I use it as my primary desktop and perform virtually zero maintenance.
And no one ever installs a program by compiling it any more. It's all automated.
"Automated" and "compiled from source" aren't mutually exclusive. I run a small group of Gentoo machines, and almost all of the programs are compiled from source, automatically (well, on demand).
The downside is that it can take from a few seconds to a few hours to install a new program (compiling firefox, chromium and other big programs takes a relatively long time).
That’s not true. Everytime I want a new program it’s not on my version of Linux at that time so I’m left playing find the lib.
for the past decade Linux fans have been saying that issue is solved and its not. Until they can standardize on a common platform it won’t be.
Well ... some of us still compile but only because we’re die-hard control freaks who want it our way. ;p
I have to harass you about that too! :-) Well, about the only time I compile something it's usually apache or php or something that needs a tweak not included in the automated packages. So consider yourself harassed!
Posting from Mint 14 Cinnamon. I never have to worry about viruses with this laptop, which I got from my sister because it was virus ridden.