Leosghost - 5:48 pm on Dec 24, 2012 (gmt 0)

linux/apache/mysql/php a great o/s combo for the linux knowledgeable

!=true

See what I wrote above about 80 year old newbies having no problem with mint linux..the problem is ubuntu..which is but one "distro" amongst many..as win ME was one win OS amongst many ..( yes I know they did it again with vista and win8..but we are trying to be kind ;) ..

I personally run linux mint ( for my 3 machines that are "webfacing" ) win7 64 ulti for two dev machines, win7 64 ulti for a machine which just runs DxO and "crunches photos"..my son runs XP pro...linux mint ( "web facing" ) vista 64 SP1 ( dev ) ..win7 64 Ulti ( dev)...some of his old software runs on vista but will not run on win7..my wife ( totally non "geek" ) runs linux mint..and loves it..as do all the old folks that she has me install mint for on their machines..and they think Google is the internet ( most of them are actually moving to tablets over Xmas bought by their adult kids for them )..they want it to "just work" ..mint on a desktop does just that..and more :)..and no "shiny tax" ..

The OPs problem is not "linux"..it is allowing auto-updates ( on any OS ) , and choosing Ubuntu..which has moved very very far from being "friendly"..now it is a "win wannabe"..without the benefit of being able to roll back to previous drivers as one can in win 7..