Linux on my Desktop

- look at flickr page for screenshot

I felt the need to respond to dmiessler.com about his comments on "World of Warcraft". And once again i feel the need to respond about his post on Linux. As you can see from the screenshot, i'm running Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy Eft) and playing WoW :-) His main point in the article against Linux was that Linux was unstable and required too much effort to *make it work*. His first statement is completely false, Linux is an extremely stable OS. Why else would it be used for servers? He blames the OS for the stability of 3rd party applications that are installed on it. It's not the OS's fault for what some idiot downloaded and installed. Now, since most linux applications are free, this means they don't make money and in turn can't have an extensive QA department. If you are going to use Linux you have to accept the fact that you are the Testing Department. But for most apps there are older versions that have been tested extensively and are known to be stable. They might be missing some features but Hey you can't have it both ways and for free.
Now to discuss the claim that it's too difficult and time consuming to get a Linux install to the point it would have all the bells and whistles an average user might expect. Since these criteria are relative it makes my defense of Linux a little more difficult. Let's look at what i think are normal steps with a new install of Windows.
1.) Install OS
2.) Run Updates
3.) Replace any out-dated drivers
4.) Install web browser plugins
5.) Install 3rd party software

and lets compare those to my normal steps for an Ubuntu installation
1.) Install OS
2.) Download and Run Automatix - updates drivers, installs windows codecs, browser plugins, and certain 3rd party apps
3.) Install any remaining 3rd party software i might want

Maybe i'm crazy but these don't really seem that different. Yes, this is a simplified version of the situation. Problems could arise during the install of the OS, but this could happen with all operating systems. If you are installing an OS, i would hope you have some knowledge of computers and could handle these problems or at least know where to find help. Since most users don't install their OS but just use the OS that came with their computer it really wouldn't matter. I'm rambling now, I guess my whole point is that a Linux desktop is just as viable an option as a Mac Desktop in a world oriented around windows.
*Note - Big Respect to the guys on the Automatix team