Best Operating System: theory and practice

Read this for fun.

A long time ago, I started off on a (ever-lasting) quest for the best operating system and environment for my host. Being a Unix operating system fan, I soon got rid of Windows, and found myself installing a Linux. That started a long time ago and I installed several distributions: RedHat, Mandrake, Debian, and more recently Ubuntu. Globally, I liked Linux, its compatibility and the reactivity of its community, but in the end, sometimes I got the feeling Linux was getting bigger, fatter, slower and more buggy.

So, I decided to go out looking for something else. A quick try with OpenBSD, but to be honest, I didn't really like it. More for servers than desktop (to my opinion). I ended up with Solaris 10. Not so sure it wasn't just to please my husband - a great fan of Sun - or to remind us of our old school days. I wasn't disappointed: it was *so* stable, nice 64-bit support, and enough software to get me (approximately) happy.

But then, Christmas arrived, and I got a new wide LCD screen. I struggled for several weeks to get its resolution supported by Solaris. Updated to Solaris u6. Partially lost my configuration in the process (my fault though - not Sun's)… and finally ended up (reluctantly) installing OpenSolaris. There we are, I now run OpenSolaris, with my nice 22'' screen.

For fun, you might want to follow the path of my operating system installations. Well, as far as I remember:

• RedHat: honestly, I can't remember why I dropped it. Too long time ago.
• Mandrake: that distribution was quite up-to-date with good support for the French language. But it was so buggy. I just hate stupid GUIs that do not do what they're meant to !
• Debian: the problem is that it does not always support the latest stuff. I switched to testing, and that's where my configuration started messing up. I struggled with package dependencies etc. After a few crash and calling it names, I decided it was time to look for something else.
• OpenBSD: not enthousiastic. Never really got into it.
• Solaris 10: oooh, so stable ! Nice ! But some desktop peripherals are quite impossible to install. It's a pity there's so little support for Solaris on desktop. Everybody's focusing on OpenSolaris.
• OpenSolaris: I see it as “Solaris for Desktops”. It supports newer stuff, end-user community is more active, but unfortunately, the price is stability and performance. Well it's still okay. And I like compatibility with Solaris. And I love ZFS, so, I stick to it.
• (Current) END.

Wanna know why I like Unix ?

• I hate Windows's instability and its unpredictable behaviour
• I hate messy documentation of Windows APIs
• I hate the way Microsoft implements and ruins standards
• I care for security
• I love typing cryptic commands in shells: it makes me feel like a geek :)
• my husband loves Unix, and he probably wouldn't have married me if I told him I did not like Unix