haswell/Maxwell support coming along? ;-)

Well yeah, considering the severity and size of attack vector. I'm sure the NSA are having a field day over at HQ, too (Hi, BTW).

Regardless of how we feel about GNOME 3, we should donate out of principle (in my opinion, of course). I use and depend on GNOME - in one form or another - everyday, so I will be donating ASAP. It won't be much, but it's more than they have now.

Lubuntu with a Windows XP theme. It looks nearly identical, in the familiar Start Menu-esque heirarchy. You could also change the name of apps to something more familiar (LibreOffice > Office, Tomboy > Notes, Totem > Movie Player, etc). Low system requirements too.

I hated Unity at first too. I even skipped 11.04 and 11.10 because I couldn't adjust. But when the LTS came out, I read how things have improved and decided to give it another chance. Now, I'm glad I did. Ubuntu 12.04 is my favorite release of Ubuntu. It works, it's fast, and I can get it configured the way I want in an hour or so. Sure, there's the occasional Compiz crash at first, but after updating and installing proprietary drivers, I haven't had any problems. I don't care if you use Debian, Arch, Mint, or whatever. As long as I can keep using what makes me happy, without making sacrifices to get things done, we can co-exist harmoniously, right?

Well, it's not the ideal solution to the privacy problem, but it's a (small) step in the right direction. I'm going to stick with 12.04 until the next LTS and see where Canonical will go from there. If it doesn't pan out, well, there's always good ol' Debian.

Well yeah, and there's the fact that most people couldn't care less about the politics. I can't speak for anyone's grandparents, but I've been using Ubuntu for years - by choice - because it works, it's fast, and I like the way it looks. Why people can't accept that, I'll never know. For one reason or another, in the Linux community, if you proclaim to like a popular distro, other people take it as a personal attack or something.

I don't know if mechanical HD's are considered "Amish technology" in the PC world yet, but I've been using computers since the 80s and have yet to have an HD disaster. Could be luck, could be karma, but I have no desire to switch yet. Even the typical sales pitch of "bigger, faster!" doesn't sell me like it does with GPUs.

Although this stuff is way over my head, I admire Sarah for all of her hard work in such a cut-throat industry. Being a woman, I can't imagine the extra pressure she has to put up with.