Over the past several years, however, those distinctions have all but disappeared. Anyone who argues that you must have Windows if you want to run an Office suite has probably never taken a look at OpenOffice.org. Anyone who believes that you need a particular operating system in order to interact with some hardware is either using legacy hardware that should've been retired years ago, or is so cutting-edge that they're running a beta OS (whether or not it's specifically called that).

But one thing that has always set Linux apart from other operating systems is its "try before you buy" marketing concept. Here, many will immediately raise their hands to insist that Linux is free and that there is no "try before you buy." But I disagree -- unreservedly and wholeheartedly.

While there are some distributions of Linux that are, indeed, free and can be downloaded from a number of sites, they're typically not the ones you'd consider installing in a business environment. These are the versions intended for the hobbyist, the enthusiast, the programmer, etc.

For the most part, the versions of Linux that are truly business-ready and able to compete with other operating systems for market share have a cost. Some vendors may try to avoid the cost issue by insisting that the OS is free and that you merely purchase a support contract. That's the same as Microsoft not selling you an operating system but licensing it to you instead. Regardless of semantics, the fact remains that if you want a business-ready version of Linux, you're going to pay for it.

But the notable issue isn't that you eventually have to pay, but that you get the ability to test-drive the operating system before you purchase. There are no operating systems from Microsoft that come with trial periods; neither does Apple offer such a program. However, as of this writing, it is possible to download a 30-day version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 and a 30-day version of Xandros Server -- not to mention the downloadable development versions.

On the surface, I like the idea. Who doesn't want to test-drive a car before purchasing it? An underlying issue, though, bothers me greatly.

This "try before you buy" model is almost a given for tiny, little shareware packages. If I need something to be able to convert a file from one format to another and don't have anything around, I'll turn to download.com and see what's there. If the product works well but I don't foresee that I'll ever use it again, then I don't mind when the 30 days pass and I lose the ability to run it. On the other hand, if the product is great and I see myself using it regularly, I'll pay the fee to unlock it and keep it available.

But there's a world of difference between shareware applications and operating systems. If the shareware app is no longer available, it doesn't affect anything else on my computer. If the operating system becomes unavailable after 30 days, however, then I'll lose access to anything on the computer -- applications, data files, and so on. That's like slapping a 30-day trail period on the computer itself.

Knowing that, am I really likely to put my dependence into this OS? Am I really going to run it through its paces for 30 days with mission-critical data like I would if it weren't flashing reminders that it's going away in a few days? Or am I just going to tinker around with it?

And if the answer to that last question is "Yes," then what are the odds that I'll purchase it and port to it? They have to be slim at best.

Given this, I think it demeans the operating system to treat it as shareware instead of something worth the $179 price tag. Since for many people, price and value are so difficult to separate, there's a certain illogic in how it can be free one day and so costly the next. I can't see that disconnect leading to a sell -- at least, not without some consternation.

The "try before you buy" model can be traced to the early roots of Linux when it was important to show the world what was being developed, and when many of those interested were of the shareware ilk as opposed to the suit-and-tie set. Sadly, though, it's time for the OS to grow up -- and grow out of that model -- if it ever wants to grow at all.