I think you should meet someone who has a linux box installed with all the good stuff. So, you will see the good side of things
(I agree, it seems to be easier to go on with windoz, but don't give up with linux...It's quite difficult at the beggining (I am a begginer) but it is very powerful, pleasant and a lot of applications exist under Linux. This applications are often most powerful than those who exist under windoz wich is nice, but not powerful) One remark : I very rarely need to compile sources. All the software are given as debian packages (*.deb). The only thing you need is to use dselect or apt-get programs. Franck (excuse me for my english ! )
