So, it seems I'm now a Linux user. It took a couple days of configuring things like keyboard maps, Java VMs, and shortcut keys, but I'm now happier with this system than I was on Windows.

A few notes if anyone else is considering making the jump:

• amaroK is the best music player I was able to find. It's almost as good as iTunes at presenting a simple interface that nonetheless does everything you want it to, and it has some nifty features I haven't seen elsewhere, like music recommendations and built-in lyrics lookup.
• If you're using Ubuntu, you'll need to turn on Multiverse (non-free as in speech packages) at least long enough to get the Microsoft web fonts.
• Eclipse is really nice, even for non-Java work—I grabbed the EPIC Perl editor, the Subclipse bindings for Subversion, and a package that handles HTML, XML and CSS.
• The Gimp is funky, but I suspect it might be more powerful than even Photoshop.

By the way, I'm posting this from a Linux LJ client called Drivel. I like the simplicity of its interface—Semagic could take a page from them. Doesn't support tags yet, though...

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I am going to waste so much time as a result of Wanda the Fish.

If the designers of X-window built cars, there would be no fewer than five steering wheels hidden about the cockpit, none of which followed the same principles -- but you'd be able to shift gears with your car stereo. Useful feature, that.