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Nerds Switching from Apple to Ubuntu?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the different-bell-curve-entirely dept.

Mindpicnic writes "The recent switch of two lifelong Mac nerds to Ubuntu hasn't escaped Tim O'Reilly's radar. He cites Jason Kottke: 'If I were Apple, I'd be worried about this. Two lifelong Mac fans are switching away from Macs to PCs running Ubuntu Linux: first it was Mark Pilgrim and now Cory Doctorow. Nerds are a small demographic, but they can also be the canary in the coal mine with stuff like this.'"

41 of 957 comments (clear)

  1. Mac nerds? by linvir · · Score: 5, Funny

    Mac nerds? Are they the same sort of people as Windows hackers and Linux gamers?

    1. Re:Mac nerds? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Mac nerds? Are they the same sort of people as Windows hackers and Linux gamers?

      Rarer if you ask me. Probably along the same lines as geek girls.

    2. Re:Mac nerds? by pyce · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Oh no! Apple should be worried about two guys! Two guys have switched. What ever will Apple do about two guys?"

      The other two Mac users were unavailable for comment.

      --
      Hellenologophobia, n. -- a fear of Greek terms or complex terminology
    3. Re:Mac nerds? by projekt2 · · Score: 2, Funny

      The same place OS X is in the server room.

    4. Re:Mac nerds? by mrbooze · · Score: 4, Funny

      Come on, if they were *real* nerds they'd be switching to Gentoo, not Ubuntu.

    5. Re:Mac nerds? by Millenniumman · · Score: 5, Funny

      Real nerds build their own distro.

      --
      Stupidity is like nuclear power, it can be used for good or evil. And you don't want to get any on you.
    6. Re:Mac nerds? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      ahem, that's "Computer == a tool", buddy!

    7. Re:Mac nerds? by jpardey · · Score: 3, Funny

      I have a similar point of view to you. Macs are all very nice, and it is pretty awesome that they run on a *nix, but I'm not going to pay that much for that. There are/were incredibly bad security flaws (sorry, no examples), which escape mainly because of the lack of use.

      Anyway, I met a Reality Distortion Feild victim once. I was talking to a proffesor in the physics lobby at my college. He asked me about my Sony mp3 player... talked about it a bit. Then he asked when I would get an iPod. This struck me as extremely odd. My Sony thing works alright, why would an iPod be better? I just mentioned that I didn't want an iPod because they make users look like yuppies. RIGHT THEN, another proffesor (who I will call B) in the adjacent room shouts "No they don't!" Me and B talked about apple for a bit, and I saw his apple laptops in his room, talked about the Nano, cameras, etc. Pretty normal electronics conversation.

      Why do I say he was an RDF victim? Because B was wearing a turtleneck.

      --
      I have freaks! I did something right...
    8. Re:Mac nerds? by epee1221 · · Score: 2, Funny

      FWIW, I know plenty of Mac users who hear "nano" and think "text editor."

      --
      "The use-mention distinction" is not "enforced here."
    9. Re:Mac nerds? by Jesus_666 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Where is Linux on the desktop again? Just askin'.

      ~/Desktop/linux-2.6.17.3.tar.bz2

      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
    10. Re:Mac nerds? by bursch-X · · Score: 4, Funny

      No mouse pointer in the middle of the keyboard like is found on the Thinkpads or the Toshiba Tecra line.

      Oooh, I would never trust a computer with a clit.

      --
      There are two rules for success:
      1. Never tell everything you know.
    11. Re:Mac nerds? by Gropo · · Score: 2, Funny
      Dude, I'm typing this on a 1999-vintage PC running Windows 98
      Windows 98!? Jesus Haeleth, he's probably running 10.4.7! Terrible comparison! You just blue screened your entire argument!

      Load up Windows XP Service Pack 12 Security Pack 419... No wait I'm sorry that doesn't even have contemporary features... Load Vista Beta on it and get back to us!

      -Typed on a year 2000 G4 running 10.4.7

      --
      I hate Grammar Nazi's
    12. Re:Mac nerds? by linvir · · Score: 2, Funny

      Okay, I concede. You are right, period.

      I retract the disparaging comments I made about Linux gaming in your post, and I apologise for any offense I may have caused you with those wicked lies that you put into my mouth.

  2. Two users! by pedantic+bore · · Score: 5, Funny
    OMG! That's 0.0004% of their installed user base! In a single week!

    Nerds are a small demographic, but they can also be the canary in the coal mine with stuff like this. Or not. Jeepers. Someone out to FUD Apple this week, or something?

    --
    Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
    1. Re:Two users! by bunbuntheminilop · · Score: 2, Funny

      Reasoning and common sense has NO PLACE in this argument, you insensitive clod!

    2. Re:Two users! by Millenniumman · · Score: 4, Funny

      Closer to .00001%. If that occurred every week, and no one switched to the platform, no one would be using Macs in 20,000 years.

      --
      Stupidity is like nuclear power, it can be used for good or evil. And you don't want to get any on you.
    3. Re:Two users! by pedantic+bore · · Score: 4, Funny
      That's assuming that mac users live 20,000 years. Otherwise, Apple will have to pick up some new users -- they don't necessarily have to switch from windows, but they do need to be born.

      --
      Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
    4. Re:Two users! by Millenniumman · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's assuming that mac users live 20,000 years.

      That's always been my experience, or did you think we used Macs for the intuitive interface?

      --
      Stupidity is like nuclear power, it can be used for good or evil. And you don't want to get any on you.
  3. Oh no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Cory Doctorow has switched to Ubuntu GNU/Linux?

    Not PROMINENT INTERNET BLOGGER Cory Doctorow!

    NOT PROMINENT BLOGGER CORY DOCTOROW!

    1. Re:Oh no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      If Cory "Self-Promoting Trendoid is my Middle Name" Doctorow is doing it, it's guaranteed to be a fad.

      If Doctorow heard that the "cool kids" were removing their own testicles with a fork, he'd quickly do the same.

    2. Re:Oh no. by NoMaster · · Score: 4, Funny

      And that's the point, really. Two people, who owe their positions in the pantheon of 'Internet celebrities' to a certain amount of nerd-cred, find they have to [be || appear to be] even nerdier to keep those positions. What better way to do that - and generate a nice little publicity storm in a teacup at the same time - than to "switch" to Linux?

      Wake me up when RMS buys a Mac...

      --
      What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?
    3. Re:Oh no. by colmore · · Score: 4, Funny

      Meanwhile I switched from Slackware to Gentoo this week and nobody seems to notice.

      Maybe if I put Plan 9 on my FreeBSD box, someone will care.

      --
      In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
    4. Re:Oh no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
      find they have to [be || appear to be] even nerdier
      I think the word you're look for is nerdlier. Consider me the French Resistance of the speling Nazis.
    5. Re:Oh no. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Please, don't call it "removing one's own testicles with a fork." You miss the big picture. The trend is called balliberation and it is taking the blogosphere by storm. You, a devotee of the MSM, clearly don't Get It. You're off my blogroll.

    6. Re:Oh no. by Chemicalscum · · Score: 4, Funny
      If Cory "Self-Promoting Trendoid is my Middle Name" Doctorow is doing it, it's guaranteed to be a fad.

      Oh so you mean the Mac fad is over now. Thats my view too.

  4. canaries by pyrrho · · Score: 2, Funny

    so Ubuntu is expected to KILL them?!!?

    --

    -pyrrho

    1. Re:canaries by flooey · · Score: 3, Funny

      so Ubuntu is expected to KILL them?!!?

      So you're saying the subject should have been "Ubuntu: OS X-killer?"

  5. Re:Apple has it coming by BitwizeGHC · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, no, you don't get it.

    The original Macintosh was the UI Bible, 1984 King Steve Version, the only version which can claim to be divinely inspired. All other UIs are apostate.

    --
    N4st0r, trixx0r h0bb1tz0rz! Th3y st0l3 0ur pr3c10uzz!
  6. Canaries and coal mines by mattsucks · · Score: 5, Funny
    Nerds are a small demographic, but they can also be the canary in the coal mine with stuff like this.
    Witness the overwhelming popularity of BeOS these days.
  7. Re:Oh no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Scott Adams?

  8. Re:FUD much? by The+Ham+of+Truth · · Score: 2, Funny


    I didn't read the part where it said they were having sex.

  9. Re:Since when? by poena.dare · · Score: 2, Funny
    ...first it was Mark Pilgrim and now Cory Doctorow. Nerds are a small demographic, but they can also be the canary in the coal mine with stuff like this.
    Well, this is good to know. If I see Mark Pilgrim or Cory Doctorow drop dead then I'll know it was Linux that killed them.
  10. Re:OS X "invalidates" Linux? by krakelohm · · Score: 3, Funny

    OK Boys... whip them out and lets settle this once and for all.

    --
    You are all a bunch of idots.
  11. Re:The market apple could lose: nerds with time by prockcore · · Score: 3, Funny
    It took me about a day to get the graphics system to work on the machine (X11 - text was fine). And by work, I mean "display at all."


    And yet OSX won't even install on that same hardware.
  12. Wait to see if they die ? by Joebert · · Score: 2, Funny
    but they can also be the canary in the coal mine with stuff like this.

    So, we should wait & see if theese two die off before doing anything about this ?
    --
    Wanna fight ? Bend over, stick your head up your ass, and fight for air.
  13. Why God? by Omniscientist · · Score: 5, Funny

    Why can't there be a Retarded or Slightly Confused mod? I have mod points but they are no good here!

    1. Re:Why God? by karearea · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, those mod points are no good here because you made a comment here ;-)

  14. Sponsor. by CCFreak2K · · Score: 2, Funny

    This article was brought to you by the letter X, some cogs, a swirly thing and a penguin.

    --
    "Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master."
  15. You should learn to use the "clit" by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 4, Funny

    "No mouse pointer in the middle of the keyboard like is found on the Thinkpads or the Toshiba Tecra line."

    Oooh, I would never trust a computer with a clit.

    Someday, when you get some experience with one, you will learn to love it. Learning to operate it truly is the best way to move things in the direction you want. Good luck and have fun.

    1. Re:You should learn to use the "clit" by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, you know I have learned that there are things beyond clits that are way more fun to tinker with...

      I apologize, I did not consider folks with alternative orientations. ;-)

  16. Mac geeks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Real geeks build their own version of Darwin from source ... at least we did