[Gllug] Linux workstation admin simpler than OS X

[Alan Marsh]

I've been using OS X as my main workstation and laptop for 5 years now and CentOS for most of my server work. Prior to that I worked mainly with Fedora. Over time I've setup most of the web development infrastructure I need on OS X but I still find system administration a real pain in OS X. So much is hidden within OS X-specific apps like 'dscl' and 'launchctl', then there's the need to have an /opt subsystem to get GNU stuff installed properly. It just feels like a kludge all the time compared with Linux. Added to this, with each OS X release so much of what's under the hood changes. I can no longer open ports by number in firewall provided by System Preferences in Leopard and have had a hell of a time getting Dovecot to run locally. With Linux it's simple. 

I've been thinking of switching all of my work back to Linux as this G5 and Powerbook G4 are getting old. The price of Apple hardware is ridiculously expensive, considering the current recessionary trends, and my pocket won't stretch to £1400 for a 15" Macbook Pro or £2000 for a Mac Pro when I can get Fedora on a decent laptop for £600 and a powerful workstation for not much more.

Anyone else find OSX system administration clunky after living with Linux?

gvim
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