I was surprised to see Gavin Wraith's reasons for not wanting to try Linux in his Linux and Netwinder comment:
I'm not too keen on the UNIX/X window managers, like KDE, which try to look a little like Windows 95 to make most users feel at home. However fvwm2 is very powerful and customisable, and hey, at least it uses 3 mouse buttons! You can get it to do most of the little things that are so likeable about RISC OS - like use windows that aren't at the front - and there are so many other great things about it and X that RISC OS can't do.
Linux has TeX and LaTeX. I haven't used them personally, but I do know that they're the most powerful and versatile typesetting package you can use, and can handle equations at least as well as TW. I think TeX is the "raw" program and LaTeX allows you to use a more friendly mark-up language a little like HTML. There's also a graphical front-end called Lyx, but most users I've seen comment swear by working directly with LaTeX. It's a little like using a graphical HTML editor versus learning the language and using a text editor. This is more important for HTML because of browser differences, but you can see their point.
I've set out to challenge Acorn users' belief that this is an advantage. It was in the old days of expensive RAM and hard drives and still is for STBs, but it isn't an advantage in any modern desktop now. Those great big ROM chips just needlessly add to the cost.
It doesn't make an appreciable difference to the speed of bootup, the actual kernel of Linux loads in the snap of a finger. It's the reading of configuration files that takes all the time, and RISC OS has to do that too. With the new boot sequence it can easily take as long as Linux or Windows.
Linux is secure enough for the kernel to just about never get corrupted on disc. When Windows needs reinstalling, it's the config files that have been damaged more often than the kernel. RISC OS's ADFS is certainly stable enough to support a soft-loaded kernel with a negligible chance of problems.
If the worst comes to the worst, your OS is only a rescue disc away, and with CD-ROM universal these days, there's little inconvenience or risk of damage.
Most UNIXes, including Linux, gain another major benefit by being soft-loaded. The source code is supplied, and you can tailor its configuration to your machine, recompile it, then reinstall it as your default kernel. For instance, if you have SCSI, you can compile support (including drivers for your specific card) right into the kernel for maximum efficiency, but if you don't, you can leave support out altogether, cutting down the size of the kernel. The same goes for all sorts of other hardware like Ethernet, and various "soft" options, like what sort of networking protocols to support.
Linux and Netwinder - a Model for Acorn? - Why Stop with Look and Feel?
Disagree? Then reply!