[Gllug] OT: Mac OS X for a linux user

[Simon Morris]

On 06/09/06, Jack Bertram <jack at jbertram.net> wrote:
> I am vaguely considering moving off my current two-home machine setup (1
> Linux for everyday; 1 Windows for Microsoft Office/Money) to a single
> iMac 24" - basically to save space.  I'd migrate all my email to my
> linux hosted server.
>
> Has anyone used OS X in anger?  Is it sufficiently linux-like that I'd
> be at home with it?  Does running CrossoverMac work well?  Can you run
> the normal X or Gnome programs that I'm familiar with on the desktop
> without fiddling too much?
>
> As a veteran CLI user, it's a slightly scary prospect moving to Mac but
> it might be worth it for the gorgeous screen and the lack of boxes under
> the table...

I would recommend against it :-)

OS X has some positive points in terms of usability ( as detailed by
others in this thread ) but there are some quirks that I find really
annoying with it. The Alt+Tab behaviour for one is a small niggle but
it's an example of how it is different.

I also find the way it handles multiple instances of an application
nasty. If I want to connect to 4 Windows RDP servers using the Mac
Terminal Services client I have to create 4 instances of the
application installation under /Applications whereas on GNU/Linux
distros you just fire up the same application 4 times.

The issues regarding "preference files" and their corruption causing
issues seems to be better than it used to on Mac but it's still an
issue from time to time.

It is possible to run Free software on OS X (aided by Darwin ports and
the Fink project) but X11 apps just don't run as nicely as on
GNU/Linux

And lastly - you are opting into the world of proprietary software
which isn't really a good step IMHO.

Thanks

-- 
~sm
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