[ale] what would YOU do with 24 SSD's?

[Mike Harrison]

> Well, you see the volume and degree of OT relates to the stability of Linux.
> Unlike Windows folks, we're not burning endless hours figuring out how to fix
> broken systems -- again. So there's time for, umm, lubricants. Ok, maybe
> that's a little over stated.

Actually, I spend an enormous amount of time "building" and "fixing" stuff
in Linux. It's fun.. I just replaced a fat java application that required 
a GUI with < 100 lines of perl code that runs in a cron job. :)

And Skype Pulse-Audio issues.. and.. and..

But they ARE resolvable, without voodoo magic like:
   "Reinstall your system, apply all service packs THEN re-install yours
    apps in the following order...."

> But to your point (I think), I do find that the volume of actual Linux
> questions here has diminished. A lot more hardware and OT stuff. (Would be

It is an incredible COMMUNITY. With a Linux focus. The list ranges from 
old geeks like me that respond to way too many e-mails, to some lurking 
uber-geeks that pop-up with gems of wisdom every once in a while..
To a few newbies.

Regarding Newbies: My main projects main sales dude is a 50+ Engineer Type
that's been an amazing adopter of Linux. To the point when his day to day 
livelyhood WinXP Pro system recently crashed he asked me to re-install it 
as a Dual-Boot - WinXP and Ubuntu 9.04.. Ubuntu as the primary boot.

You won't find Rob on any Linux list, Rob cares little about the OS other 
than it works... he says OpenOffice rocks, and he asked my favorite 
question: How do I donate part of what I would have just paid for 
MS-Office to these guys?

My real point is, Linux has grown up enough that many people just "put in 
the keys and go" - the mechanics in the community still are able to tinker 
under the hood and bolt on weird things as they wish.

Last week, I watched 3 peoples netbooks go from WinXP to Ubuntu Netbook 
Remix. All I have to do is let them play with mine for 10 minutes.
Being able to install from a USB flash image is incredibly useful.
Very Do-able over a tall cup of coffee in the local coffee shop.

No, you won't find the newbies much on old fashioned mailing lists..
Seeking out support for arcane problems is not such a problem anymore.

However, seeking out a community of intelligent, open minded, conversant
people, that also know a lot about Linux: Welcome home.

--Mike--