Mac was a lot less painful for installing open source software than Windows was at the time (and still is in some ways). A compatible tool chain makes porting

Mac was a lot less painful for installing open source software than Windows was at the time (and still is in some ways). A compatible tool chain makes porting Linux software much easier. Installing is also easier when you’ve got Bash and a file system that resembles Linux. And having a Unix shell out of the box was/is easier than dealing with Cygwin and its alternatives. Windows is better these days because the cloud dragged Microsoft into doing something about its shell experience. But even now Windows versions of things like Curl are half-assed versions.