I'm having fun with OS X on my new 866 G4 tower (plus dual-booting LinuxPPC;-) . It's fairly quick on my machine, but I'm looking forward to the 10.1 speed jump.
OS X doesn't get everything right, but I think its probably the closest any Unix variant will come to the general consumer's desktop. OS X is a usable Unix distro, but has the niceties that most home users expect, and really require. Yes, translucent buttons on top of a port scanner are a requirement. Sure, its nice to grep for things, but my next-door soccer mom neighboor isn't going to. But I can use SSH to administer my website. This duality makes OS X the most usable OS - almost. Not enough native apps yet.:-p
Linux is acually "ready for desktop" too, IMHO. Just look at new KDE, GNOME, and at games Loki is releasing.
Linux isn't ready for the desktop any more than it ever was. This was made acutely aware to me when I was installing Red Hat on a couple ex-Windows machines at my school. The X video driver didn't work quite right, and I spent several hours hunting the correct one down. Upon running the install script, I received an error that I recognized as false, saying that "X wasn't installed." I went into the install script, futzed for a minute, and it worked. This is on a run-of-the-mill, mail order Pentium 3 box. Its easy to say that this problem is simple, because for most of the folks at/. , it is. But my father, a fairly computer proficient man who is happy with his Mac, would never get that far. Most people wouldn't.
If you have to know anything about programming to keep the OS going, its not ready for the desktop. Who wants it there anyway? Keep the power, jack the lusers.
I'm 18 now, and headed off to college in a few weeks, but I started my own web development business at age 15. I wasn't instantly accepted, but a smart businessman knows when he's hiring someone competent and worth his money. Once I had a few local contacts, business rolled along nicely. The only thing I felt my age influenced was pricing - I couldn't charge as much as an ad agency and be taken seriously. Coincedentally, this actually improved business, as I was the best deal around.
I've had high school internships in two IT departments, which lent me at least some experience in the "real" world of software development. Maybe I'm the exception to the rule, but I feel that if a teenager is motivated, he (or she) can break down age barriers. The 'Net makes it quite simple to sound professional, but real-life acceptance is almost as easy, you just have to know what you're talking about - and produce results.
I'm forced to agree that most 15 year olds are AIMing away, or downloading MP3's. Few are using their abilities for personal gain, as I have. But that doesn't mean its not possible, or not happening. Its just rare. I did have a singular experience at a interview weekend for Olin College during my college application process. Out of the 50-odd kids there, at least 5-6 had business of their own in software development. Not an overwhelming percentage, but there you go. We're not conquering the world or taking establishments over, we're just getting a head start in the real world.
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All the more reason to use PGP. Doesn't get much easier than that...but still nobody uses it. How frustrating.
Later,
Goss
I'm having fun with OS X on my new 866 G4 tower (plus dual-booting LinuxPPC ;-) . It's fairly quick on my machine, but I'm looking forward to the 10.1 speed jump.
:-p
OS X doesn't get everything right, but I think its probably the closest any Unix variant will come to the general consumer's desktop. OS X is a usable Unix distro, but has the niceties that most home users expect, and really require. Yes, translucent buttons on top of a port scanner are a requirement. Sure, its nice to grep for things, but my next-door soccer mom neighboor isn't going to. But I can use SSH to administer my website. This duality makes OS X the most usable OS - almost. Not enough native apps yet.
Later,
Goss
Linux is acually "ready for desktop" too, IMHO. Just look at new KDE, GNOME, and at games Loki is releasing.
Linux isn't ready for the desktop any more than it ever was. This was made acutely aware to me when I was installing Red Hat on a couple ex-Windows machines at my school. The X video driver didn't work quite right, and I spent several hours hunting the correct one down. Upon running the install script, I received an error that I recognized as false, saying that "X wasn't installed." I went into the install script, futzed for a minute, and it worked. This is on a run-of-the-mill, mail order Pentium 3 box. Its easy to say that this problem is simple, because for most of the folks at /. , it is. But my father, a fairly computer proficient man who is happy with his Mac, would never get that far. Most people wouldn't.
If you have to know anything about programming to keep the OS going, its not ready for the desktop. Who wants it there anyway? Keep the power, jack the lusers.
Later.
In a land of lawlessness, the just must become outlaws.
Or something.
I'm 18 now, and headed off to college in a few weeks, but I started my own web development business at age 15. I wasn't instantly accepted, but a smart businessman knows when he's hiring someone competent and worth his money. Once I had a few local contacts, business rolled along nicely. The only thing I felt my age influenced was pricing - I couldn't charge as much as an ad agency and be taken seriously. Coincedentally, this actually improved business, as I was the best deal around.
I've had high school internships in two IT departments, which lent me at least some experience in the "real" world of software development. Maybe I'm the exception to the rule, but I feel that if a teenager is motivated, he (or she) can break down age barriers. The 'Net makes it quite simple to sound professional, but real-life acceptance is almost as easy, you just have to know what you're talking about - and produce results.
I'm forced to agree that most 15 year olds are AIMing away, or downloading MP3's. Few are using their abilities for personal gain, as I have. But that doesn't mean its not possible, or not happening. Its just rare. I did have a singular experience at a interview weekend for Olin College during my college application process. Out of the 50-odd kids there, at least 5-6 had business of their own in software development. Not an overwhelming percentage, but there you go. We're not conquering the world or taking establishments over, we're just getting a head start in the real world.
Later,
Goss