4 ms·

The two are fairly similar. What people pay the premium mac price for is typically: * better looking/feeling hardware * more "it just works" On the second po

by swombat 16y ago

The two are fairly similar. What people pay the premium mac price for is typically: * better looking/feeling hardware * more "it just works" On the second point, what I mean is that using Linux often involves some 2-3-hour stints getting some weird driver problem sorted or installing the latest version of KDE or what not. I'm not saying that's a killer problem, but it is inconvenient and wastes time. This type of stuff doesn't happen very often on Mac OS. If I couldn't afford a Mac, I would be using Linux too.

donaq 16y ago
From recent personal experience, the 2-3 hour stints are increasingly a thing of the past.
- swombat 16y ago
  Even when installing software? I'm not talking just about Linux proper here, but also its application-space. Mac apps tend to have a good level of finish, both in terms of UI look and feel, and in terms of the "it just works" mentality. Anyway, great to hear things are getting better. I guess 2011 will be the year of Linux on the desktop then...
zeemonkee 16y ago
It goes both ways. I've found setting up Ruby and Python environments (not whatever system defaults, but development environments, including database drivers etc) much easier on Linux than Macs. As a developer I spend most of the time in the terminal anyway, so polish and glitz are relatively unimportant; I can see the appeal of the Mac to designers though.
- tofumatt 16y ago
  Really? rvm (http://rvm.beginrescueend.com/ http://rvm.beginrescueend.com/) has made setting up Ruby development environments on my Mac a breeze. I generally only run a few versions of Python (2.6 and 3) and do most work in 2.6 so I can't speak to that as much, but I haven't had issues with Ruby or Python on OS X. PHP is still a bit annoying, as the default PHP that comes with OS X kind of sucks, as does compiling PHP, but I'm used to it by now. And there's probably eight million tutorials on doing it if you aren't familiar :-)
ZeroGravitas 16y ago
I know several people who can afford Macs, and like the better looking/feeling hardware enough to actually buy them. However they're software developers and so to get the "it just works" they need to install linux on their iMacs and MacBook Pros. The 2-3 hours stints to get a new version of KDE are long gone, you should give it a try sometime, you might be surprised.

by swombat 16y ago

donaq 16y ago

From recent personal experience, the 2-3 hour stints are increasingly a thing of the past.

swombat 16y ago
Even when installing software? I'm not talking just about Linux proper here, but also its application-space. Mac apps tend to have a good level of finish, both in terms of UI look and feel, and in terms of the "it just works" mentality. Anyway, great to hear things are getting better. I guess 2011 will be the year of Linux on the desktop then...

zeemonkee 16y ago

It goes both ways. I've found setting up Ruby and Python environments (not whatever system defaults, but development environments, including database drivers etc) much easier on Linux than Macs. As a developer I spend most of the time in the terminal anyway, so polish and glitz are relatively unimportant; I can see the appeal of the Mac to designers though.

tofumatt 16y ago
Really? rvm (http://rvm.beginrescueend.com/ http://rvm.beginrescueend.com/) has made setting up Ruby development environments on my Mac a breeze. I generally only run a few versions of Python (2.6 and 3) and do most work in 2.6 so I can't speak to that as much, but I haven't had issues with Ruby or Python on OS X. PHP is still a bit annoying, as the default PHP that comes with OS X kind of sucks, as does compiling PHP, but I'm used to it by now. And there's probably eight million tutorials on doing it if you aren't familiar :-)

ZeroGravitas 16y ago

I know several people who can afford Macs, and like the better looking/feeling hardware enough to actually buy them. However they're software developers and so to get the "it just works" they need to install linux on their iMacs and MacBook Pros. The 2-3 hours stints to get a new version of KDE are long gone, you should give it a try sometime, you might be surprised.