LOOK TO THE HORIZON

So, what comes after Fed(up with)ora?  That's the question on my mind.  
That's the thing that keeps me up at night.  Actually, it isn't.  Stress 
keeps me up at night, and a general inclination towards a nocturnal 
circadian rhythm.  But, it IS something I am thinking about right now.  
Do I go back to the Debian clan, my eyes downcast, my manner 
supplicative?  Or do I forge for new digs, explore new territory, take a 
few chances, and learn a few new skills?  Well, to be honest, I'd like 
to do both.

If you've actually been following this phlog (Hi Deepgeek!  Say hello to 
Deepgeek, everyone, he's my only reader.  And by everyone, I mean you, 
Deepgeek.), well then, my sympathies go out to you.  But, assuming you 
have -- that is, assuming the theoretical you is theoretically reading 
this...you know, in theory -- then you know that I've been waffling 
badly over the past few weeks, trying to figure out what I might want to 
try next.  It seems that a dual boot is possibly in my future.  Hah!  
Can I get more noncommittal?  How about, at some point I might try and 
maybe create a separate partition on this machine -- possibly.  See, 
because, someday I'm going to wish I HAD done this.  And, truth be told, 
I really like trying out new distros.  I like trying out stuff to see if 
it'll work on my hardware.  But I absolutely NEED a production machine 
too.  I can't dick around for weeks or months at a time, trying to get 
an installation working.

And that's exactly where I am with Fedora.  I don't mind having to fight 
a little, trying to install new things on an operating system, or trying 
to expand a particular distro's functionality in ways that the 
developers, maybe, never thought about.  That's fine: if I buy a 
toothbrush, and want to turn it into a pocket fishing pole, the odds are 
it'll take some work.  But if I install a system, and shit is broken 
right out of the box, why in hell should I feel any express loyalty 
towards it?  I'm glad some people DO -- I mean, there wouldn't be any 
stable OSes out there at all if everyone had my attitude.  But I never 
once have defined myself as a developer.  Hell, I'm still mystified by 
bug reporting tools -- even Fedora's, which, arguably, seems easier than 
any other out there.  No, the sad fact is, I'm only a user, and I always 
will be.  I know my strengths.  After about four years now of Linux, I 
still can't write a shell script that does more than launch an app I'm 
too lazy to type out the name of. And, understand, I'm not apologizing 
for being me.  If I have any talents, they lie elsewhere.  No big deal.

But why hang out with the technically-minded, then?  Why do I 
deliberately put myself into technological situations that I can't hope 
to get myself out of without excessive handholding?  Why do I go to 
Pamploma every year and run with the geeks?  Hell if I know.  Maybe, 
expressly BECAUSE I'm ignorant and untalented.  I mean, if like you good 
food, you ought to hang out in fine restaurants -- or, at least, make 
friends with the chefs.

So, if there will be two operating systems on this thing, and one of 
them will be Debian, what will the other be, to start with?  Well now, 
stay tuned, gentle reader.  I know I will.