Linux, MacOSX (was Re: [oclug] (no subject))

[Dave Edwards]

On Wed, 2002-08-21 at 17:07, Micheal Kelly wrote:
> On Wed, 21 Aug 2002, Tim Hosking wrote:
> 
> > Uh oh! Here we go again. Please don't compare Apples with Oranges :)
> 
> Too late!
> 
> I'm writing this reply via a Titanium Powerbook running OS X ... but I'm 
> not using Apple's GUI Mail client.  Instead, I'm running Pine from within 
> a bash shell.
> 
> Aside from having the best of both worlds under OS X - access to the 
> stability and power of Unix, and mainstream apps not usually found on 
> *nix machines - I find Apple hardware to make *excellent* Linux platforms 
> - especially their notebooks.  An Apple iBook can be had for <$2k now, and 
> runs Gentoo, Debian, and YellowDog linux (among others) quite nicely.
> 

I have to admit that OSX makes me uncomfortable, for a number of
reasons.  
* I feel a little envious of its slick, integrated user interface. 
* Still, the enthusiasm for it seems to overshoot the fact that it is
essentially the same kind of interface as that on most microcomputers.
So I feel kind of sick when I hear remarks along  the lines of "OSX
succeeds where Linux failed."
* I wonder if it will attain enough popularity to ruin Linux's chances
for wider adoption. Although I doubt that.  And it might not matter as
Apple is apparently hanging on by the quicks of their fingernails.
* I wonder what, apart from the yet-to-be-proven example of Darwin, is
Apple contributing to OSS, having built much of OSX on a BSD base.
* I've heard some remarks like, "It's Open Source with a great Mac
interface," but what about it is open/free/libre, apart from the fact
that it is built on *formerly* open/free/libre BSD-ish stuff?

> There should be more macs in the world.  Whether they run OS X or Linux is 
> a different story.  ;)

I'm not sure I agree.  Commoditized hardware is important, too.  Also,
for me it's not really about Unix, finally; it's about open source/free
software libre, and about collaborating to build something genuinely new
and different.

Cheers,
Dave.
-- 
dle1 at sympatico.ca
You don't always want what you get.