Finally! An out-of-box Linux machine. Literally, I purchased a slightly suped up Meerkat NetTop from System76 for about $400. I hooked it up to an old Planar monitor, a pair of Altec Lansing speakers and a Dell keyboard/mouse combo. I added the D-Link USB Wireless Modem, plugged everything in, within seconds my wireless-network was recognized, all my hardware worked on boot, and I haven’t had a single problem yet. This was 3 months ago. Not a single issue.
Now to let you know about my experience with Linux, and computers in general. I just got into Linux about a year ago, I wasn’t really sure how to get into it, so as I needed a new computer at the time I bought a Dell Desktop (Inspiron-530) and, it was a pain. It took me about a week to get the wireless card to work. I constantly had issues. It was a year of trial and tribulation. Now I’m no computer expert, but I grew up with them, I’m from that generation. I had a Mac when I was 10, got a Dell with Windows to get me through college, and by far, my Meerkat NetTop has been the smoothest computer experience I have ever had.
This thing is great. It is super small and actually fits on-top of my desk (imagine that!). System76 includes a driver-set to insure that all the hardware works perfectly with the Ubuntu OS, and has their own repository for constant updates. I am now officially a Linux user, and have no reason to ever go back.
Official Site: system76.com
Jack Wagner is the Editor of The Free Independent-Sun. Born in Sonoma, California and currently residing in San Francisco, Jack set up The Free Independent-Sun on July 4th, 2009, after sleeping in and not making his usual trip up north for his hometown festivities. He figured he'd do something revolutionary to make up for it. In the Summer of 2010 Jack registered Seraf Media with the City and County of San Francisco as a Sole-Proprietorship. He is dedicated to articulating the finer points of the Revolution in order to bring about a Global Renaissance and Abundant World Economy. He also isn't afraid to get his hands dirty transplanting succulents. 
