[TriLUG] Mac vs. Linux, was: Where is Linux today?

[Greg Brown]

To me it's all about what you want you computer to do and how much time
you're willing to invest to keep a happy computing household.  I've been
using Linux since 1994 and have loved the OS since then but it was not ready
for prime-time desktop useage (back then).  When I first built a home
network our home laptops were Windows based.  A couple years later OS X was
released and I picked up a G3 iBook and fell in love: here was the best
looking "UNIX" desktop I have ever seen, not to mention the easiest to
support.  Not long thereafter I had to spend my yearly bonus to purchase my
wife a 15" G4 Macbook.  Why?  I didn't want the daily "support" questions of
running a home M$ based laptop; in short, I just wanted things to work.
Several years later we haven't looked back.  Our current home laptops are
both Intel Macbooks and I wouldn't trade them or the world.  My old laptops
went to my mom and dad as well as my sister.  Sending them those laptops
helped greatly reduce the "family computer expert support calls" and I'm
happy for that.  In fact my parents recently purchased a 24" iMac.  Kudos to
them.  I'd so rather them purchase an iMac than a Dell with M$.

This past weekend I needed to set up a file server for a client on the NC
Outer Banks.  Did I insist they purchase a mac?  No.  I set the up with an
old laptop collecting dust running Debian and Samba.  So easy and simple.
Linux was deployed where it could shine: invisible to the end user and
remotely supportable by the admin.  Love it.

So if the Mac isn't 100% open-source I really don't care.  All the important
tools are there for me and I use the frequently.  I don't want a Linux
laptop because I don't want to tinker at home; rather I just want some
laptops my wife and I can use without having to have me play "IT Guy".  If
my wife can open her laptop and do what she needs without me having to spend
more time keeping her laptop alive than she spends using it then I have
succeeded.  OS X and Apple allow me to do this and as such they are the
default desktop for my home.

Greg

On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 9:55 PM, Cristóbal Palmer <cristobalpalmer at gmail.com>
wrote:

> On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 9:14 PM,  <kwoodie at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Just because everything on the mac isn't open source doesn't mean that
> its the end of the world.  Developers have to make money for code
> development or we wouldn't be able to make our living in technology.  I do
> agree that a plain old xterm is much better than the Terminal.app
> application but the great thing is that they at least provide one for you,
> can't say that for windows.  I simply wanted to state my happiness from
> being a mac owner.  I don't feel I have to justify the lack of open source
> software on mac OS X nor should I have to take your attitude.  Hostile
> responses are not welcome.
>
> Please accept my apology. I'm sorry you saw my response as hostile; it
> wasn't intended that way. My intention was to point out that there
> /is/ at least one significant, fundamental difference between a
> package that ships from Apple with OS X 10.5 and a package that ships
> from Dell with Ubuntu, and that difference is easy access to source
> code. Also, if your assertion is that software must be closed for
> people to make money developing it, then I think your argument is
> clearly wrong, since there are developers at Red Hat, IBM, HP, Novell,
> Dell, and others who all draw paychecks for writing code that gets
> released to the public. Hell, there are developers at /Apple/ who draw
> an Apple paycheck to work on code that goes immediately public. One
> mrowe at apple.com comes to mind:
>
>  http://trac.webkit.org/
>
> There's nothing wrong with loving your mac. My dad loves his macs. I
> don't think he's a bad person or has made some fundamental mistake
> because of that. I think he values different things than I do.
> Honestly I enjoy using his macs in some contexts. I wouldn't buy a new
> mac, though. My problem was with the argument I thought you were
> making, not with you.
>
> Cheers,
> --
> Cristóbal M. Palmer
> "Small acts of humanity amid the chaos of inhumanity provide hope. But
> small acts are insufficient."
>  -- Paul Rusesabagina
> --
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