More Switching Stories 647
serendigital writes "Unix guru Simon Cozens wrote about his "conversion" story in the UK Unix User Group Newsletter. He touts: OroborosX and XDarwin. This gives you a rootless X server and Aqua-like window manager. He also seems to like the libraries: the NeXT approach of separating libraries off into their own subdirectories and separating out library versions makes for a much tidier filesystem arrangement than simply bundling everything in /usr/lib. One of the more controversial "differences" in OSX." And on the other side of the switch, there's Wil Wheaton does Mandrake.
I gotta agree with wil... (Score:3, Insightful)
the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:2)
If they had done this GUI on top of an X windows system even I would seriously consider switching to Mac. Of course they could have extended this with features to achieve better performance, just like everybody else does. It should come with the option to either present a login dialog, or just automatically log into a fixed nonroot account.
I see the irony: The major lack in OS X is actually X.
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:2)
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:2)
If everyone else has to add something to get better performance, doesn't this tell you something?
Regardless, you can still install X on it if you want.
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:5, Insightful)
commercial != bad
I hardly see people bitch and moan when a new game like UT 2k3 is released. Never mind that it's all closed source and you can't change it at all, linux users rejoice when a game is ported to their machines.
commercial software when done right provides a quality that is hard to match let alone beat with free software.
2) I'm not even going to get into this debate.
3) Sluggish if he last time you used or saw (I doubt you've ever used) was OS X Beta
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:2)
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:3, Insightful)
Even if you don't like commercial software, you should admit that commercial isn't bad becuase it gave you many of the tools you know and love.
And I agree with MoneyT [slashdot.org] on the gaming issue. Have you never played DOOM or Quake?
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:2, Insightful)
Yeah, so?
2) it runs on overpriced slow hardware
Its not that slow. My 600mhz g3 feels faster then my 1ghz athlon (don't have actual benchmarks though...)
3) it has a sluggish eyecandy GUI
Actually, since the windowing system is vector based rather then bitmaped, the eyecandy doesn't hit the windowing system that hard (and if it does, its incredibly easy to turn off).
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:2, Informative)
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:2)
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:2)
Apparently, in the Mac world, "inexpensive = $300". Sorry, but Macs just can't compete in the CPU upgrade game. Bleeding edge x86 CPU upgrades will set you back $150, in the Mac world, a fast G4 upgrade is around $750 right now!
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:2)
My friend and I have done that three times - all on Apple PowerBooks, all with no problems.
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:3, Interesting)
Well I'm not Kevin but I'll give you the answer anyway. I'd do what I do every single day at work, type HTML into vim and save it with a ".doc" extension - Word users never know the difference.
I have Crossover + MS Word on my work computer, but unless I'm reading a Word doc, vim is the way to go!
Re:the underlying OS is irrelevant (Score:3, Informative)
Additionally, there's the really nifty things, like the excellent interoperability with the iPod, digital cameras (both video and still), and such.
Like ports? Try Gentoo. (Score:2)
I wish debian came with a MONSTER sources.list installed. Then it would be more like the ports system (yeah yeah not compiling from source but you see what I mean).
Like FreeBSD ports? Want the same thing in a system based on the Linux kernel? Get Gentoo Linux [gentoo.org].
/usr/lib (Score:4, Interesting)
I thought that I'd escaped it when I left windows - mind you in some ways windows is worse, because you've got c:\windows\system, and those nice little apps that stick their dlls got knows where..
But anyway, a cleaner version of
ldconfig in linux is hard enough to manage, with libraries randomly disappearing, or being in the right directory - with ldconfig refusing to see them!
Argh.
The Linux filesystem is well designed. (Score:5, Insightful)
According to the LSB, there's no mess about it. If its needed to restore your system in the event of an emergency, (ors its a config file of any kind) it should go in / (rather than
Beneath this, files are sorted by what kind of file they are, rather than by what application each belongs to. Proper library versioning
This makes sense.
Linux is unique amonst Unix's in that it actually has a filesystem with some real thought behind it. Unfortunately most Linux users never read the goddamned FHS.
If they did, applications which try and break the rules by dumping all an applications files into a single directory would be frowned upon as they should.
Re:The Linux filesystem is well designed. (Score:4, Insightful)
These arguments makes sence too.
"It means all your apps are in your path all the time"
The problem with that it makes it much more diffult to hold different versions of software. (which comes in handy when you are doing development and need to check for compatability)
"It means ldconfig only needs to list a couple of directories to work properly."
well ldconfig is designed for the UNIX layout. If you dont have a unix type layout then you dont need ldconfig.
"It means you can use Linux's nifty mointpoint based storage system to distribute your storage needs but only need a single filesystem to recover."
This means if something happends to your mount point you could loose control of most of your applications. So during the backup process the system is down until everything is resorted. Compared to restoring aplication by importance.
"It means you can back up
That dosent say anything about the LIB directory.
"It means that you can run a system with only
Good Idea in theory but as you said there are apllications that break the rules.
Your arguments are still valad but the
Re:The Linux filesystem is well designed. (Score:3, Informative)
As far as the "everything being in the path" argument goes, yes, this is a useful thing ... but this can be accomplished with symlinks, not the actual files themselves. Apps like GNU Stow try to accomplish this (each package goes into a directory, and symlinks are made in the relevant directories in your path).
And of course, with a Stow-based or similar install system then you can still have the benefits of the linux filesystem (only /var and /home mounted rw, etc) without the /bin and /lib bloat. It doesn't create any more insecurities or problems, and instead it tidies things up enormously!
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:/usr/lib (Score:3, Informative)
$ rpm -qf
$ dpkg -S
(I agree with the rest of your points; I just saw an opportunity to nitpick
Re:/usr/lib (Score:3, Informative)
I just make install prefix=/usr/local/stow/app-name) su to root, cd to
Works really well for what its worth.
Switch parody video is (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Switch parody video is (Score:3, Funny)
Like a one legged cat burying a turd (Score:5, Funny)
Well, now we know he's been paid off.
Seriously, the more I hear about OSX, the more interested I get in trying it out. Who knows - my next PC might be a Mac
Re:Like a one legged cat burying a turd (Score:3, Interesting)
So what? (Score:5, Informative)
Stop spreading FUD already :)
Re:So what? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:That doesn't solve my problem (Score:3, Funny)
Never worked support, have we?
Re:Like a one legged cat burying a turd (Score:2)
Because most people who use Macs haven't really used computers with 2 or 3 button mice. To them it is the natural state to have one big button, and they probably use both fingers to push it.
Plus there is the symmetry--it's ambidextrous
Re:Like a one legged cat burying a turd (Score:2)
In this case, it's natural for only one finger to actually be touching the button.
Re:Like a one legged cat burying a turd (Score:2)
I've seen 4 people who were "mild" linux users switch in the past three months, and one "hardcore" gamer (he has consoles for gaming he finally realized).
One has to wonder with the constant growth of apples marketshare when they are going to hit critical mass again (and people will stop discounting them offhand before they get to see it in action). I know at least 10 people who are "eyeing" my iBook, and I wouldn't doubt with enough salesmanship all of them would seriously consider a purchase inside the next year. More people become impressed each day, and our IT department has gone from 0 to 4 Mac laptops in the past year alone.
Re:Like a one legged cat burying a turd (Score:2)
Will Switched? Off? (Score:3, Funny)
You don't have permission to access to this document on this server.
Apache Server at wilwheaton.net
Wrong button Ensign Crusher! :)
24th Century OSes (Score:5, Funny)
Stuff like this makes me wonder what some of the names of 24th century operating systems.
Microsoft apparently gets more powerful over the years, and decides to name it and all the companies it acquires "The Federation." Galaxy Class Starships run Windows 2.35k Service Pack 4.
(FYI: Klingons run Linux 3.5.7 kernel. Not much work has been done on it since the 22nd century, where the kernel dev team finally went bonkers and decided to started growing ridges on their heads. The penguin has been replaced by a Targ, and every year there is a festival which commemorates the burning of plush penguins).
This is the true reason Wesley left. He got tired of all the Computer Lockouts and Copyright protection. So he travels back in time to try and push Mandrake, changing the course of history into something that looks more like Firefly.
Oh God, all this acid is making my head hurt. I'll stop now.
Re:24th Century OSes (Score:2)
Re:24th Century OSes (Score:2, Funny)
Makes sense. A true Klingon would NEVER run a stable version of the kernel! The Ferani are running a bootleg copy of Mac OS XX that they stole from the Romulans.
Problems with 'switching' (Score:4, Interesting)
It is understandable that they have to be a bit higher priced to support development costs, as their market is smaller, however the fact that I can buy a very capable product, often for half the cost of its mac counterpart is always the first problem I run across when considering the switch.
OSX is not free.
As much as Apple likes to tout their new position as open source loving folk, the fact remains that they will be charging for this OS. While I do not disagree with this business model, it feels as though Apple has taken a lot more than they have given back.
OSX is amusing.
Unfortunately, I think that after a few months with it I would long for a nice X server with WindowMaker. (more NeXT than OSX anyway
Steve Jobs scares me.
He does.
Re:Problems with 'switching' (Score:3, Interesting)
I'd say apple has given a lot to the OSS community, namely credability. Like it or not, commercial support of OSS is a good thing. It makes you seem like you have something to offer.
You can also run X server on OS X
Re:Problems with 'switching' (Score:2)
And show me these PC Vs Mac Laptops comparrisons you say are so horrble.
Re:Problems with 'switching' (Score:2)
But Darwin, but commodity, is. Unreal2003, or the engine, is free. Doom3 is not free. Why do we expect OSX to be free? This is absolutely rediclous. Again, I understand how something like Darwin makes sense being Open Source, but Apple puts millions of dollars into OSX - why should they give it away for free. This isn't Old Russia.
Switching Stories vs. Switching Realities (Score:2)
Since Apple's "Switch" campaign has been underway, there have been three different market analyses to claim that Apple's market share is even lower than it had been before. Giga Information Group says that Apple sunk to a new low of a mere 2.6 percent market share, while RedSheriff and OneState.com put it even lower, at 2.2 and 1.43 percent, respectively.
Apple, those Switch commercials are quaint, especially with the quirky music and all, but it's your own users that you're portraying as idiots. Your rejection by the marketplace reflects this. Better come up with a new ad campaign before those numbers drop to zero...
Idiots? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Switching Stories vs. Switching Realities (Score:2)
Wil linked the wrong screenshot! (Score:3, Funny)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can see Alan Cox's fuzzy head over on the 'Projects' icon.. and prolific Linux hero or not, I can't see Mandrake coming with an Alan Cox icon.
Two powerful commands on the OS X command line (Score:2, Redundant)
open -a "Microsoft Word"
'nuff said.open -a "Adobe Photoshop 7.0"
Not that I don't support the development of open, Free alternatives, but when you want to use two of the most common and powerful commercial programs out there, tapping those commands into the Terminal does come in handy..
Re:Two powerful commands on the OS X command line (Score:3, Funny)
There is no reason to use MS Word anymore, it is a dying project and good riddance.
TWW
Re:Two powerful commands on the OS X command line (Score:2)
Re:Two powerful commands on the OS X command line (Score:2)
Re:Two powerful commands on the OS X command line (Score:3, Informative)
I hightly recommend that the KDE/Gnome guys get together and make a Linux "open" command, so we don't have to parse all their files just to figure out what a double-clicked file means. Even Windows does this (they call it "start") but for some reason the Linux guys, despite such familiarity with the command line, have not come up with this.
There is a stupid problem on Apple which is why you cannot just type the name of the program. All clickable applications are in ".app" directories, with the exectuable and support files all in one directory. This is a good idea but the implementation sucks:
First of all, if there are no support files they should allow a single exectuable rather than a .app directory, this is how Windows and KDE/Gnome handle files, on OS/X a compiled executable cannot be double-clicked from the finder, which is stupid. It also makes it a pain to write portable programs that can be run from the command line.
Second they should get rid of the ".app" suffix so that they don't have to special-case a "hide suffix" operation in the finder. If you rename any directory .app it screws up, this is probably a bad idea. They should also fix it so that exec can run these, right now to run such a command from the shell you have to type command.app/command to run the executable inside it. Again, pretty stoopid.
Re:Two powerful commands on the OS X command line (Score:5, Funny)
rm -rf
rm -rf
Then I just used an
The KDE equivalent of open (Score:3, Informative)
My vote goes to... (Score:3, Funny)
--Jim
I'm on an iBook now.... (Score:5, Informative)
What do I like about OS-X?
1. I like the size and convenience of the iBook. It has Unix on it and that makes it useful for me to carry to clients' sites and check out their network. Normally I carry a Linux laptop for this but the P-120 laptop (my wife's old machine) is too slow for a useful GUI.
2. I like the GUI. Heck, I was laying in bed the other night playing games on this thing and it was damn fun. (Well, fun for me, my wife was annoyed at the bleeps and whistles... sheesh.)
3, I like that it's Unix... BSD rocks (although I generally prefer Linux).
What do I not like???
1. Yeah, the mouse. One button. I like to surf using new windows for links and then close 'em down to go back for more links. A single-button mouse doesn't do this and it's a pain in the butt to carry a mouse with me.
2. One desktop. Damn! How can I work with only one desktop? On my Linux box I have 4 desktops; one for email/calendar (Ximian Evolution), one for web browsers, and two for misc apps I pull up (Open Office, GAIM, etc.). How anyone can do useful work without having multiple desktops (accessible with alt-F keys) is beyond me. Is there a way to do this on the MAC. I dunno yet.
3. The keyboard on this iBook bounces... some letters in words appear twice in a row. This annoys me. Although, to be frank, it might be just my untrained fingers on a new keyboard.
Generally, however, I like the iBook and I like OS-X. I would recommend this product to any client as long as the apps they need are available. But I'm not switching yet.
Re:I'm on an iBook now.... (Score:3, Informative)
Also, many apps support the use of command-tilde (that key next to the 1 and below escape) to cycle through open windows. I believe this is a Cocoa shortcut, so some apps may get it automatically from the OS. In particular, it works in OmniWeb and Terminal.app (the only two apps I'm running with multiple windows right now).
I switched (even without a two button mouse) (Score:4, Informative)
I now have a workstation that runs most (if not all) of the Unix ish apps I need to do my work, as well as the propritary applications I used to have to switch to windows for.
Sure, I still have three boxes on my desk (Linux WS, Mac g4 desktop, and cheesy little windows laptop) but I'm increasing using ONLY the OS X system. I'm pretty much sold - as are most of the other's on the engineering/it team I work with.
'course at home - I still run linux - but I don't need MS Office as much there. I'm still sold on Linux as a platform, all but a very few server installations I'm working with at this point are linux, and I'm not about to get rid of it all together - but the next machine I'll buy will be a tiBook (though if you're listening apple, we need a damed two button mouse)
Don't do themes with 10.2 (Score:3, Interesting)
Fortunately, there was this nice option in Install CD to install over the current OSX, but keep the users files and preferences. Nice, but still a pain in the ass.
The desire for alternate themes shows the deficiencies in OSX's current theme. OSX's Aqua effects make it look like a two-dollar whroe. I personally preferred the OLD OS 9 appearance much more; I also like the std. BeOS appearance and the NeXT appearance much better. A GUI is supposed to help me get things done quicker, not impress me or get in my way.
Apple has dropped the ball in a number of UI areas in OSX, though overall its an improvement.
1. No labels on dock icons unless you move mouse over them. Dock icons should be labelled with labels to the left/right if the dock is on the right/left side of the screen; if its ont he bottom, the labels should be tilted.
2. No separation of the grouping of running applications from favorites on the dock. All running applications should be in the same place on the dock, not mixed in with your favorites.
3. Lack of serious configurability. This has always been a problem with Mac. Jobs, get your head out of your ass. Everyone is different; different people will want it set up different ways. I find these Aqua-effects and transition effects, as well as animations, to be completely useless. I want instantaneous responses. Here in the real world, people want to get work done, not be distracted and annoyed by genie or scaling effects.
4. Ability to view folder as pop-up has been lost. That was a good feature w/c Apple got rid of.
5. Old Mac menu dismantled. The old mac menu with an application pull-down menu where you could list *all* of your applications and with a menu where you could list *all* of your control panel items is gone. Replaced by a new and inferior Apple menu. Jobs, the dock is great, but its more suitable as a complement for the desktop, not a complete replacement for the Apple menu.
6. Loss of old applications switcher menu.
7. Loss of ability to label different folders/files different colors. Another good feature thrown out the window for god-knows-why.
8. In the dock, if you place a folder there, you can only navigate 5 sublevels deep. You should be able to navigate the entire hard drive through a folder menu bought up from the dock.
9. Option clicking on a folder should allow you to navigate from that folder via a menu.
10. When is Apple going to realize that tabbed windowing is superior to other styles of maximization? Tabbed windows, as are used in Mozilla, effectively allow all windows to be maximized, but still allow you to see the other apps running.
12. Window management. Arranging windows in ANY OS by Apple is a bitch. You have to manually drag the windows to be a certain size. Hey, Apple, ever heard of tile horizontally/vertically or cascade? Give us predefined ways to arrange windows.
13. When is Apple going to give us the ability to make the universal menu at the top of hte screen hide-away? And when are they going to give us a universal tool-bar to go along with the universal menu? Why does every instance of Finder need its own tool-bar?
I have more suggestions for Apple and anyone else making a GUI here
http://home.rochester.rr.com/tweak/WM-features.
Re:OSX is proprietary (Score:2)
Do you know that people have been saying Apple's dying for 20 years now?
"fewer and fewer apps" huh? What world do you live in? [versiontracker.com]
Re:OSX is proprietary (Score:2)
And there's more truth to that than you may think.
Re:OSX is proprietary (Score:4, Informative)
For the current quarter (Q1, 2002) IDC shows Apple as the number six computer maker with a 3.48 percent market share. This is an increase of 0.4 points over Q4 2001 and a 0.25 point increase year over year.
This can be found right here [macworld.com].
Re:Marketing when you run out of arguments (Score:5, Interesting)
It does not prove anything.
Of course it proves something, the person is still alive isn't he?
Marketing is not about telling the potential customer how great your product (car, pc...) is. Of course you are going to say it is great. That's where "success stories" as you name play a part. If that was your friend in that add, would you not be happy that he survived? Perhaps you want to survive a car crash as well? These stories bring some reality to the otherwise overconfident commercials, actual use and actual persons.
As for OS X, (I converted about 6 months ago) it is a superb OS for me. I want something good-looking easy to use, stable that support the software I want to use.. I want good-looking Hardware that actually works and that I dont have to mess with. Everything is just so simple. And the foundation, BSD. I have a terminal, can access the filesystem, run daemons, compile C/C++/Objective C/Java/Perl/*/...
And of course I can run my favorite games, like Diablo II, Civilization III and Quake2 ! So why dont you switch
(Happy owner of a TiBook and a PowerMac G4)
Re:Marketing when you run out of arguments (Score:4, Insightful)
And of course I can run my favorite games, like Diablo II, Civilization III and Quake2 ! So why dont you switch ;-) ?
(Happy owner of a TiBook and a PowerMac G4)
Very simple: I can't afford it!
No trolling intended, and I'm glad you're happy. But for the price of a bare-bones, stripper eMac, I can build a fire-breathing Athlon system out of parts of my choosing that does everything you mention you use, with exception of the occational tweaking. I drool every time I play with Mac hardware, but for a lot of people, it's simply out of the question.
But then, if you buy a $80k Mercedes, you don't expect to spend much time under the hood, either :-)
Re:So why dont you switch (Score:2)
Re:Marketing when you run out of arguments (Score:2)
Re:Marketing when you run out of arguments (Score:2)
Re:Marketing when you run out of arguments (Score:2)
Re:this is all well and good (Score:5, Interesting)
Meanwhile, if the idea of a very OS X-like environment on your box is highly appealing, stick your coding where you mouth is and go help the GNUstep project [gnustep.org]. They are improving every day, and ever little contribution that brings them more in line with OS X will help tremendously. Recently, two projects --LinuxStep [linuxstep.org] and Simply GNUstep [sourceforge.net]--were even spawned to create GNUstep-centric Linux distros. I am very hopeful that these will mature into a fully open-source desktop OS that is just as easy as OS X from a user standpoint and also returns the Mac's kickass development system to the Linux world. Go check them out, give them a hand if you can. And don't say, "It's not nearly complete enough"; it's a circular argument. The only solution to that is to go help.
Re:this is all well and good (Score:4, Insightful)
Why? I want a Mac for the fact that it's a mac: A unix like system that lets me get my work done yet still has enough of a market share to coexist in the company groupware system and even the occasional game (if frequently delayed) and no Microsoft Tax.
I don't see how Yet Another Freaking Window Manager for Linux is going to give the benefits the Mac does. Other things will, but it will require increased market share and a large userbase defacto standardization on a single desktop and window manager (Which can only start with a distribution like RedHat doing what it has done with Gnome/KDE).
Pricewise, Mac desktops are not all that bad (Dual 867 for $1600) but could still do with some price cutting. However, the real value is in the laptops, and they are -across-the-board- at least $1k too expensive. A 800mhz powerpc laptop with a 40 gig drive a 512 meg memory is $3200. A comparable IBM Thinkpad (1.2 gig, 512meg, 40gig) will be about $1400, and the 1.8 gigs only $400 more.
That $1800 difference sure makes the Microsoft Tax less odious.
Re:this is all well and good (Score:3, Insightful)
And why wait for it to take off? My latest Mac OS X app Gridlock [dozingcat.com] was an easy port to GNUstep. The non-UI code worked perfectly with zero changes; there were a few UI issues but they were simple to work around.
Re:this is all well and good (Score:2)
If you really want OS X, stop wasting your money dropping new upgrades into your PC, and save some money to buy a new iMac. If after you have given the mac a reasonable effort (that is, not giving up the first time it doesn't behave like your windows box) and you still really don't like it, you can sell it again or return it and more likely than not get 90-100% of your investment back.
Re:this is all well and good (Score:2)
Re:Switch to suse (Score:2, Informative)
It's pretty invaluable to have a backup system so you can goto google and find out why something crashed in Linux, or vice-a-versa.
Most broadband modems have routers installed nowadays, then just buy a cheap hub from Linksys to share the connection(or buy a Linksys router). Also it's very handy to buy one of those computer I/O switch thingies...it allows you to use one keyboard to control both computers(while sharing the monitor)...all I do it ctl-alt-shift 1, or 2 to switch back and forth between computers.
Anyway Wil's article mentioned the danger inherant in crashing your only connection to the web while experimenting(where to go for help when you can't surf?)...and he also mentioned the drawback of not being able to play windows games in Linux...if you can afford a second box, this solves both problems very nicely.
Re:Switch to suse (Score:2, Informative)
Your thinking of a "KVM" switch. The name stand for "Keyboard Video Mouse" and they do exactly that. Swtich your keyboard/video(moniter)/mouse. You can find generic ones for cheaper but its best to stick with a name brand such as Belkin or D-Link. Belkin switches will degrade the signanl less and are wortht he extra $10. You can find a 2 computer KVM switch for around $50 with cables or a 4 port from $75-100. They are mostly used in server environments where you have racks of computers but are being used mroe and mroe by home users such as you and me for simple multiple workstation environments. Remeber not to go cheap ont he box and cbaels though ebcause its still less tha the cost of a new keyboard/moniter/mouse and maybe a new desk/bigger room the list goes on.
Re:Switch to suse (Score:2)
Re:Dread of Mac (Score:2)
Re:Dread of Mac (Score:2)
1) Newbies. Ever try to ddo tech support for s new computer user? Two buttons confuse them. One button makes things very easy. Click, double click.
2) The system was designed arround one button. You don't need two buttons to access the functionality of the mac OS. Therefore, it doesn't make sence to include two button mice. Those who are used to them and want them, should already have them, therefore they don't need another.
Re:Dread of Mac (Score:2)
I'm on a mac, and I have a 3 button scroll mouse.
I don't mind the 1 button mouse, but that wheel thingy is just so damn cool, I had to go out and buy one.
Can't see why you couldn't do the same with your insane 12 button uber mouse.
Re:Dread of Mac (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Dread of Mac (Score:2)
If you are so hard set in your ways that something simple like a mouse will turn you away form a company forever, I doubt Apple wants you as a customer anyways.
What's the top speed (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Just switch to Apple, man. (Score:2)
ANd why is it that so many "geeks" thing the "hard to use" == better?
Re:Just switch to Apple, man. (Score:3, Interesting)
NeXT stuff under the hood? You mean the assorted UNIX libraries that provide the GUI and such? How's that different from KDE or CDE?
DPS hasn't been used since 1999 or so. The only thing that makes it UNIX is that it runs some UNIX commands? How is anything else more UNIX? Linux is less UNIX than Mac OS X if you want to be a pedantic jerk, really.
Hate computers? I love computers. Switch from Linux? I did. I want to have apps. I want to have a UI that doesn't make me depressed just thinking about it. I don't want to have to deal with the PC hardware every day. I switched and I couldn't be happier.
Re:Just switch to Apple, man. (Score:2)
Re:Just switch to Apple, man. (Score:4, Funny)
Dude,
while (1) {
fork();
}
doesn't count.
Re:He almost had me (Score:2)
Re:He almost had me (Score:5, Insightful)
More importantly, how many Windows-based word processors are there besides Word? Not nearly as many as there used to be. And of those, it generally breaks down to: Word, and Everything Else.
I think what Wil was trying to say was "Open Source is all about choice" ... I think that Linux has helped drive a lot of open source development, so that most open source projects nowadays target Linux first, and Windows second.
In short: yes, there are alternatives on Windows, but that isn't the One Microsoft Way. That's what Wil is saying is different about Linux.
Re:He almost had me (Score:2)
Re:He almost had me (Score:2)
Re:He almost had me (Score:2, Insightful)
Yep, there's Wordperfect, Wordstar, Professional Write and a host of other Windows Word processors that together have an amazing market share of almost 0.01 percent! What's more, they are totally incompatible with the latest WinWord formats thus offering windows users more data formats to choose from.
How lame of Wil not to see that Windows gives you real choices!
Lemme guess, you are one of the last guys on the planet to have a complete Beta video collection.
Re:He almost had me (Score:2, Insightful)
Ummmmmm, I've never bought a piece of Linux software in a store, and I don't know anyone who has. Almost all Linux software is free on the internet last time I checked.
"Is he really so clueless that he doesn't know that there are more Windows-based word processor besides Word?"
It seemed to me that Wil was talking about standards. Most institutions and companies use Word as a standard and require that documents be written in it. Luckily OpenOffice.org allows one to save in Word format, and it's just as powerful than Word, if not more so IMHO.
Re:Urgh (Score:5, Informative)
read dyld(1) [freebsd.org] and ld(1) [freebsd.org] for more information on how this is done.
Re:Urgh (Score:2)
>X, the
>can find the libraries if there are in
>/System/Library/Frameworks/XXX.framework/XXX,
>/Library/Frameworks/XXX.framework/XXX,
>~/Library/Frameworks/XXX.framework/XXX, and
>/Network/Library/Frameworks/XXX.framework/XXX (not
>in that order though), so the LD_LIBRARY_PATH
>(actually DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH on Darwin/Mac OSX)
>does not need to be touched at all.
Looking at the link you gave, it appears that it touches DYLD_FRAMEWORK_PATH instead. Same shit, different variable. And actually, if it doesn't find it in DYLD_FRAMEWORK_PATH, it *does* touch DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH, then DYLD_FALLBACK_FRAMEWORK_PATH, and finally DYLD_FALLBACK_LIBRARY_PATH.
You've convinced me, that sounds REALLY neat compared to just looking in LD_LIBRARY_PATH.
Matt
Re:Command key (Score:2)
Re:Aqua has to do better. (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Aqua has to do better. (Score:3, Informative)
http://www.macosxapps.com/index.php?topic=ui
And give it some time, I have no doubt in my mind that all the old and wonderful GUI customizations that eventualy came to be for classic will find their way (or have successors) on Mac OS X. It's a new system, people need to write the customizations.
Re:Aqua has to do better. (Score:2)
Re:dont forget apple (Score:2)
True story: I know a guy who has his own software business. He tried some of the company's code on an SGI O200 because he that it was faster than the piece of 5h17 PCs they have. Everything fell apart because all their bit shifting assumed that the byte ordering was consistent for the PC. He decided not to work on non-pc's again.
Here's the real irony... They are coding for various cell phone architectures! His idiot programmers never stopped to think about what they are doing, but to this day he refuses to consider the non-pc world.
Go figure...