College and Linux don't mix well : 4380

That's like saying that a #2 pencil is required to take a test, and the school sells Eberhard Faber wooden pencils. Nothing prevents you from acquiring a mechanical pencil of whatever bore size you like, as long as it has #2 graphite writing medium.

Apparently the "requirements" are simply to address wired-wireless connectivity and OpenOffice capabilities. It really doesn't matter what laptop-OS you choose as long as it can handle those capabilities.

Don't worry too much about it though, as I learned my lesson many years ago.

One day in kindergarten, boys were "required" to wear a long-sleeved white shirt for some particular celebration (May Day, I think), and I simply didn't have one, nor could my parents afford to buy something which I would soon outgrow. I went to school that day in a short-sleeved white shirt with blue cuffs and collar, and little sailor anchors embroidered on the collar points.

When I took my coat off in the cloakroom, a girl from down the block gasped and told me I was going to get in big trouble for that shirt. Well, she scared me, and on went the coat and out the door I went, playing hooky for the next 2 weeks until I got caught.

Once all the dust settled, I understood that the matter of the "required" shirt was about as trivial and unimportant as the choice of "required" laptop-OS that you're dealing with.

And you seem to be making about the same big deal out of it now as the 5-year-old I did then.