Scatterism

I. Don’t. Compile. Anything. I have 902 packages installed, and 0 compilers. Everything I need is already packaged.

— Mark Pilgrim, One year with Linux

It’s been a year since Mark Pilgrim switched to Ubuntu. If you don’t already know, Mark was one of those Mac zealots. He was on Mac for 10 years, and eventually got fed up.

It seems to me that the number one gripe with both Windows and OSX is software and package management. I would argue that the OS is the package manager, but that would be a little extreme. With most Linux distros, there’s no need to worry about what gets installed when, you just pick your selection of software and leave the rest to Linux.

I’ve been on ArchLinux for about two years, gone through a full system upgrade twice, and it never broke on me. Never. I recently decided to try Ubuntu, after Feisty Fawn’s release, and I have to tell you, it never stopped amazing me; so much work done in so little time.

What have I missed out on in these two years? The only thing I can recall is Joost.

— Sam Ruby, Life on Linux

So what do you lose when you switch? According to Sam Ruby (I never knew he was only Linux for two years): Nothing.

Update: I deeply, sincerely apologize for mistyping Mark’s name. I know it’s Mark, but I have a terrible memory. Forgive my ignorance.