[TriLUG] MacOS X and free software

[William W. Ward]

John,

I think much of the enthusiasm is the same old "shiny new toy" factor.  OS X
is still relatively new, and 10.2 brings a level of polish that meets the
criteria of otherwise hesitant buyers.

The tenets that bring us to the table of Linux and the Free Software
Foundation don't diminish in importance simply because of this new kid on
the block, but this new kid does offer a level of "cake + eat cake" not
previously available to us when faced with only Linux or Microsoft or
Classic Proprietary Mac.

OTOH - you won't find Mac OS X on your old 486 or Pentium 100 PC.  You can't
get it without paying the high entry fee of purchasing a Mac ($800 minimum
for a new iMac) and it isn't Linux.

I don't think you need to worry.  The flurry will die down, people who were
parasitic to the Linux community will still be parasites somewhere.  And
those people who invested in Mac but contributed something to the Linux
community will still contribute something to the Linux community, but will
have the satisfaction of being able to pay someone other than Microsoft to
do the thinking/configuring/building for them from time to time.  Much like
my car, sometimes I change the oil and rotate the tires myself, and
sometimes I just don't feel like it and pay someone else to do it.

-b-

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Matthews" <jvmatthe at math.duke.edu>
To: <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Friday, September 06, 2002 10:03 AM
Subject: [TriLUG] MacOS X and free software