Desktop Linux on x86 - Adapt or Die

An anonymous reader writes "The recent announcement of Apple's upcoming x86 systems has gotten a lot of people thinking. Among the conjecture, there has been much thought given to how Linux will be affected by this move. The author of this article does not believe that Linux as a whole is threatened harmed by the 'Mactel' alliance, but does point out that his could mean major trouble for distros like Xandros and Linspire which are reliant on the desktop audience. These distros are clearly not ready to take on OS X, which will soon be the primary x86 alternative to Windows XP not only because of OS X's dedicated and outspoken user base but because of its slick looks and ease of use."

Comments

Re:I still don't get it..

[kfg]

I still don't get why 'Mactel' is a threat to Linux in any way. Why is it even a threat to Linspire or Xandros?

It isn't.

What is it that I am missing?

Not too many brain cells, for whatever comfort that may offer.

KFG

Re:Can one run Mac OS X on common hardware?

[Ziviyr]

Speak for yourself.

I, for one, welcome our unable-to-right-click overlords. :-)

Re:Well,

[nunchux]

don't think OSX will have any more penetration into the desktop market than Linux has had for one simple reason -- the desktop market is the noob market. Plain and simple. Noobs are too preconditioned to Windows right now.

You keep using that word "noob." I do not think it means what you think it means.

Re:But OTOH

[ArmorFiend]

There's a difference between "dumbing down" an OS, and giving an OS and applications consistent and easy-to-use interfaces. Apple makes things easy by giving programs similar interfaces and similar menu structures.

In truth, Apple has a long way to go too.

Why just the other day, I was trying to set up wireless on our houseguest's ibook. I had to type in the essid and the WEP password. "password?" I thought ... what password? There's just a hex key. Well, I'll type in the hex key, see if that works. No. Well I'll press the help button, and see what it tells me. Roughly paraphrasing, here was the help of the "user friendly" Apple OS X:

Put the name of the wireless network in the "name" field, and your password in the "password" field.

Okay, screw this, I'm going to Google. After some futzing around, it turns out that to enter a hex key one has to put a '$' before the key. That's completely unintuitive, and not documented. What a load of overhyped bantha poodoo is this OS X...

Re:But OTOH

[Anonymous Coward]

Middle click? I only have one button you insensitive clod!

Re:Not dumbing down at all

[Bodysurf]

"Consider a programming analogy: suppose two developers write code that ultimately achieves the same thing. Say one of them writes 200 lines of intricate technical detail, taking advantage of advanced features offered by the programming language, while the other writes 20 lines using nothing but the most basic language constructs. Which of these is the smart programmer?"

I'd say one is getting paid by the hour, the other getting paid by the job.

As to which is which, well, that is left as an exercize to the reader.

Re:I still don't get it..

[not-enough-info]

And for the millionth time: Apple will not switch to Intel x86 for the Macintosh platform!

So... I've been away from the internet for a couple months. Anything happen while I was gone?