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Ubuntu Linux vs. Mac OS X

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the begin-the-battle-royale dept.

An anonymous reader writes "An article on InformationWeek pits an Apple user against an Ubuntu Linux user (although he talks about other distros as well) as to which OS makes a better desktop operating system. As might be expected, the conclusion seems to be "different strokes for different folks," but it's interesting to see Microsoft cut (mostly) out of the equation."

13 of 479 comments (clear)

  1. They're not mutually exclusive by Heftklammerdosierer! · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ubunutu is easy to install on a Mac.

    1. Re:They're not mutually exclusive by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You sound angry at Apple... Why? If you can't afford it then you are not forced to buy an Apple. If you like what apple has to offer and you wan't one save up a little longer for the money. The point of the article was to show that there are alternitives available to windows and the Pluses and Minuses of each. The reason why Macs don't cover 90% of the market like Windows does is because of the hardware lockin, it is no suprise. If you want a Rollsroyce for a Car you are not going to find many off the shelf parts at your local garage. and you are going to pay more for such a car. But that doesn't mean I have to hate Rollsroyce. And say my Toyota is far superior to that Rollsroyce just because I can get parts for my Toyota easier.

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    2. Re:They're not mutually exclusive by gb506 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Overpriced hardware? Go price out the Macbook Pro 17" w/ WUXGA screen (1920x1200) in standard config (2.4G SantaRosa, 160GB HD, 2GB Ram, etc), then go to Dell and price out a similarly configured M90. The Mac is $333.00 cheaper, and the Dell doesn't even have the latest Santa Rosa chip set!

      Sure, you can get cheaper hardware elsewhere, but you normally get exactly what you pay for.

    3. Re:They're not mutually exclusive by gb506 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Well, if that's all you want to do, web browsing, email, and a little word processing, I suppose you can get by just fine with the cheapest piece of dung you can haul out of a Wal-Mart.

      Using your logic, since in most cases all anyone has to do is transport themselves from point A to point B, we should all be content with a Chevy Aveo5. Or maybe, according to your worldview, we should all be quite content covering our genitalia with used burlap sacks, because, really, in the end you're just covering your junk, right? What should quality, comfort, style or utility possibly have to do with anything?

      Look, bs, you're just a person who doesn't mind living life surrounded by inferiority. And that's fine, you're entitled to your way of living, but don't try to compare a $179.98 redlight special with a capably designed machine, it just makes you look foolish. But, then, I'll bet you look foolish a lot, don't you?

    4. Re:They're not mutually exclusive by snoyberg · · Score: 5, Funny

      Firing up a tank to go buy some milk at the store would be pretty silly,

      Doesn't mean I wouldn't do it if I had the option.

      --
      Thank God for evolution.
  2. It's about switching. by ozmanjusri · · Score: 5, Insightful
    but it's interesting to see Microsoft cut (mostly) out of the equation

    MS isn't out of the equation at all. The whole point of TFA is about switching AWAY from Vista.

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
  3. Mod article flamebait by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Queue the flamewars in 3...2...1...

    Seriously, religious wars aside, you pick the tool that will best meet your needs. That's largely going to be based on applications. Increasingly, there are good choices on both platforms here for a wide variety of different things. The one thing I will say -- if you're looking to do video editing, buy a Mac. 'cause the state of video editing on Linux right now still sucks. If you need Microsoft Office, buy a Mac.

    For me, I do a lot of software development work and audio production. I could pick either platform, really, but lots of factors make me choose Linux over Mac OS X -- software freedom, hackability, and cost are my 3 biggest reasons. OS X is nice, don't get me wrong, it's just not for me.

    --
    My blog
    1. Re:Mod article flamebait by Stamen · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Truly, if I'm speaking to a tech oriented person asking me what OS to choose I always say learn Unix, which one is less relevant. If you learn *nix, you can easily use OS X, Linux, BSD, Solaris, etc. If you learn Windows, you can well, use, um, Windows.

      In addition to learning the GUI stuff, learn some of the command line; you are most productive with a mixture of the two. Also, the shell (command line/cli) is fairly static, and your knowledge transfers to every OS, er, except, for, um, Windows.

      As for OS X vs Ubuntu. At work, I use both on the desktop (an OS X box right next to a PC running 7.04, using synergy to span my mouse and keyboard), and I prefer OS X; but mainly that is because I love TextMate so much; if I still used VIM primarily, I wouldn't prefer one over the other (although Cream in LInux is very nice, so that may sway me). On servers, it's Linux all the way, period.

      For home, it's a no brainer, I use OS X. I'm a programmer, so I want to tweak my shell and my editor to a very fine point, but for stuff like music and movies, I just want the stuff to work, frankly. Oh and Quicksilver, Linux really needs a Quicksilver clone (no, you don't have one, if you think you do then you've never actually used Quicksilver)

  4. Oh... by Mazin07 · · Score: 5, Funny

    From the description I thought the Ubuntu user and the Mac user were going to fight to the death. Too bad.

  5. Do something less controversial by athloi · · Score: 5, Funny

    Like Ubuntu versus Islam.

    --
    technical writing / development
  6. from TFA by penp · · Score: 5, Funny

    Likewise, Apple takes pains to make setting up a Mac as simple as possible. When you buy a Mac, it comes in a box with a minimum of packing materials, and an envelope of documentation. You unpack the Mac; plug the CPU into the wall socket; plug the keyboard, mouse, and monitor into the CPU; and switch it on. It detects an Internet connection (if one is available), and walks you through a two-minute configuration and setup with an easy-to-follow wizard. You want me to do what with my processor?
  7. Going from skiing to snowboarding by Mr_Silver · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm a skier, been skiing for over 7 years now and (if I dare say it) I'm pretty reasonable. I'm not an expert, but as long as it isn't icy moguls (or moguls for that matter) can handle most of the pistes ... and I enjoy it.

    Now snowboarding looks cool. You can do things you can't do with skis, it certainly looks like fun and you can do some great tricks. So I gave it a go, several times. The problem was that here was I, standing at a resort with my snowboard on and looking at what I could do. The black down the mountain? Nope. The long red? Nope. The winding blue through the trees? Nope. The rubbish green which snakes past the lifts. Well, sort of as long as I didn't mind falling over a bit.

    So here am I, completely unable to go off and explore the mountain because the tool I was using to do it, I couldn't use properly. I hadn't invested the time and the effort to learn and here was I, unable to get the best out of it.

    So what should I do? Spend the next week (and only week of my holiday) falling about on a green run? Or slap back on my ski's and head off and explore the mountain, try all the runs, get to the summit and check out the blacks down the back - plus a little off piste?

    I did what, I suspect, a lot of people did. I put my ski's back on. My weeks holiday in the snow is precious. I don't have the time and money to fly abroad to ski again multiple times a year so in the end I wussed out, picked what I knew was comfortable and that I could do and went with that.

    I rationalise that my holiday was too short to be sitting face down on a green run when I could be taking full advantage of what the mountain had to offer. I did the training and the falling over 7 years ago when I was learning to ski - it's taken me years (literally) to get where I am now and, in one fell swooop, I don't want to go back again to that.

    I think a lot of people consider Windows vs something else in the same way that I consider skiing vs snowboarding.

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    Avantslash - View Slashdot cleanly on your mobile phone.
    1. Re:Going from skiing to snowboarding by starglider29a · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Great analogy.

      Now, imagine that someone skied up beside you, turned your skis the way they wanted, stole your lift ticket, and finally broke your skis halfway down a black diamond run.

      Then imagine that on the way up the ski lift, you are informed that in order to prevent ski theft, you will have a slope protection agent. "You are trying to turn left. Cancel or Allow?" But when you get to the top of the lift, you learn that you have to replace your favorite skis with more expensive skis. Then you need to upgrade your boots to this special limited selection. And none of them will fit into the bindings on the skis.

      Now, you are realizing that the choice of an expensive-ish (not really) snowboard ready-to-ride, or a roll-your-own board shop will get you down the hill in one piece. Cancel or Allow?