Using my 7-year-old's Ubuntu 10.04 laptop

Now that our 7-year-old's laptop (the former $0 Laptop, aka Gateway Solo 1450) has WiFi hooked up to the sub-$10 USB hub (along with wireless mouse) plugged into the sole-working USB plug, I've been sitting at her little table using this perfectly servicable installation of Ubuntu 10.04 (upgraded from 8.04).

I'm usually pretty hard on Ubuntu (all the while explaining that I still have this particular Ubuntu installation going strong), and I stand by my assertion that despite its high profile and the troubles that brings, Ubuntu is a very fine desktop system.

Whether all of that fades in the post-GNOME era remains to be seen. But for now we still have this excellent LTS (especially now that I don't touch the "social" desktop or Ubuntu One).