And maybe I should read the post properly before replying. True indeed.

I kind of fail to see how that would change anything.

My point is that if you don't vote, and don't involve yourself in politics, your complaints don't really resonate very much. You live in a democracy, which definitely has flaws, as do all systems, but at least you have an opportunity to try to do something about it. Vote, demonstrate, start a political organization, sponsor an independent candidate, make a documentary, but don't just sit there and do nothing and complain that nothing ever changes. Then it never will. To quote (or paraphrase) Edmund Burke: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".

With a presidential election turnout of 57.37% (2008), these arguments are fairly lame. 42.63% leaves ample room for swaying the result in any direction, if people just cared enough. Yes, lots of politicians are corrupt, lazy, self-centered and often just plain stupid, but from time to time, people actually get the representatives they deserve.

Gotta keep the trolls well fed, I guess..

Which reality? Mine or yours? It will be a sad day for all when everybody chooses the same OS.

I haven't really used Windows myself since the 95 days and although I've tried liking OS X and its predecessors, I've consistently (and increasingly) felt like wearing a cross between a straight jacket and an iron maiden (the (presumably fictional) medieval torture instrument, not the band) when on those systems.

On Linux, I've had the (admittedly mixed) pleasure of using something in the vicinity of a dozen window managers, which has broadened my perspectives on how to get the most out of a computer, instead of forcing me into some mainstream with its limitations and corporate-enforced restrictions (I have no particular feelings against commercial software, I just want options).

Now, I know I'm not the average user, but I have to say that the devs I've worked with that have never touched some *nix flavor have been lacking, somewhat seriously, in perspectives. The when-all-you-have-is-a-hammer analogy comes to mind. This goes the other way too, of course, I could use more experience with the dev tools available on other platforms, it's just been too painful when I've been there.

As far as anecdotes go, my mom is a happy Linux user, I installed her first Ubuntu several years ago and she's kept herself quite happy with it since. I've had to do way more support on my dad's and in-laws' Windows and OS X systems (and no, not because they use their computers more).

In my (admittedly anecdotal) experience, a Linux desktop with a mainstream distro is as good a system for the majority of users as anything. You get excellent email and web experiences and you have a lot of good alternatives when it comes to the tasks most people use their computer for. Of course, this goes for Windows and OS X as well, for a (probably somewhat larger) majority of users.

Naturally, other OSes have a lot going for them too, and I have no problem seeing why people would want to use them, but they are no more than other alternatives, good in some ways, poor in others. Pro photographers want Photoshop, engineers want CADs, audio technicians want audio software, probably more likely to be readily available on commercial OSes. None of these groups comprise the majority of computer users, neither does the *nix-savvy dev. Luckily we have multiple options and luckily (for a huge number of people) a multitude of *nix flavors are among them.

Defining one's own usefulness is a tremendous endeavour.