The Economist included social and political commentary long ago, and its Technology Quarterly is provides a unique approach to contemporary science and technology topics. But the recent Life after cyber-death is startlingly similar to a how-to manual.

The article starts off with inaccuracies such as:

Apart from being able to run easily on clunky old machines, the great thing about Linux is [...]

In falling for that untruth, giving Linux second, and third chances to prove itself, I have wasted time that cumulates to many days in trying to install Suse, RedHat, and Fedora on older PCs. Most recently, having discovered Ubuntu and the convenience of VMWare's player, only now can I honestly say that Linux isn't completely terrible. But an 'okay' commendation is a long way from approbation.

The article saves itself by introducing me to gOS, a Linux distribution by the PC maker Everex.

the gOS distribution encases the rock-solid Ubuntu 7.10 in an exceptionally rich graphical shell known as E17 from an outfit called Enlightenment. For sheer beauty and intuitiveness, the gOS interface out-Macs even Apple’s superb OS-X.

I will be installing and evaluating gOS, but with not a little cynicism.