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Take a Mac User to Lunch

Posted by pudge on from the any-place-that-has-good-steak-is-good-for-me dept.

A Slashdot reader writes "LinuxWorld is running a story explaining how Mac OS X may help break down the walls for non-Windows operating systems, including Linux."

4 of 477 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Switch? by sirinek · · Score: 5, Informative

    I disagree. Switching to Mac would be painless for almost all users. This has nothing to do with anyone who runs Linux.

    For the *average user*:

    You can still read and write your Microsoft Office documents.

    You can still play your MP3 files.

    You can still go to all the same websites with your Internet Explorer.

    Those three things alone make it easy for the average user to switch from Windows to Mac.

    siri

  2. Re:they are mostly right by zapfie · · Score: 5, Informative

    Have you sat down and spent some time with OS X? There is a lot of quality Mac-only software out there. Plus the fact that it now has UNIX underpinnings means there's a whole lot of native UNIX software for it too (you can run OS X and X at the same time). Mac OS X provides a true UNIX environment with an excellent development platform and graphical shell. It is also arguably the best user interface for a desktop. That plus the vast amount of quality Mac-only software gives plenty of reason to switch. For the record, I use a Mac at work, and a PC running Debian and XP at home. I am very tempted to buy a Mac as my next computer.

    --
    slashdot!=valid HTML
  3. Re:open source ? by frankie · · Score: 5, Informative

    what part of osx is open source ?

    This part is open source.

    if it's open source then why isn't it free ?

    It is free.

  4. Re:But for advanced UNIX users? by Noofus · · Score: 4, Informative

    Can I run OS X software through X? Does XDarwin support gnome? Is the kernel source available, or do I have to wait for apple to support my hardware?

    You can run XDarwin (X server) through Aqua. You can run it rooted or rootless. So you can, if you wish, have X apps and Mac OS X apps running side by side on the desktop. Yes you can run Gnome through it (I dont, but it does work). The kernel (the important part) is exactly as it came from BSD - and thus under the BSD license. It is open, and I have seen non-apple drivers for many devices.

    Most importantly: Does it have an automated package installer like apt-get?


    Yes, in fact there is...its called fink (find it on sourceforge) and uses the same commands you know and love (dselect, apt-get, etc.)

    My personal Linux machines were Debian - so I appreciate your want for the simple-yet-still-raw feel that it has. You can get that to some degree.

    I Love being able to run MS Word, Powerpoint and multiple vim, ssh etc sessions on the same screen.
    Or just hitting an icon and bumping out of the Mac feel altogether and run rooted in Blackbox.

    Ximian Evolution is SO much better than Outlook.

    Hell I still use pine cause its better than outlook :)