Why Linux Lost

June of last year, I wrote about my switch to Ubuntu from a life of Windows. A few weeks ago, the view on my monitor switched from the wonderful OpenGL powered Beryl window manager, to the bland decorator of Windows XP. After nine months of triumph, Linux has lost. And here's why:
My Printer That's it, that's what did in the open source glory that is Linux. Many Linux fanatics might wonder how that could possibly draw me away from their beloved operating system. My explanation is very simple: It wasn't Linux's fault. You see, when you're trudging through college and working at the same time, you don't have time or energy to deal with irritating printer issues any time your girlfriend decides to print something from her Windows laptop. Thanks to Hewlett Packard's astounding genius, there is no actual driver file that can be manually installed for my printer. The only way (and I've tried other tricks desperately) to print over the network is if both computers are running the same operating system. I thought I found the solution when I started playing with VMware. Unfortunately, USB support seems to be very touchy and the printer was only available half of the time. When it went down, I would have to jump through all sorts of hoops (and I may have signed away on my first born child) to get VMware to recognize my printer again. Throw homework and studying into the mix, and things get ugly real fast.

So in my house, Linux has thrown in the towel. I don't know if to blame my girlfriend or HP (though I think I know which would be safer...). It's sad to see it end this way, but eventually Linux will have it's day in my house, I just know it. Until then, it's been fun.