“Do you cook, or do you prefer take-out? Do you change your own
motor oil, or do you drop off your car at the shop? If you’re like
me, your personality depends entirely on the task at hand. I love
to cook, but when it’s time to change the oil, the last place
you’ll find me is sweating in grime beneath an automobile.
When I booted my first copy of Linux back in 1995, it was pretty
hard to find a pre-built Linux system. In those days most folks had
two options: Install Linux on a Windows machine, or build a Linux
box from scratch. But today — with everyone and their grandma
getting into the Linux business — pre-loaded Linux machines are
easier to come by. And with the quantity and quality of Linux
applications growing by leaps and bounds, paying Microsoft for an
operating system you’ll never use just seems silly. So what do you
do? Do you build your Linux system from scratch or do you buy one
ready-made? What kind of person are you?
Before I started this story, I thought I knew where I stood
on this question. Linux is a do-it-yourself OS, plain and simple,
and for people like me, buying it pre-configured ruins the
fun. I half-believe that the GNU General Public License should
be amended to require that all Linux users struggle with
uncooperative hardware — at least a little bit — before they can
unleash the mighty penguin.”