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Conficker racked up $9 billion in damages during its first quarter. That's far from the only worm out there. Old windows malware doesn't go away it's just added to the zoo.

Compare that to the estimated development costs for your average linux distro run about $1 billion.

So the savings of eradicating MSFT products for just three months would, using those numbers, give enough money to start linux from scratch 9 times over and still break out even. The more polished linux distros are now quite a few years ahead of Windows in most areas. In the areas they aren't $9 billion could buy a lot of improvement. Of that hypothetical $9 billion, it wouldn't cost but a fraction to make Filezilla as nice as Fugu or cyberduck.

Oh, but wait. There's the long tail of the worm. The windows worms run for years.

Microsoft products just aren't engineered for security. Xp, Vista and Vista 7 show us that nothing changes on that front. That's not a technical problem any more, that's an HR problem. Get rid of the MSFT boosters and you raise productivty.

If Ubuntu were a $0 way of running windows applications it would take over the world.

Ubuntu shouldn't be *just* windows, it should be windows and more.

Isn't this really the question at hand? *Should* Ubuntu be Windows and more? Or should it stand more on it's own, wooing developers by it's own appeal? Sure, OSX has Parallels, VMWare, etc, but almost all the Mac users get by without running Windows applications (obviously there are some exceptions, but they're rare among those I know). Either there's an OSX version of the software, a better or adequate alternative, or it's not needed.

I have a Macbook for my laptop, and when I'm using my desktop, I've found the only applications that I want to be able to use under Linux and can't are actually OSX exclusive ones. Mac's following over the years has resulted in some really polished and useful programs.

Why isn't that the case with Linux? User share is an obvious thing to blame, but I don't think it should stop there. I think there's also the question of what the user base is willing to pay for, i.e. cost / benefit of developing an application. There's a market among OSX users for buying more polished programs. Transmit does quite well, even though there are zero-cost alternatives that do everything the user actually needs.

I've run into a lot of these examples over the past few years I've been exposed to the world of Apple. Aside from Codeweaver products, I don't know if I've ever come across non-free, non-specialised applications developed for Linux that compete against zero-cost programs. Where are the paid apps such as TextMate, Pathfinder, Xslimmer, and Things to name a few.

A downside to having such a wide ranging selection of good free software is that it does decrease the appeal of developing programs for Linux that I might find frivolous, but perhaps the new wave of Ubuntu / Netbook readers might not. There is definitely a group of users out there who don't mind spending $10 or more on a polished replacement of something that would give them the same basic functionality for free.

Is Linux (or specifically Ubuntu), not-suited for that? Is that something we even want, with free(beer) being so closely tied to open source? I don't think it necessarily plays a big role in the grand scheme of Ubuntu, but I do think that small software companies that make quality products could speed up Ubuntu's progress by filling in areas where the free solution is immature or missing, a scenario dependent on whether they can make money.

For FTP/SFTP there's Cyberduck for free, but I paid for Transmit. I was a WS-FTP user for years and love the 2-pane view.

And as you said, TextWrangler for text editing.

At least since 10.4 it asks if you want to setup .mac after installation I believe.

10.4 came with mine but I never was asked about setting up .mac.

Yeah, but the applications is retarded and don't just use plain ftp and store the data in some directories or such, so you can't just choose "upload my calendar to web server."

What applications? When I uploaded files to my web space I used an FTP client from IPSwitch. And though I haven't installed it yet I have Cyberduck for my Mac.

How many videos can you upload on 20 GB anyway? Even the average persons digital camera photo album can't be uploaded in full.

I don't have a video or a digital camera yet, I still use my 35mm SLR. I'd like to get a DSLR but can't afford it right now. Hopefully in a year or so I'll be working as a photographer and can afford one.

Falcon

* Restore the ability to have folders remember their views.

* Run each Finder window in a separate process, so it doesn't lock everything up when one window gets busy. Particularly when hitting network shares.

* Move the "FTP" support from Finder to Safari, so we don't have the overhead and security issues of file-system-like operations when accessing remote high-latency servers.

* Bring back the Shelf from NeXTSTeP.

* Add "Cut" as well as "Copy". There's a "Cut" option in the edit menu but it's always greyed out. If there's some obscure option key that will enable this, well...

... are there ANY popular apps for the mac written in Java other than Azureus?

Cyberduck is one I use regularly, a (s)ftp client, and it is indistinguishable from a Cocoa-based application. Indeed Cyberduck is a showcase of MacOS technologies: Spotlight, Bonjour, Keychain, Applescript, iDisk, drag-'n-drop, etc.

I've always assumed there are vertical applications able to operate on the Mac because of Apple's Java support, much like other *nix-based code can be migrated without major (non-GUI) trauma.

... are there ANY popular apps for the mac written in Java other than Azureus?

Cyberduck is one I use regularly, a (s)ftp client, and it is indistinguishable from a Cocoa-based application. Indeed Cyberduck is a showcase of MacOS technologies: Spotlight, Bonjour, Keychain, Applescript, iDisk, drag-'n-drop, etc.

I've always assumed there are vertical applications able to operate on the Mac because of Apple's Java support, much like other *nix-based code can be migrated without major (non-GUI) trauma.

There's plenty of great Mac apps that are freeware and /or open-source. Much of the PC-type shit that's washed ashore lately, on the other hand, is shareware (what the fuck).

Cyberduck is written in Java, but I'd bet that you couldn't tell from using it. There's a difference between OS X apps written in Java using the Cocoa classes, which for all intensive purposes are native, and those that are written to be cross-platform using Swing (or whatever).

Linked version with condensed summary. I wanted to find out more about some of them. Others may benefit too.

Ecto a blogging client (but the site seems to be down: try this for more info). Shareware, $17.95.
Transmit an FTP client. Shareware, $17.95
Sync Services -- comes with 10.4
BBedit text/html editor. $125, but worth it.
Missing Synch for Windows Mobile - synchronize with PDA/smartphones. $49.95/$39.95
OmniGraffle - diagramming / flowchart program. $79.95 / $149.95
ConceptDraw - another diagramming / flowchart program. $299
IChat AV - built-in to 10.4
AppleScript, Scriptdebugger - also built-in. No link. I'm getting lazy.
Microsoft Entourage -- part of MS Office.
Sketchfigher 4000 Alpha -- a game from the great Ambrosia Software. $19.00
TypeIt4Me - keyboard macro expander. $27
NetworkLocation - automatically trigger configuration changes depending upon where you are on the network (e.g., at home, work, etc.). $15
Apple Remote Desktop 3 - control / configure Mac systems remotely. $499 / $299 (unlimited / 10 systems)
MacLinkPlus - file conversion software (e.g., from WordPerfect documents to/from Word, and many others). $79
Parallels Desktop for Mac - virtualization software (e.g., run Win XP simultaneously with OS X). $79.
Remote Desktop Connection - connect remotely to a Windows desktop. FREE
Snap X Pro - screen / movie capture. $29
Boot Camp - dual boot Windows. I'm lazy.
PDF - Portable Document Format from Adobe? What?
Lingon - tool for making launchd scripts for 10.4.
Workgroup Manager - manage local systems - part of 10.4 Server.

---
Okay, a mildly interesting list. Here's a few more suggestions:

Cyberduck - FTP and SFTP client. Donationware.
VLC - cross-platform video viewer / transcoder.
Blender 3D - cross-platform 3D modelling / rendering.
Bookends - excellent bibliography software. $99
Celestia - cross-platform real-time 3D astronomy simulator.
Plot - a, uh, plotting / graphing program.
proFit - another plotting / graphing program, non-free. $95
WordService - adds a bunch of text reformatting tools to the Services menu, making them accessible in any program. The same page has a bunch of other useful and free services.

The original article lists PDF, but no tools. While its true OS X native support makes PDF pretty easy to use, there's still some tasks that are awkward and some useful tools out there to do t

Oh shoot. I forgot to mention another app that I use a lot, Cyberduck. http://cyberduck.ch/ Great little FTP client.

Being a web developer who works from home, here's my short list of tools I like:

Web Developer Ext. for Mozilla: https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/60/
MailTags: http://www.indev.ca/MailTags.html
FTP/SFTP Client: http://cyberduck.ch/
Text Editor: http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/
OpenOffice: http://porting.openoffice.org/mac/
Image Editor: http://www.macgimp.org/

Free, or gratis? There's some really nice OS X software out there, it's all Shareware though. I'd love to see some really high-quality, OS X native (F?)OSS. There a few out there though. Some goodies include, Adium, Colloquy, Smultron and Cyberduck. I just wish skEdit were Free though.

"Cyberduck is an open source FTP and SFTP (SSH Secure File Transfer) browser licenced under the GPL with an easy to use interface, integration with external editors and support for many Mac OS X system technologies such as Spotlight, Bonjour, the Keychain and AppleScript."

It rocks!

http://cyberduck.ch/

I installed Cyberduck on my mom's Mac for FTP access to her website. I like the application -- it's got an easy drag-n-drop interface, it supports SFTP, it's free and open source. But the best feature is that its' dock icon is a big rubber duck. So when my mom calls and says "How do I edit my web page again?" I can say "Okay... now drag that file from your desktop to the duck." She has made the mental link that the duck will take the files in its bill and fly to the web server, where everyone can see it. She can understand the less metaphoric version, but it's the colorful explanation that makes her remember what to do.

Wow I've been using Cyberduck for ages and never knew it was a Java app. Sure enough a quick check of the CVS repository reveals that this is indeed the case. It shows how well the Cocoa-Java implementation is. However it does explain which Cyberduck can be a little unresponsive at times.

Whoa, so you're still running the OS X beta or what?

Ever since 10.3 Safari does resumable downloads. And if you want a proper FTP program:

Cyberduck is free, it's even GPL (w00t!) and it's pure Cocoa beauty
http://cyberduck.ch/

P.S.: and no, that .ch doesn't mean China

• Mac Rumors - Good rumors website
• Mac Slash - Slashdot like mac news site
• Mac News Bytes - Good quick links to mac related articles
• Version Tracker - Software update website. Kind of like download.com for mac.
• Mac Update - Similar to versiontracker.com
• Mac OS X Hints - Good tips site for beginners and experienced people alike.
• Think Secret - Another good rumors site. Very accurate, most of the time.
• Emulation.net - Links to game emulation for mac

• Adium - Multi-protocol IM client
• Byte Controller - Good itunes hotkey/menu pager applet
• Camino - Nice mac based gecko browser.
• Colloquy - Webkit based IRC client. not too newbish.
• Cyberduck - SFTP/FTP client for os x
• Desktop Manager - Multi desktop app for os x
• Apple X11 Server - Apple's integrated X11 server. you'd want this for the next two items
• Fink - UNIX software for your mac
• Gimp.app - decent free photo editor
• Handbrake - DVD to mpeg4 ripper
• iTerm - Multi tabbed terminal
• Logorrhea - iChat log viewer/searcher/indexer
• Meteorologist - Weather applet for the menu bar
• Menu Meters - Menu applet for cpu usage, net usage, and more.
• Mplayer OS X - This app will play just about any media format in existance
• Poisoned - GiFT (Kazaa) and mldonkey based P2P mac client.
• Quicksilver - Very cool file/application/url/itunes/etc/etc/etc indexing program. It's like spotlight, only here TODAY and free!
• VLC - Another good video playing app. Nice to have a backup sometimes if mplayer doesn't play a file (which is very very rare).

Have you tried CyberDuck? It supports sftp and ftp, auto-detects servers with Rendevous, and lets you drag and drop files from the finder.