In his “C Programming” column in the latest Dr. Dobb’s Journal, Al Stevens gives us a little peek into the problems he’s had trying to transition from Windows to Linux.  He’s gotten bored with Windows programming, and is looking for something new.  He’s settled on Linux, and having all manner of problems with it.  Don’t feel alone, Al, I’m having trouble too.

What Al explains better than anybody else I’ve read is that yes, he’s capable of slogging through the meager documentation and mountains of online information to find the solution to just about any computer related problem.  The point he makes is that he shouldn’t have to bring all of his considerable computer knowledge and experience to bear just to get the operating system to boot!  Even a hobbyist likes to actually do stuff with his computer.  Futzing with weird configuration files is just frustrating—especially after having done it for 20 years.

Of course, being right won’t prevent Al from getting tons of hate mail from the zealots who think “their” operating system is the best thing since the invention of the microprocessor.