I'd like to make some comments on using Linux. It's tough sometimes, especially when trying to configure peripherals. For example, my scanner does not work in Linux, period. Meanwhile, my printer took two days to get running smoothly. My tablet also isn't the best in Lin (yet) because I don't have absolute positioning yet.

At the same time, it's a lot harder to edit files outside of the equivalent of "My Documents" (/home/) in Linux because of the root permissions and what-not. One of these days I have to unlock everything in the /windows folder because I just use it for moving files back and forth, as XP and Ubuntu can't read each other's formats while both being able to read FAT stuff just fine. Yes, I know it's more secure because of these things, but sometimes it's just another loop, you know?

These things, I think, are where Windows has Linux beat by a long shot. However, Linux does have lots of good things. First, virtually all the software is free (in this case, I mean free-as-in-beer--free-as-in-freedom isn't very helpful to me at the moment aside from the fact that it makes a better free-as-in-beer product). A working office suite in Windows (Office) costs me over a hundred dollars. OO.o in Linux, while not perfect, still does pretty much everything I need of it as far as I can tell for zero dollars and zero cents. Linux itself is free, while, again, Windows (not including the OEM version which appears free with the computer, though the actual cost is just tacked on) costs lots of moneys. Basically, Linux is cheap. Other things... I adore both the gnome desktop's panel layouts and Synaptic/the apt system (which usually makes installing things really easy--there's less thought than there is in Windows lots of times. I also like that while Windows doesn't want you customizing things TOO much, Linux practically screams, "SCREW WITH ME!!!", even if you don't know (yet) how to do it (okay, so that's where free-as-in-freedom comes in, and it's cool).

Finally, I can astound all my techy-ish friends when I tell them that I had to ~gasp!~ change my id3 tags on my music files in console mode... which looks like this, by the way:

jesusabdullah@steelix:~$ cd Music
jesusabdullah@steelix:~/Music$ id3ed "03Coldplay - Spies.mp3"
File 03Coldplay - Spies.mp3: (tag v1.1)
songname[max:30]: Spies
artist[max:30]: Coldplay
album[max:30]: Parachutes
year[max:4]: 2000
comment[max:28]:
tracknum[max:3]: 3
genre[0-255/name]: 255
jesusabdullah@steelix:~/Music$ echo "Hell yeah, check that shit out hombres!"
echo "Hell yeah, check that shit out hombres"
Hell yeah, check that shit out hombres
jesusabdullah@steelix:~/Music$

Oh yeah, check out my bad self. :P

Umm... about this comic. the biggest frame and the "IT'S OFF THE CHARTS!" were the first things I ever visualized in this, waay back last Summer (wow, almost a year ago. Amazing). In my original sketch, there was a man darting amongst the rocks with awesome sideburns, a stylin' suit, kick-ass sunglasses and total bling (that looked suspiciously like me I might add). I worked hard to give the Mrs. Carleson a really ditzy look, and while it was pretty good for my skill level that time, I think... it's been done waay better. Oh, well. It's actually kinda good, because I wasn't really aiming for fanservice, just getting the stereotype down.

...that IS a stereotype, right?

I would also like to point out this thread. Don't worry, it works out in the end! It's just... interesting to say the least. Food for thought... fried twinkies, maybe.

--Josh