SMF 9/4/12 Ubuntu vs. Windows, which leads to droid vs. iphone

Hi everybody,

Apologies in advance: This isn't (mostly) about phones.  But it's still about cheap, so I guess it's ok.   I'm a bit of a dweeb.  And a bit of a cheapskate.  Which means when somebody says, "it's free and open-source" I generally jump on it.  Hence, as I learn more about ubuntu and debian, I start putting it on all of my machines.  Here are the benefits:

a) Free.
b) Open-Source - meaning I can look at the code and change/modify things if I want to spend the time.
c) More free software than you could use in several lifetimes.
d) It works, with a little tweaking, nearly as well as mac OS (which by the way is linux based)
e) No virus protection needed

The detriments are as follows:

i) It's a little harder to get used to
ii) The software doesn't always work, since it's designed by whoever wants to do it.
iii) tech support generally means you have to use google and your wits.
iv) Not all hardware is supported, meaning your printer might not work right away.

Given all this, I still put ubuntu on all of my machines.  Sometimes I dual boot with windows or virtualbox into a windows install.

This does segue quite nicely into the apple vs. android debate.  The basic difference between apple products and android products is that ANYONE can write a program for android.  No quality checking, no worries.  For apple, development is a bit more restricted and they check the quality of a program before they'll roll it out.  This is not so much good or bad as a ideological difference.  Apple wants to protect people from themselves (don't break your phone with this crappy software) whereas droid and google are basically saying the opposite: try whatever you want, we trust you, and if you break it, just come grab a new one or restore it to factory settings.  This difference in ideology leads to a difference in cost and reliability.  Apple products generally cost more, but last way longer, because they don't get tampered with or upgraded much.  They're great for tech-newbies or people who just want a very reliable phone which can browse the web and text.  Androids in general have a slightly shorter life expectancy, but they're a whole lot more useful while they're alive.  In the animal kingdom, this might be like comparing a tortoise to a tuna.  Tortoises live forever, not changing much, but they're nigh unto indestructible.  Tuna live a much more active life, moving and shaking, and then they might end up on a sushi menu (to extend the analogy, the sushi menu = best buy's wall of shame).  I'm sorry if you're a biologist and this analogy offended you, I'm just trying to make a point here.  Please correct my errors and take it with a pinch of wasabi.