I have spent my whole life using forums on the internet and I have never found one as user unfriendly as the Angel discussion boards. I can’t believe that colleges pay for these stupid systems when a free Google Group or even a Facebook page would probably have more functionality.

I don’t know how it is on the faculty side of things but from a student perspective every lms I have every used (webct, blackboard, and now angel) seems to work against me, and has a different design then anything else on the web. The only system I ever liked was designed and used by one of my professors on his personal website.

On the subject of distributions, what precisely makes one distro better than another? GNU/Linux is the Linux kernel, plus packages and drivers. A distribution is made by including a chosen set of packages, package manager, configuration tweaks, and OS installer with the distro maker’s kernel version of choice. In my mind, the most salient difference between distributions is that they use different graphics. My only reason for choosing one distribution over any other involves the amount of cruft I feel I have to remove: how long will it take to trim the packages and disable the kernel features I don’t need? And even this is unnecessary; I just tend to be an OS czar.

For all operating systems, I think of them the same way in terms of stability. Aside from a true mechanical or electrical failure, plugging a particular device into your system doesn’t crash anything; a system only crashes when it runs code. If the developer of a particular driver has failed to account for a specific edge case that prevents the hardware from working properly, the fault does not lie with the kernel developer but with the driver developer. If the kernel crashes on account of the driver, the fault for the crash does not lie with the driver developer but with the kernel developer for not protecting their kernel against the driver developer’s bad code. But should the kernel developer and driver developer blame the user for installing the driver and crashing the kernel, even if the user installed either the driver or the kernel improperly? For me, this idea seems completely ludicrous. How was the user able to install anything improperly in the first place? An operating system is developed for users by users. Why should a developer ever blame a user for finding a bug? There is no enmity among scientists when a well-established theory is overturned in favor of a better one. I hold developers to the same high standard.

“Robert:
You might as well give up on reasonable conversation with OS advocates. Whether Linux, Windows, Unix, or Apple, it is a religion. To indicate that you wish to change religions is an insult to the integrity of the religious group you are attempting to leave. They must crush you and your arguments. If you succeed then their faith in undermined. Their confidence is damaged.

Remember, more wars have been fought in the name of religion than any other reason.

I use Windows as my primary OS. The machine is a tool. I’ve used Mac and Linux where appropriate. Mostly I use Open Source software where I can, buy what I absolutely must. Windows for me (note I said, for me, possibly not anyone else) has proven the most economical model.

I applaud you for choosing Mac as a model that works for you. (I used to sell Apple equipment many years ago, you know, the original Mac and Lisa). Apple provides an excellent system that performs the functions you need, therefore a good decision.

Only advice I have is not to waste your time on convincing the any OS fanatics of the wisdom of your choice. It never works (See Asperger’s Syndrome for further information on the personality type you are dealing with)

By the way, I’ve got 25 years in IT, survived the OS/2 – Windows wars, do understand the power of the command line, but choose computers as tools, not religions. When it comes to computers, choose the combination that works for you, not someone else.”

It’s like the old story of the plant worker who comes out of retirement to fix a problem. He sends his former employer a bill for $1000.05 — five cents for whacking a pipe with a hammer and $1000 for knowing where to whack.

Let the sequence of “not all that easy, is it?” comments begin.

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-restricted extras

(or, if you’re allergic to the command line, the equivalent sequence of mouse clicks to fire up synaptic and do the equivalent via a GUI)?