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Torvalds Switches to a Mac
renai42 writes "Linux creator Linus Torvalds said this afternoon that he's now running an Apple Macintosh as his main desktop, mainly for work reasons, although partly simply because he's a self-described "technology whore" and got the machine for free." And yes, he is running Linux on it ;)
Always good to see another boost to the PPC64 platform though...
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He is using linux on mac hardware that was given to him. Wouldn't you?
Get a free ipod.
He always used to run suse at home and redhat at work. However, I don't think it's wise for him to say what distribution he's currently using. Imagine the response when he told he runs gentoo :-)
This is your sig. There are thousands more, but this one is yours.
Anyone who worrries that x86 support is going to end anytime soon is just silly. Thankfully, I don't see anyone claiming that anywhere. The sky is hardly falling.
But that doesn't mean it doesn't matter somewhere. Personally, I'm hoping that by having the "father of Linux" running Macintosh hardware that more attention will be made to PPC ports, incorporating more capabilities of the hardware, and bringing some of the distros more on par with their x86 cousins.
Are you aware that it's only been within the past few months that there have been some fixes for sleep support on Apple laptops? I'm running a PowerBook here myself, but until more recently couldn't even consider running Linux on it, as if I did I couldn't put the system to sleep (and expect it to wake back up, at least). The built-in AirPort Extreme wireless adapter is likewise unsupported.
Having Mr. Torvalds running on Macintosh hardware may help illuminate these issues, and get a push going to get Apple to open up their specs a bit more, or at the very least attract more Open Source developers to the cause. Personally, while I run OS X as my main desktop environment on my PowerBook, I wouldn't mind seeing PPC Linux on-par with x86 Linux when it comes to hardware compatibility. It's close, but there is room for improvement.
(And for the record, while OS X is my day-to-day OS for getting work done, I do keeep an Ubuntu PPC live CD in my laptop bag for those times when I want/need to run Linux, and have several Intel-based Linux boxes which I routinely access through the PowerBook).
Yaz.
It's been ready for mine for some time. Anything I might "need" Windows for (with the sole exception of certain games) runs fine through Wine and/or VMWare.
I realize your comment was an overall defense of Linux usability...but I get just as tired of hearing "Linux isn't ready for the desktop" as I assume you do of "Linux is teh r0x0r!"
For most basic day to day use (e-mail, web browsing, typing up a letter and printing it) Linux is a fine desktop environment needing little tweaking (or at least no more than XP) and has next to zero learning curve as many environments are specifically designed to mimic Windows as faithfully as possible (unfortunately, as some would argue). For many desktop environments (mine in particular) it's superior. For others, it's sub-optimal to be kind.
The simple fact is, "ready for the desktop" is a misnomer and is no more meaningful than any other ridiculous invented memes foisted onto our consciousness by people (usually pundits, analysts, and journalists) who have little, if any, idea what they're talking about.
How many times have people been chided for saying "Linux" when referring to a Linux Operating system? They get lectured "linux is only the kernel" blah blah blah
;)" he said."
Well, here ya go, time to STFU about that
"Torvald's response came quickly and succinctly. "My main machine these days is a dual 2GHz G5 (aka PowerPC 970) - it's physically a regular Apple Mac, although it obviously only runs Linux, so I don't think you can call it a Mac any more
If the inventor of it can call the operating system "Linux", then I say that means it's officially "cool" to use the term "Linux" to in fact refer to Joe Blow's "LinuxOS". We;ve more or less dropped saying GNU in front of it, so let's just drop the pedantic grammar fascist lecturing about the difference between a Kernel and the OS.
Now the other issue. He doesn't care about userland space. You know, I think this is a serious problem. Think about this long and hard for awhile. Then rethink about it.
Maybe it's time someone with ultimate say so DID care? Just maybe that might be a good idea seeing as how it's 2005 and not 1995? Look on the shelf at the retail level, how much "Linux" do you see? Perhaps time for some groups to think about forking the kernel and having the forked maintainer dictators actually *care* about userland? Get some much needed standards going? Evolution is not static.
It completely prevents the merging of kernel patches that malfunction on non-x86 platforms.
No it doesn't. It still allows the merging of kernel patches that break mips, arm, 68k, alpha and so on, and of course and especially Sparc.
"The more prohibitions there are, The poorer the people will be" -- Lao Tse
It is funny but disheartening to see how even Slashdot editors can't remember yesterday... before Intel (or HP or Compaq, you name 'em) killed the Alpha, Linus was given a four-way Alpha workstation he used for quite some time, I think it was two or three years until x86 hardware took over in performance (over his three-years old system!) or Alpha was seen as a dead end or whatever.
So he's just doing the same, this time with a platform not so fancy but with a safer future.
It means an easier life for us Linuxers on PPC, but we were already blessed with great hackers both on the kernel and in other parts; for example the leader(s?) of the Debian X Strike Force are Linux on PPC users.
Now what would be great is if proprietary vendors start porting their stuff... every day I miss things like j2re plugin for Mozilla, a Flash player, Adobe Acrobat and NX. Granted there are alternatives and clones, but gcjwebplugin still crashes Epiphany and ain't Java 2 level yet, swf_player is only playback, no interaction and takes way too much CPU, Evince doesn't do PDF forms and X.Fast (LBX) simply can't work in POTS dial-up situations where NX shines.
Leandro Guimarães Faria Corcete DUTRA
DA, DBA, SysAdmin, Data Modeller
GNU Project, Debian GNU/Lin
Having a dual-proc PowerPC with G5 (PPC 970) processors will increase the chances that Linus will think about performance issues for such hardware. The 970 has a longer pipeline than the G4, for example, so it's possible to leave quite a bit of performance on the table with code that stalls the pipeline a lot.
If Linus' insights on this for Linux can help the OS X people even find 1% better performance for any publically quoted benchmark, it will have paid for itself many times over.
This is just a SWAG (simple wild-assed guess).
Just a side note, but that would execute a lot faster if you just piped the list of names through to xargs and let it run cat, rather than run cat once for each file:
I'd run Linux on Powerbook over an Inspiron any day of the week.
... full sized keys. Dedicated page up and down keys. I'll have to throw in the obligatory mouse flame here - I'm so much happier with my Dell's touchpad, eraser mouse, and four mouse buttons than anything built into the Apples...
This is apparently because you're an apple fanboi as are the moderators who will +5 anyone who mentions how great Macs/OS X/Steve Jobs is. But I'm bored so I'll play with your troll a little bit. As a note, I *am* an Apple user at work, with a 12", a 17", 3 Xserves, 2 dual G5s, and a couple dozen G4s of various flavours. Oh, and I use a 15" from time to time as well. Obviously I see virtue in Apple kit, but the rampant fanboism gets old.
The Apple Powerbook is steps ahead of comparable offerings from the PC world, from a purely hardware perspective.
Um, right. Which is why my Dell (bought at roughly the same time as my 12" for roughly the same price) is faster, and only just over a pound lighter, despite the Dell being a 15" ultrawide. Think Apples are light? Try one of the ultralights from Fujitsu et al. Even the Toshiba tablets feel light compared to my 12".
Did I mention better wireless reception with the same Broadcom card in both, due to the nice Faraday cage metal case design of the 12"? None of the Apple laptop screens (remember, I actually use all three) begin to touch the top of the line Dells, Sonys, Fujitsus. How about the fact that the Powerbook keyboards all feel horrible as far as travel, and that all three units use the horrid squeezed design of the 12", despite having room for advanced things like
Oh, and despite having similar use patterns, the 12" is more dinged up than my plasticy Dell.
CPU power? A Pentium M can eat a G4 for breakfast. Batter life? Pentium Ms can outlast anything Apple makes.
Firewire 800
Which is built into how many of the total Powerbooks out there? And useful for what laptop applications precisely?
I'd run Linux on Powerbook over an Inspiron any day of the week.
I guess you don't like wireless then. Airport Extremes don't play nice with Linux.
P.S. Those great slot loading CD Drives Mac fans love to drool over? They're a real pain when they die. Time to ship the entire thing back to fix something that Dell can cross ship to you...