[jaguar]

I'm lucky to be using it - When i first got this comp GForce2 was not even supported by X and when it was it was not out of hte box by any distro, and its not easy for a newbie to install X from console. I was lucky a good friend of mine knows linux like the back of his hand and was able to walk me though everything, as well as someone to turn to when things go seriously wrong.
And yes, it is a catch 22, more support/software fi you have more users and more users if you have more software/suppport. The biggest thing i think linux has going for it is history. One of the big reasons Intel msotly won over Apple was that its chips were cheaper - more developers bought them therefore more software etc, etc. Linux for its userbase has *alot*of software, covering lal sorts of varied applications. Its varied nature at every level works both for and against it, Gnome vs KDE etc.