What do you think about Linux and Mac OS X ?

[samfromms]

Hi there !

I read yesterday that some Linux users switched to Mac OS X because they wanted a strong but useable Unix.

Nowaday, there are some good distros like Redhat or SuSE, that are competitors to Mac OS X.

Apple seems to target more the Linux Communauty than Windows OS. According to you, is it a good idea from Mr Jobs ?

If I take one "not totally free" distro like SuSE, I have :

Mac OS X : 129 $ with support from Apple, one or 2 small userguides
SuSE 8.0 Pro : 80 $ with 4 userguides, 7 CDs or 1 DVD, 100 days of installation support.
Redhat 7.3 : Same like SuSE 8.0

Do you think it is more valuable to get the MAC OS X than a good Linux distros, if you want to use your computer daily ?

Unfortunately, MAC OS X is only available on PPC , not x86.

Why Apple still don't want to "annoye" Microsoft while she is targetting the "small" Linux communauty ? Does apple still get some founds by Microsoft ?

[boi]

Actually, right now Apple has heavily confronted Microsoft in its advertising techniques (see the Switch ads). There's a new open-source 'Office' program running around, Apple went ahead and made iCal and upgraded Mail to replace Entourage X, etc. Apple's leading a two-pronged attack here, both targetting the Unix gurus and the non-computer savvy (and computer savvy!) PC users and I think it will do them a world of good. if Apple could up their processor speed to around 2ghz, Apple would be an unstoppable force!

[fryke]

Linux on the Desktop doesn't happen. For some geeks and some (even less) users, it may, but as a solution, it doesn't happen, right now. Linux for webservers, yes.

There's one UNIX that is ready for the desktop: Mac OS X.

Doesn't matter if we're at 2 GHz or not, really. It's about having to buy a new machine in order to run Mac OS X. It's not that the machines are not attractive or anything.

[hazmat]

I think you are comparing apples and oranges. No pun intended. Linux, IMO, sucks as a desktop. I've been using it since 1996 and still think it sucks as a desktop. I would never pay anything NEAR $80 for Linux, also. It's free. And any support you would need you can get from the Internet community. Usenet, etc. I'll only respect opinions that Linux makes a good desktop when you can tell me how to speed up the mouse. No acceleration, but speed/sensitivity. Something that took me about five days to figure out, deep in the bowels of some web site I found through a search engine. I've been using DOS and then Windows since 1990, and do Unix sysadmin, and have run almost anything you can think of on a desktop for x86, and cam safely say that OS X is by far the best thing I have seen yet, in terms of a Unix base and functional GUI with software support.

[theed]

I was just wondering if anyone had figured out how to do that with Mac OS X? Since Apple doesn't believe in letting me adjust sensitivity and turn acceleration THE HELL OFF I thought I'd ask around if anyone knew something I didn't.

so, new OS release, same mouse issue. Here's the new twist though, now the scrolly wheel is accelerated too. I just thank my lucky stars that I happen to like the slow as dirt through a worm setting for the scrolly wheel that also sets the acceleration to 0.

A bunch of the other stuff rocks though. Wooohooooo! Linux on the desktop can suck it for general usability. It still has the crazy config options though, for when you need a PB&J SQL server on a PDA with it's own web server driving a beer tap and a touch screen. Linux is ... configurable like that. Kinda like a car that's not put together is ... configurable.