daverea.com

Anyone who’s ever been in the same room with me and a computer knows that I’m a Linux guy. If the computer happens to be a Linux box, then I’m inevitably extoling the virtues of Open Source. If it happens to be a Windows box, then I’m invariably bitching about how it would be better if it were running some flavor of Linux.

But lately, I must admit, I’ve been faltering. As annoying as Windows is, and as much as I like using my Gentoo Linux machine, I’m starting to feel the squeeze as practicality and ideology clash.

For example… Syncing my Palm Pilot and my PC takes about a minute to set up on a Windows box. It took me two days to get it working on my Linux machine. Sending waypoints to my GPS from my Windows box takes me two clicks. Under Linux, it takes a series of cryptic commands that are not easily memorized. Windows knows how to click my monitor into power-save mode, right out of the box. I’m still trying to get that to work on my Linux box…

I’m starting to see just how applicable the Theory of Rational Ignorance can be. If you’ve never heard of this theory, go read it. Basically, it boils down to this: if it costs us more to obtain a piece of information than it does to be ignorant of it, then it’s rational to be ignorant. As much as I love knowing how the digital insides of my computer work, and as much as I love toying with its guts and the feeling of triumph when I get something new working, I’m growing weary of it.

I’m big on reliability. I want my car to be reliable, I want my gun to be reliable, and (naturally) I want my computers to be relaible. Linux is damn reliable. The workstation I’m typing this on has been up for 41 days. Unfortunately, reliability and longevity are different beasties. Because while my Linux workstation might be very stable, I can’t rely on it to just work if I go out today and buy a new DVD burner. Sure, it might work right out of the box. I might be burning DVDs to my heart’s content by supper time. But it might take me a week just to get the thing to recognize the drive. Sure, with plenty of research beforehand, that risk can be minimized. But the “Made for Windows XP” stamp on the box offers a much better (through certainly not absolute) compatibility guarantee.

I can just hear my dear friends – people whose switch to Linux was probably influenced by me – screaming in agony at the thought of losing me to “the dark side“. My apologies to you all… But I think the time may* be drawing near for me to learn – for the first time – to use computers as the tools they are, and let someone else get their hands dirty meddling with their insides.

* Note: This may all pass tomorrow, and I may regain my senses, and continue to love my Gentoo box…