Linux Developer Laptop

Joe Pluta wrote:
Me, I'm almost entirely removed from Microsoft now and I don't miss it.
The day the Rational products run on Linux, I'm probably off of Windows
for good. An IBM i solution with Linux workstations is a really attractive
option, in my opinion.

This thought pricked me to start shopping for a Linux laptop. I found http://www.dell.com/open which features Ubuntu Linux preinstalled. Last year I spent an evening at Barnes and Noble reading a book on Ubuntu Linux and was very impressed. It's full featured. Even supports a Web cam.

While Rational tools would be nice, I could get by with an HTML editor with code-complete, Firefox, a 5250 emulator, Open Office, a graphics editor, Skype, and a few other small applications. I'm really starting to think seriously about a Linux laptop.

It wouldn't take much to wean me off Windows. My son in law just installed a service pack for Vista and is going through a nightmare. It started crashing several times a day. He tried uninstalling the service pack, and now the new laptop won't even boot. It's under warranty but he needs it for school finals.

Nathan.