I think Linux will be relegated to tweakers and guys that run primarily web-centric operations... That would be so, if the courts didn't keep redefining the definition of private property until everything you own is not yours, but merely leased from the company that holds the patent.
I liked nearly everything about Mac OS X... until I read the license.
My Linux computer is legally and truly my computer in a way that my Mac will never be.
My Linux computer...I have, for various reasons, been warming up to that idea.
I realize that with Linux you can have issues with drivers. But Linux is entirely compatible with Windows software? (I mean software that specifies "Windows" in System Requirements.)(I realize that the SFW vendor is not going to support it on an off-label OS but can I nonetheless be pretty confident that it will run?)
I understand where you're coming from. However, from a practical standpoint, I have photos to shoot, develop, post on a web site, get to a newspaper, print, and sell. Here's a shot from one of my college games this year:
This was shot with a Canon 1DMII camera in RAW format. Canon does NOT make a Linux based RAW processor, and I have around $10,000 tied up in Canon photo gear. There is no Linux version of Photoshop, which I've been working with for over ten years. I don't want to or have time to chase down a RAW converter that might work, then learn a new photo editing program that I seriously doubt would be half as good as Photoshop, then look for a hacked Epson 2200 printer driver and ICC profiles developed open source. Like I said, Linux is great for guys that want to get under the hood, but I don't have time to build a system, or spend a week scouring the web for open source versions of programs that I KNOW exist for Mac. If Steve Jobs shows up at my house and wants his OS back, I guess I'll have to give it to him and get out of the photography business, or go back to the dark side with M$. But from my perspective, operating a photography business with Linux systems just isn't feasible.