Awesome post!

I rather like the command line interface. Why not keep it around? Apple does this as well in Mac OS X without any drawback. For some tasks, the CLI is just better. But for those who aren't competent with it, Linux can have a good GUI.

I use the GUI for some tasks, CLI for other tasks. It's all good.

I use Kubuntu which has a great startup screen. I think this critique point may depend on which distro you're using.

Good luck. I really hope it works out.

I love OpenOffice.org and totally detest the sleazy way that Microsoft tries to shut down competing document formats.

There is a better way than spending $150 for a word processing program that doesn't even work well, and I hope you're able to persuade San Francisco to finally realize that!