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Penguin2Apple

Posted by michael on from the you-don't-know-the-power-of-the-dark-side dept.

Dark Paladin writes: "What happens when a Linux lover takes the plunge into a Mac for the first time in his life? Turns out he falls in love, to the point of abandoning Linux and taking up OS X full time. Read about the conversion in Penguin2Apple. And pray for mercy on his soul."

3 of 511 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Well by neuroticia · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Yes, they're both Unix, but have you used OS X? OS X is to Linux what a protein bar is to a full meal. Insufficient.

    MAYBE if they took the trash off of the dock. MAYBE if they allowed you to easily exit the GUI and be at the command line without all the extra extra stuff going on for the times you just want to compile. MAYBE if they made it so you can easily locate files on other hard drives from the "open" dialog in applications. MAYBE if having a SCSI chain or a certain **Apple standard** video card didn't give you kernel panics. MAYBE if you could more easily choose bash as your shell. MAYBE if my "Linux" workflow could be achieved on OS X. MAYBE if my "Mac" workflow could be achieved on OS X. MAYBE if they didn't make you jump through stupid hoops like having you log in as 'root', su to root, and then enter your password a third time to delete a file or install a program... MAYBE if more of my hardware was compatible...MAYBE then I'd think about switching.

    I honestly don't understand why anyone would switch.

    -Sara

  2. Apple Laptop Keyboards Bad for Unix Users by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Apple Laptop Keyboards are Unacceptable to Unix Users

    Apple designs horrible keyboards. ADB keyboards (which are still used on all of Apple's laptops) are unusable to unix users who need a Ctrl key to the left of the 'A'.

    Proper Keyboard Design

    • When a key is pressed, the keyboard sends a keyPress event.
    • When a key is released, the keyboard sends a keyRelease event.
    • Each key is assigned a different keycode.
    Nothing more, nothing less.

    ADB Keyboard Mis-design

    • When the key to the left of the 'A' (CapsLock) is pressed, the ADB keyboard sends both a keyPress event and a keyRelease event.
    • When the CapsLock key is then released, the ADB keyboard sends NO events.
    • When the CapsLock key is next pressed, the ADB keyboard sends NO events.
    • When the CapsLock key is then released, the ADB keyboard sends both a keyPress event and a keyRelease event.
    • The above cycle repeats over and over.
    This is WRONG ! Apple's ADB keyboards are broken by design.

    Unix Users Cannot Use Apple's ADB Keyboards

    What this means is that unix users who need the key to the left of the 'A' to be a Ctrl key cannot use Apple ADB keyboards. You can easily reprogram the CapsLock key to be a Ctrl key and get rid of the badness of the CapsLock key, but you can't get the required goodness of the Ctrl key to the left of the 'A'.

    Apple Loses Sales to Unix Users

    All Apple laptops have the horrible broken-by-design ADB keyboards which are unusable to unix users. I want to buy an Apple laptop, but I cannot and will not until Apple builds input devices usable by unix users.

  3. Re:They'll never get me by Chris+Pimlott · · Score: 1, Flamebait


    Know what? This is absolute FUD on both parts. At least you're both ill-informed. These complaints apply to OS X, yes - but that's the client OS. Buy the Server [apple.com] and get the server tools [apple.com]. It's very easy to do pretty much everything remotely, through a Apple-provided GUI tool.

    I'm surprised someone else is saying "mod this up". So your great solution is to spend _more_ money to get a program to update remote via a proprietary system. I wouldn't expect someone to cheer for this idea.

    (If I am misinformed about the proprietary nature, sorry, I couldn't view the Quicktime video on my Linux system)