We have officially reached the halfway point in The Great Linux Experiment. To celebrate this momentous occasion, Fedora tester extraordinaire Angela Smedley would like to say a few words on her experiences. As always, everything will be back to normal tomorrow.
Positives:

• The command line is back with a vengence. “I love it,” she says. “It takes me back to the days when I was trying to get my copy of [the computer game] Sam & Max Hit the Road running in DOS. I know that not everyone feels that way, but it doesn’t matter.”
• Updating. “It’s so much easier here than it is in Windows. All I have to do is click the little, unobtrusive box that pops up in the corner. And if I want to update right now, all I need to do is type in a few words into the command line.”
• Repositories. “It nice not having to look through website after website just for some obscure program. It’s all waiting for me here.”
• Epiphany. “Fantastic. Still can’t get the WebKit version running, though.”
• Every day is a learning experience. “I can’t believe how much stuff I picked up so far.”
• The programs. “There are so many interesting programs here … can’t find some of these in Windows.”

Negatives:

• Some things are still a bit too difficult. “It shouldn’t have taken us that long to install the video drivers.”
• Compiling your programs. “Not fun.”
• Peer pressure from the Linux community. “It’s not as bad as I thought it would be, but it’s still there. Take compiling. Every site I run into says that it’s completely unnecessary to compile your programs anymore. Still, the community makes me feel like a sellout if I don’t. Not a fan of that.”
• No Photoshop. “CS3 doesn’t work in WINE [the Windows emulator], and the GIMP just doesn’t cut it.”
• The amazing updating install of Firefox. “Why does Firefox keep updating like this? I would understand if it was a few times a week, but it’s not. I’m sorry, but no program should have to be updated daily like this.”
• The occasional lack of proper documentation. “I don’t necessarily like having to look through old message boards in order to get the answers that I need.”

Biggest Surprise Thus far: “It’s not nearly as scary as I once thought it was.”

Any Linux-specific items that you want to see incorporated into Windows? “The repository thing, definitely. Oh … and Epiphany.”

As it stands now, would you consider switching to Linux on a permanent basis? – “No, but that’s only because I love Windows 7. If Windows 7 wasn’t coming out soon, or if I thought that it stunk, I would switch in a second. I can work well enough with the GIMP and besides, I have a Windows laptop. I can run Photoshop CS3 from there.”

Ever think about booting? That way, you’ll have access to both. “Actually, no. I didn’t think of that. I’m thinking of it now, however.”

…And there you have it. Until tomorrow, we bid you all a fond adieu from the land of penguins and GNUs.