Linux Mint earned the Editor’s Choice, as well it should, as it was my favorite of the five.  Ubuntu was a close second. As I mentioned before, I am not partial to PCLinuxOS or Mandriva, and Fedora makes me want to never see Linux again. (This is especially sad because Fedora is the one that works best with the Samsung netbooks.)

Click on over to read. Maybe you will find yourself thinking about trying Linux. I am glad I did, despite everything.

I don’t think I’m all that different from most informed computer users. I use this funny box to do more than just check email and process words. My computer is central to my livelihood. And yet Linux held no temptation for me.

Then I got an Eee PC.

When I heard that Eee PCs came with Linux on them (a tweaked version of Xandros, as we all now know) I wasn’t put off. I was actually happy to hear it, because I figured not having Windows helped keep the cost down. After I bought it, I used that little netbook every day for months. In that case, I did mainly use it for surfing and writing and not much else. Still, Linux didn’t make things more difficult, trip me up, or otherwise annoy me. I actually enjoyed it. Plus, I will admit, it made me feel like an ubergeek, which is a good feeling.

When I interviewed for my current job I even said that I thought Linux was pretty awesome and would be willing to try it elsewhere. My boss hasn’t let me forget that yet. Especially in light of the last 5 weeks.

A few of you are aware of this (mainly because of my ranting), but I had to review 5 Linux distros in the past 5 weeks. I got to choose them, and I went with distros that I’d heard of and that had a reputation for being newbie friendly. Ubuntu (of course), Linux Mint, PCLinuxOS, Fedora and Mandriva. In order to review them, I installed, used, added to, configured, and poked at all five. I actually installed each of them more than once — some 3 times. I mostly tested them on different computers from LiveUSBs, but one of the sections in my reviews is all about installation and whether it’s easy for Linux newbies like myself.

And again, I’ll point out that I’m not a newbie or clueless computer user. I’m pretty savvy. Still, every version of Linux I installed made me curse out loud and break things. Ubuntu and Mint were, I admit, the easiest. But even then I was lost a lot when dealing with the partitioner. Fedora is the worst, then PCLinuxOS, then Mandriva. Fedora made me want to shoot myself. Repeatedly.

Granted, I was having troubles because I was attempting to install these Linuxes alongside existing operating systems (dual-boot) and thus had to deal with partitioning, which Ubuntu and Mint make fairly easy. If I just wanted to wipe out everything on the disk and do a clean install it wouldn’t have been so fraught with the other three. But I’m sure a lot of people would like to try Linux for a while to make sure that they can switch over successfully. Not everyone wants to ditch Windows or Apple forever and right away.

Even distros that claim to be friendly for new users and easy and such do not even have something as simple as on-screen help. I don’t understand the mentality here. Or, I do understand a bit of the mentality, but I think it’s kind of dumb.

Anyway, the reviews are all written so I don’t have to live and breathe Linux anymore. I’m probably going to end up reviewing other distros as time goes on and updating my reviews as new versions come out. (I may refuse to do Fedora, though.) I also pitched an idea to the editor concerning Linux software which I’ll probably end up doing for the website, if not for print.

I’ve mentioned before that I’m going to buy a new netbook soon (a Samsung, yay). It’ll probably only come with a choice of XP and… XP. Will I dual-boot with Linux? Actually, yes, most likely. I’ll probably end up putting Mint on it alongside Windows. My netbook needs are simple: access the internet, get my email, allow me to write and edit my files. Obviously I can do all of that with any Linux, but Mint is the only one I have any affection for. Perhaps it’s the color scheme. I can see myself ending up like this someday:

In a few years I may have left Windows behind completely. It all depends on how the first installment of my proposed software article comes out. I’m going to try and replicate all of the tools I use for web design in Linux. I’ll let you know how that goes.