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BSD User's Review Of OS X

Posted by Hemos on from the time-for-the-your-check-up dept.

Lally Singh writes: "Getting bored with the latest distribution? Or getting tired of searching for drivers for your 8 bit soundblaster (in)compatible? Then listen to one BSD user's opinion of Mac OS X. And stop complaining about the hardware. Give a Powermac or one of the portables a chance before knocking on it."

2 of 406 comments (clear)

  1. Why the heck did he COMPILE Apache??? by Julius+X · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I don't understand for the life of me why this guy kept bitching about not being able to compile things...seems like this guy had more trouble than I've ever heard of to get to these things.

    And then there was Apache...why oh why did he feel the need to recompile Apache, when OSX comes with a Native Version of the damned thing that is far easier to use and confiugre than our standard *nix Apache.

    *Sigh*

    --

    -Julius X
    remove "-whatkindofspamdoyoutakemefor-" from email to send
  2. Apple hardware is actually pretty nice! by __aaaaxm1522 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Contrary to popular belief in the x86 world (of which I was a part until recently), Apple hardware is not only very spiffy looking, it's very well engineered IMHO.

    After a series of problems with 4 Sony Vaio notebooks (two PCG-748s, a Picturebook, and a PCG-F630), my girlfriend and I decided to look for alternative mobile computing solutions. Both of us being Unix/Linux users, we were drawn to the Apple Powerbooks/iBooks (the new model, not the clamshell).

    The notebooks feel solid. They have excellent battery life (I got 4.5 hours on a charge at the Ottawa Linux Symposium, while surfing wirelessly the whole time). The G3 and G4 processors feel fast. You don't have to have a 1 GHz Intel beast in your notebook - performance isn't measured solely by MHz, and especially not across different chip architectures!

    Sure, I had some minor complaints - only one mouse button for instance. But both YellowDog and LinuxPPC allow you to easily remap keys to mouse buttons. Guess what? That Apple key, and the "enter" key, on either side of the spacebar, just above the mouse pad on a G4 Titanium make excellent mouse buttons! Not to mention full USB support for external keyboards/mice when "docked". Built in antennas for wireless networking reduce the cost of a wireless network card... here in Canada, an 802.11b wireless card typically runs around $220 Cdn, whereas the Apple Airport (OEMed Lucent 802.11b card) runs about $140. And the G4 Titanium's screen is simply the most georgeous thing out there IMHO.

    Price-wise Apple hardware isn't all that bad these days. Sure, the G4 Titanium is expensive when compared to a Dell Latitude. But the G4 Ti is the top of the line Apple - it has more in common with the Dell 8100 series... and when you compare those two, the difference is $50-$100 Cdn.

    Ultimately, it's up to the individual user to decide which notebook best suits them. But at least give an Apple notebook a chance before dismissing it. They are really quite nice (and quite popular with the Linux coder crowd at the Ottawa Linux Symposium - there were many, many, many Powerbook G4s, and a few iBooks).