Linux Journal Likes Mac OS X

sobchak writes "In an article from the latest issue of Linux Journal, Doc Searls and Brent Simmons review Mac OS X. It's a fair and balanced analysis, but is a definite thumbs up for Mac OS X from (yet another) respected Linux source. They stop just short of calling the new OS 'developer nirvana,' but did say, 'Last week we put Mac OS X on a Titanium laptop. It blew our minds.'"

Comments

Can't we all just get along?

[KillerKane]

It's nice to see, for a change, an article that doesn't pit Linux and OSX against each other, but instead focuses on how they can be complementary and what benefits there are for both camps. The article seemed very even-handed to me. It seemed to say "Linux is cool, OSX is cool, and the cross-pollination of advances in each is even cooler". Bravo.

The key quote

[foobar104]

Since the server is currently curled up in the corner, whimpering and mewling, I can't cut-and-paste and must paraphrase from memory. But as I remember it, the best one-liner from this article went something like this:

"When it comes to OS X and Linux, it seems that the market logic is AND, not OR."

(You may now begin the tired and meaningless flames about the difference between AND, OR, and XOR. No one will read them. ;-) )

Re:blown away?

[TTop]

I think you're confused -- the quote said Mac OS X blew their minds, not a Linux distribution.

Not Main Page? Article Refreshing

[feldsteins]

This really should be on the front page of Slashdot.

Anyhow, it's nice to see anyone outside of Mac users discussing Apple products without a sneer (let alone the uber-geek *NIX crowd!). "Refreshing" doesn't even begin to cover how it strikes me.

Does anyone know how to make a "smug" face in ASCII?

I like the entire package - Hard and soft

[rjamestaylor]

I just got a Titanium G4 550 Powerbook which replaces my workhorse Toshiba 2805 (running Linux,Win4Lin and, for DVDs, booting in the WinME that came with it). What impressed me was, of course, OS X with Darwin underneath (very solid:

• [localhost:~] rjt% uptime
• 
  8:00PM up 5 days, 23:20, 3 users, load averages: 0.76, 0.57, 0.54

) but also the impressive marriage of software and hardware. Apple's careful crafting admired by many in Aqua is evident in the sleek design of the Titanium's case -- even the packaging.

Moreover, when I plugged in my older Sony DV8 video camera (having iMovie open) immediately iMovie reported "Camera Connected" and I was slurpping video instantly. Yes, I've done that on a PC -- October 1999 I spent the better part of a day making my Sony accessible over the fireware card I bought at Fry's. It was a nightmare of drivers and procedural steps to connect the wires and run the program. It never worked the first time and sometimes it wouldn't work. Having a machine crafted as an elegant and working unit is new to me.

I don't doubt Apple could have OS X run on Intel-based hardware -- afterall NeXTSTEP, the base of OSX in many ways, ran on x86 hardware eventually. I just don't think the experience would be as enjoyable.

Re:Max OS X on desktop

[l0wland]

The only glitch so far is there is no Java plugin for OS X.

There is an excellent Java-plugin for Netscape/Fizilla for OS X. I use it with Mozilla 0.9.9 for OS X and it works great !

You can download it here at VersionTracker.com.

Heard it all before

[darkov]

The most interesting thing about the article is the way these unix hackers are swooning over the Mac usability, the very thing that many such folk have mocked for years. You plug something in. It just works. You unplug it. It still works. You change it all about. It still works.

If only the entire open source movement could have this sort of eye-opening experience, Microsoft would be running scared.