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I don't quite understand Jeff's point in the article. Is Windows really that much more open than OSX? I got my (first) Next^H^H^H^H Mac about a year ago. I d

I don't quite understand Jeff's point in the article. Is Windows really that much more open than OSX? I got my (first) Next^H^H^H^H Mac about a year ago. I don't want to stop running Linux yet, but the Mac works much better than any Windows machine I have ever been forced to endure. While the Mac might not have open hardware, it at least lets me load a wide variety of open software onto it: Libre Office, Groovy, Go-lang, Ruby, etc. (Windows does also, but the BSD personality on the Mac makes the experience more frictionless) I do care about freedom, but the platform which often simply does not work well enough to be playable is no freedom at all. I should probably add that my first programming job was back in '85 working on (dead language) under MS-DOS, so I have a long history of abuse at the hands of Microsoft. I'll agree that the Apple II, and also the C64, were nice little machines to tinker with, though.

venomsnake 13y ago
You cannot control or change the OS according to Jeff. Which means that you are as free as the OS allows you and not as free as the hardware allows you. I do agree that OS that allows you to run self signed code and unsigned code and have root access is almost on the top of the freedom ladder.
- nknighthb 13y ago
  You have exactly as much technical control over Mac OS X as you do over Windows. You can execute arbitrary code and modify any system file you wish, even the kernel. I'm not clear why people don't know this. Do non-Mac users really think OS X has to be "jailbroken" like an iPhone?
  - venomsnake 13y ago
    But can you change the OS without bootcamp? Arbitrary bootloaders etc?
    - nknighthb 13y ago
      What? Yes. Of course. Again, I don't get this. Where is the idea that Macs are locked down coming from? Who told you this is a problem? Edit: By the way, in 1996, Apple released MkLinux. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MkLinux http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MkLinux This was even before they stopped using non-standard components in their computers. How anyone could ever have thought Apple was blocking installation of alternative operating systems is beyond me.
subsystem 13y ago
OSX, as a software, is significantly more "unfree" than almost anything out there (in the computer world) since you can't run it on custom hardware. Not because it doesn't work, as the hardware is essentially the same, but because you aren't allowed to. http://www.lockergnome.com/osx/2012/02/24/are-hackintosh-computers-legal/ http://www.lockergnome.com/osx/2012/02/24/are-hackintosh-com...

venomsnake 13y ago

You cannot control or change the OS according to Jeff. Which means that you are as free as the OS allows you and not as free as the hardware allows you. I do agree that OS that allows you to run self signed code and unsigned code and have root access is almost on the top of the freedom ladder.

nknighthb 13y ago
You have exactly as much technical control over Mac OS X as you do over Windows. You can execute arbitrary code and modify any system file you wish, even the kernel. I'm not clear why people don't know this. Do non-Mac users really think OS X has to be "jailbroken" like an iPhone?
- venomsnake 13y ago
  But can you change the OS without bootcamp? Arbitrary bootloaders etc?
  - nknighthb 13y ago
    What? Yes. Of course. Again, I don't get this. Where is the idea that Macs are locked down coming from? Who told you this is a problem? Edit: By the way, in 1996, Apple released MkLinux. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MkLinux http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MkLinux This was even before they stopped using non-standard components in their computers. How anyone could ever have thought Apple was blocking installation of alternative operating systems is beyond me.

subsystem 13y ago

OSX, as a software, is significantly more "unfree" than almost anything out there (in the computer world) since you can't run it on custom hardware. Not because it doesn't work, as the hardware is essentially the same, but because you aren't allowed to. http://www.lockergnome.com/osx/2012/02/24/are-hackintosh-computers-legal/ http://www.lockergnome.com/osx/2012/02/24/are-hackintosh-com...