The Cost of Renting VS Ownership (Home)

I write this post as a seeker and not a supplier of knowledge. I am very interested to know whether it is truly better to buy and own a home or rent out a property. I, myself, have never owned a home. I actually don't even plan on owning a home anywhere in the near future. I'm just curious because I know that there are many hidden costs of owning a home that people generally probably don't even think about. On the outside you say, I bought this house for 125k and I sell it for 200k, so I just made $75,000! Not quite. Just think about...
This forthcoming list is by no means comprehensive and perhaps you could help out but just off the top of my head I think about:
-Landscaping costs including mowing the lawn (which means buying a lawn mower, keeping it in working order with gas, oil, etc), any trees or shrubbery, mulch, flowers etc, etc, etc. You get the point.
-Outside maintenance costs, such as putting a new roof on the house or giving it a paint job. A new driveway, a new mailbox. Again, etc, etc, etc.
-Inside maintenance costs, such as any type of plumbing, electrical, appliance, woodwork, painting work that would need to be done.
There are also property taxes and a slew of other things I probably don't even know about. Also, when you own a home you tend to fill up the space you have with "stuff". Keeping yourself in a smaller place would force you to keep to the necessities because you wouldn't have the space. Which would reduce spending, or at least free up money to actually DO something worthwhile as opposed to buying "stuff" and "things".

I would like to hear some input from anybody. Anything is appreciated. When the numbers are actually broken down any profit you may have made by selling your home might not actually be as profitable as you had originally thought.

Update: Found this really cool tool from the N.Y. Times. Rent or Buy?