I didn't agree with everything he said about Aperture but his Parallels article is more-or-less accurate. I was commenting more on his delivery than his content.
Girard is the same guy who did the article at ARS about Aperture. And both articles sucked horribly bad. First off, he can't write. I give you this sentence from the article:
> Knowing that, it's fair to say that Windows Vista will not be blazing and I doubt you will be able to enable the advanced Direct-X 9 Aero features within Parallels and if you could, you wouldn't want to because the speed would be pretty bad.
Oooh what a beaut! That sentence is immediatley followed by this one:
> At least with the 3-D hardware support in the current version.
His poor command of English pales in comparison to the general tone of arrogance presented throughout his writing. Also, his attempts at humor are stupid and not funny. He attempts to compensate for his lack of skill by making his articles very long and including far too many screenshots.
The man is a phony. Ars can do better. (And generally does.)
I'm very sorry I don't remember exactly what medication it was. Some sort of anti-anxiety medication. I was not at all excited about taking mood altering drugs. Pretty funny, considering I used to be VERY excited about taking mood altering drugs!
Yep been there too under similar circumstances. I feel your pain. Unfortunely, at least in my case, the first panic attack meant that next time I was in a similar circumstance I was worried more which seemed to help induce another panic attack.
I did a bunch of research online to learn about Panic Attacks. I asked my doctor about them. My doctor offered medication which I declined. In the end I just suffered through so many panic attacks that after a while a panic attack became somewhat anti-climatic. Almost routine. At that point they dissapearred almost overnight.
Your experiences may vary of course. Good luck to you.
whj
P.S. Worse thing though is don't be ashamed or embarrased. That'll make it all worse.
Because I work with systems, I perform occasional builds. This occasionally crosses over to support (especially where it's my kit I'm asked to support). This isn't a problem, nor is it a problem when I get the occasional support query from someone I haven't supplied a system to, but who needs assistance
I had to read that about 3 times before I figured out what he was saying. I feel very sorry for the poor end users who have to decipher his techno-geek jargon. "Kit"? "Builds"? Speak english, man!
A better translation:
Because I work with computers, I occassionally build them for people. Sometimes, I end up having to support the people using those computers. Sometimes I support people using computers that I didn't build myself. And I don't mind one bit!
The poster nor the moderator bother to actually define what "ontology": is. So I looked it up in the dictionary. "The branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being." Sounds like the media is finally starting to take a good, close look at themselves. And their navels.
Come on, folks. Not everybody knows what 'ontology' is (in the context of the web) nor should they. I've been a computer professional for 20 years and I didn't know. I really grow tired of the whole 'if you don't know then you don't belong here' mentality. Let it go, children. Time to grow up and let others into the clubhouse.
Quite frankly this is something that needs to happen more on Slashdot. Just because you know what KDE is doesn't mean everybody else does. Failing to explain technical jargon alienates many readers and fosters the false notion that the "technical elite" hang out at Slashdot. Which I find so repulsive it makes me want to puke.
Apple's iLife suite? Horseshit. How about Apple's suite of professional video apps? Garbage. Hmm, Adobe's suite is also junk (along with the rancid piles of dung they'll be inheriting from Macromedia). ProTools? AutoCad? How about all of those proprietary games? All of them stinking and rotting piles of excrement. I'm sure I could go on and on but there's no question that proprietary software is uniformly crap.
Now, by contrast, we can place our hopes on OSS, all of which is completely bug-free, extremely easy to install, and documented by poorly paid but well intentioned doctoral students in English. OSS is our savior and gace. God Bless OSS.
OK I'm slightly less tired than yesterday, so here goes:
I said that ignorance breeds arrogance and wisdom breeds restraint. I did *not* say that arrogance breeds ignorance and restraint breeds wisdom. You're trying to imply that because I spoke out I must therefore be ignorant. Which is an illogical assumption.
By your own logic your own reply is in itself an expression of arrogance. So we're making no progress.
I most certainly am not assuming that "everyone else is uninformed and making poor decisions", although I'm playing loose with generalizations, sure. What I'm exposing is a trend. There are certainly exceptions to the whole "ignorance breeds arrogance" maxim. My wise and articulate post being one of them! (As was your reply, of course!)
> The unintentional irony of this couplet is astounding.
OK, I'll bite. Where, precisely, is the irony? I honestly don't see it. I agree with you, I am "unhappy with the current situation because the uninformed arrogant haven't managed to see things your way and vote accordingly", but where's the irony?
It's late and I'm tired. Not feeling too ironic at the moment.
Haven't we all been in a social situation (out to dinner or a bar, for example) where a serious conversation starts up about a serious topic and what ends up happening is that the folks with the least informed opinions do much of the talking, whereas the ones with a more enlightened view say very little? There must be some facet to the human condition that predicates that ignorance breeds arrogance, and wisdom breeds restraint.
Our current U.S. political climate bears this out.
There are plenty of articulate and educated bloggers, certainly. But there are many many more who aren't. We should slow down and think more about the quality of our information, not just the quantity.
I don't know about you folks, but the whole Linux distribution thing is not generating the sort of excitement and enthusiasm it used to for me. Maybe because I started using OS X... ?
Before you all get all frothy about Dvorak's predictions, look back at his recent posts and ask yourself the question "does this guy know what the hell he's talking about?" You'll see that he's frequently wrong. He's also got some very odd and misguided opinions. I used to read (and enjoy) his column years ago. But those days are long gone. I clump him right up there with other frequently wrong columnists such as Rob Enderle and Paul Thurrott.
In typical Slashdot fashion, it is assumed that everybody knows what DS is. I've been working with computers and technology for a long ass time, and I, for one, have no frickin' clue what a DS is. Not all of here are frickin' 14 years old, you know! SOME OF US EVEN BATHE! It would've been considerate to mention what DS means right in the parent post.
The problem with switching people over to Linux is that Linux is largely unusable by 99% of the population. I know there's plenty of geeks out there who's knee-jerk reaction is to disagree but it's true! Most people are neophytes when it comes to computers. Go up to an average individual and ask them what brand their computer is. Many won't be able to tell you. Ask them what version of Windows their running. Blank stare. They don't know. Now, just try to image, TRY to imagine those people installing a new program under Linux. It's laughable. They're not even going to be able to start. Sure Linux has some good qualities but EASE OF USE is NOT one of them. Yes, it might be easy for YOU but it's not going to be easy for MOST PEOPLE.
Mac OS X, on the other hand, is terrifically easy to use. Want an alternative to Windows that most people can use? Mac OS X is the only game in town.
I see you have lots of unmoderated posts and relatively few replies. You've been an active poster -- several a day. You have a rather recent member number. I thought you might be young, perhaps either a teenager or a child. But I read a few of your posts and it appears you have at least SOME clue. I decided that your either a 1) remarkably ignorant Linux geek, or 2) a very clever troll.
Life as a troll.... hmmm.
All sorts of errors in your last reply. I have a Gateway, not a Dell. Dells aren't expensive, etc. But that's sort of your point, isn't it? Want to keep me coming back for more. You can't find a more productive way of entertaining yourself than this?
> but you attempt to install Linux on unsupported hardware.
I don't know if it was unsupported or not. I tried to get it running on an aging Gateway Pentium III. I had Linux on the machine once before and it worked. I tried both the latest Mandrake and SuSE releases and it wouldn't go. Problems early in the process. I suppose I could've spent a few hours digging around on the net looking for solutions but it just isn't worth that kind of effort for me. I just wanted a stand-alone Apache/PHP/MySQL server. I got one running on my Mac in about 15 minutes.
> Yes, that's what you should realize: just because you have gotten used to the graphical gibberish on your Macintosh, Windows, Gnome, or KDE screen doesn't mean it's "intuitive". It's, in fact, something that takes everybody a long time to master.
Oh I'm quite certain there's a large body of evidence to show that graphical user interfaces with mice are easier to learn than command lines. Common sense points in that direction too. Nothing to memorize, for one thing. Plus, mouse pointing mimics the real world. Want something? Put your hand on it and pick it up.
> Yes, and having watched enough regular people struggle with Macintosh and Windows
I've seen people struggle with it too. I've also seen people struggle with VCR's and answering machines. A lot of these people are from a generation that didn't grow up surrounded by such gadgets so they feel intimidated. The thought of these sorts of people working with a command line interface is laughable.
> You know why those things work on a Macintosh? Because they are preinstalled on the Macintosh.
On my very next comment I suggest installing a couple of applications. You didn't quote that part. Must've missed it.
> And you know what? A good Linux distro comes with even more end user software preinstalled
And thank goodness it does!! Because you know what? If I had to go and install all that crap myself I would have never used Linux in the first place. Those pre-installed apps at least allowed me to be marginally productive with the system in a relatively short period of time. The 4 or 5 additional apps I needed were still painful to install. But better 4 or 5 than 20 or 30.
> you put a preinstalled, preconfigured Linux machine on someone's desk, and chances are it will just keep running and doing every job the user needs to get done until the hardware finally dies.
No argument from me there. Linux is indeed stable. But that's not what this discussion is about.
> If you want to know where this "bullshit" comes from, look in a mirror: it's people like you that create it and people like you that keep it alive.
Now you're just being silly. Sure I've written some lousy code, especially when I first got started. But somewhere along the line I developed an end-user sensibility that seems to be lacking with most computer programmers. I figured out that what a computer programmer really is is the person who's responsible for making that all-importantt connection between the computer on one end and the human being on the other. In that respect, it is equally as important to understand humans as it is to understand computers. Most computer programmers focus on the computer side and ignore the human factor. That is why we have so much non-intuitive, undocumented, shit code out there.
> It's because people like you think that Apple's hacked up version of NeXT's poor copy of the look of a Xerox PARC research system is the best we can do that things don't get better. Sadly, like most people, you lack the imagination to think beyond what some company's PR department sells you.
Wow. I now realize I'm giving you a better reply to your post than you really deserve. You're trolling. Ah, well, there's a sucker born every minute!
Oh man you are so full of it I can smell it across the internet. But before I get to you, did anybody else find the whole "Linux users are spoiled" thing actually laugh-out-loud FUNNY! I did. OK, back to you.
> If you want an OS that "just works", Linux is actually a better choice
Wrong. You are wrong. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong.
Empirically, objectively wrong.
And I'd like to believe that you know your wrong.
*sigh*
OK, maybe you don't know your wrong.
I've used Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X as my primary platforms at different times. My last install (correction: attempted install) of Linux was actually quite recent. Nobody can accuse me of lack of exposure. I've been exposed all right.
Have you ever actually *run* OS X? Have you used it? I cannot possibly fathom how anybody of sound mind and body could possibly conclude that Linux "just works" more so than Mac OS X. You've been smoking something? How could you POSSIBLY reach such an absurd conclusion? Wow. I'm stunned.
Run it. Use it. But please don't have a stinkin' geekfest with it though, OK? Fire it up, browse the web, check your email, install a few commercial apps, run Software Update. Import some photos into iPhoto. Make a movie. Use it like a normal human being uses it. Forget FINK and Terminal and all that and just freakin' USE it, OK? IT'S FUCKING BEAUTIFUL, MAN! It is the most satisfying, unified, uncomplicated user computing experience I have ever had. Nothing fights me. Stuff works. I can focus on other things. Get real work done. It's the closest thing to computing nirvana I have yet to experience.
Now go try Linux. The very first time you drop to the command line the game's over because command line anything isn't user friendly for 99% of the population. In fact, it's absolutely out of the question. Even WITH the command line it's a pain in the ass to get shit going. Maybe it's fun for some folks to mess with dependencies and config file changes in vi and shit but it ain't for me. It SUCKS. I hate it. And don't you dare accuse me of being non-technical or a newbie or whatever; I've been programming professionally for 21 years and I'm sick and tired of dealing with mundane technical BULLSHIT all the time. Which is precisely what I have to deal with anytime I get within 20 feet of a Linux box. It's HORRID. Man oh man does it suck. First time you have to Google for info I cry foul because Google is no substitute for either 1) Application Help Menu, or 2) Being intuitive enough in the first place to not require help. Even if the documentation exists and it's verbose it still likely sucks because the author doesn't know how (or doesn't care) to communicate effectively.
(A side note: I once visited the website of some open source project [name long forgotten] and found ample documentation. I trolled that documentation for an HOUR and nowhere was I able to ascertain what the said software project actually WAS. Web software? Networking stuff? Application software? No clue. I don't know because he didn't tell me. That's a clear indication that the author of the documentation was either 1) Clueless enough to assume that everybody must know what his software does, or 2) Arrogant enough to assume that everybody must know what his software does, or 3) Both clueless enough AND arrogant enough to assume that everybody must know what his software does.)
Even Microsoft Windows absoutely SMOKES Linux in terms of usablity. Windows is substantially easier and friendlier than Linux can ever hope to become. Microsoft sucks royal ass for other reasons which makes it no longer an option for me as a computing platform. And it's usability could use some work too. But compared to Linux from a usability standpoint it's absoutely no contest. It's obvious.
If you are a command-line junkie and geek and like messing around with this nonsense... well more power to you. But beware: Just because it all seems easy and intuitive to YOU does not mean that it's easy or intuit
Slashdot Mirror
I didn't agree with everything he said about Aperture but his Parallels article is more-or-less accurate. I was commenting more on his delivery than his content.
Girard is the same guy who did the article at ARS about Aperture. And both articles sucked horribly bad. First off, he can't write. I give you this sentence from the article:
> Knowing that, it's fair to say that Windows Vista will not be blazing and I doubt you will be able to enable the advanced Direct-X 9 Aero features within Parallels and if you could, you wouldn't want to because the speed would be pretty bad.
Oooh what a beaut! That sentence is immediatley followed by this one:
> At least with the 3-D hardware support in the current version.
His poor command of English pales in comparison to the general tone of arrogance presented throughout his writing. Also, his attempts at humor are stupid and not funny. He attempts to compensate for his lack of skill by making his articles very long and including far too many screenshots.
The man is a phony. Ars can do better. (And generally does.)
whj
I'm very sorry I don't remember exactly what medication it was. Some sort of anti-anxiety medication. I was not at all excited about taking mood altering drugs. Pretty funny, considering I used to be VERY excited about taking mood altering drugs!
Yep been there too under similar circumstances. I feel your pain. Unfortunely, at least in my case, the first panic attack meant that next time I was in a similar circumstance I was worried more which seemed to help induce another panic attack.
I did a bunch of research online to learn about Panic Attacks. I asked my doctor about them. My doctor offered medication which I declined. In the end I just suffered through so many panic attacks that after a while a panic attack became somewhat anti-climatic. Almost routine. At that point they dissapearred almost overnight.
Your experiences may vary of course. Good luck to you.
whj
P.S. Worse thing though is don't be ashamed or embarrased. That'll make it all worse.
Because I work with systems, I perform occasional builds. This occasionally crosses over to support (especially where it's my kit I'm asked to support). This isn't a problem, nor is it a problem when I get the occasional support query from someone I haven't supplied a system to, but who needs assistance
I had to read that about 3 times before I figured out what he was saying. I feel very sorry for the poor end users who have to decipher his techno-geek jargon. "Kit"? "Builds"? Speak english, man!
A better translation:
Because I work with computers, I occassionally build them for people. Sometimes, I end up having to support the people using those computers. Sometimes I support people using computers that I didn't build myself. And I don't mind one bit!
The poster nor the moderator bother to actually define what "ontology": is. So I looked it up in the dictionary. "The branch of metaphysics dealing with the nature of being." Sounds like the media is finally starting to take a good, close look at themselves. And their navels.
Come on, folks. Not everybody knows what 'ontology' is (in the context of the web) nor should they. I've been a computer professional for 20 years and I didn't know. I really grow tired of the whole 'if you don't know then you don't belong here' mentality. Let it go, children. Time to grow up and let others into the clubhouse.
Quite frankly this is something that needs to happen more on Slashdot. Just because you know what KDE is doesn't mean everybody else does. Failing to explain technical jargon alienates many readers and fosters the false notion that the "technical elite" hang out at Slashdot. Which I find so repulsive it makes me want to puke.
What a bunch of fucking bullshit. Enjoy your rationalization, theif.
> Linux isn't significantly behind at anything important for a generic desktop user.
Wrong. It's way behind. It's behind in so many ways it's staggaring.
And the fact that you think it isn't means you don't have a clue.
Ah well. Get older, read, learn, etc. In the meantime, keep your ignorant opinions to yourself.
> non-mainstream (read "non-Linux") operating systems
Ha ha! Linux as 'mainstream'! Oh man that's too much! I needed a laugh!
Uh ... you mean proprietary software such as ....
Apple's iLife suite? Horseshit. How about Apple's suite of professional video apps? Garbage. Hmm, Adobe's suite is also junk (along with the rancid piles of dung they'll be inheriting from Macromedia). ProTools? AutoCad? How about all of those proprietary games? All of them stinking and rotting piles of excrement. I'm sure I could go on and on but there's no question that proprietary software is uniformly crap.
Now, by contrast, we can place our hopes on OSS, all of which is completely bug-free, extremely easy to install, and documented by poorly paid but well intentioned doctoral students in English. OSS is our savior and gace. God Bless OSS.
Thanks for the Heinlein reference. That was the very first thing to pop into my head when I saw the acronym.
I also noted the (probably non-intentional) reference to Lazurus Long!
OK I'm slightly less tired than yesterday, so here goes:
I said that ignorance breeds arrogance and wisdom breeds restraint. I did *not* say that arrogance breeds ignorance and restraint breeds wisdom. You're trying to imply that because I spoke out I must therefore be ignorant. Which is an illogical assumption.
By your own logic your own reply is in itself an expression of arrogance. So we're making no progress.
I most certainly am not assuming that "everyone else is uninformed and making poor decisions", although I'm playing loose with generalizations, sure. What I'm exposing is a trend. There are certainly exceptions to the whole "ignorance breeds arrogance" maxim. My wise and articulate post being one of them! (As was your reply, of course!)
> The unintentional irony of this couplet is astounding.
OK, I'll bite. Where, precisely, is the irony? I honestly don't see it. I agree with you, I am "unhappy with the current situation because the uninformed arrogant haven't managed to see things your way and vote accordingly", but where's the irony?
It's late and I'm tired. Not feeling too ironic at the moment.
OK, that was funny.
Haven't we all been in a social situation (out to dinner or a bar, for example) where a serious conversation starts up about a serious topic and what ends up happening is that the folks with the least informed opinions do much of the talking, whereas the ones with a more enlightened view say very little? There must be some facet to the human condition that predicates that ignorance breeds arrogance, and wisdom breeds restraint.
Our current U.S. political climate bears this out.
There are plenty of articulate and educated bloggers, certainly. But there are many many more who aren't. We should slow down and think more about the quality of our information, not just the quantity.
> Are you imagining a glazed-over look peppered with looks of confusion and annnoyance
I'm imagining the annoyance part for sure.
I don't know about you folks, but the whole Linux distribution thing is not generating the sort of excitement and enthusiasm it used to for me. Maybe because I started using OS X ... ?
Before you all get all frothy about Dvorak's predictions, look back at his recent posts and ask yourself the question "does this guy know what the hell he's talking about?" You'll see that he's frequently wrong. He's also got some very odd and misguided opinions. I used to read (and enjoy) his column years ago. But those days are long gone. I clump him right up there with other frequently wrong columnists such as Rob Enderle and Paul Thurrott.
In typical Slashdot fashion, it is assumed that everybody knows what DS is. I've been working with computers and technology for a long ass time, and I, for one, have no frickin' clue what a DS is. Not all of here are frickin' 14 years old, you know! SOME OF US EVEN BATHE! It would've been considerate to mention what DS means right in the parent post.
So, what's a DS?
So ... you're a usability expert? Wow. Impressive.
Wish I believed you.
The problem with switching people over to Linux is that Linux is largely unusable by 99% of the population. I know there's plenty of geeks out there who's knee-jerk reaction is to disagree but it's true! Most people are neophytes when it comes to computers. Go up to an average individual and ask them what brand their computer is. Many won't be able to tell you. Ask them what version of Windows their running. Blank stare. They don't know. Now, just try to image, TRY to imagine those people installing a new program under Linux. It's laughable. They're not even going to be able to start. Sure Linux has some good qualities but EASE OF USE is NOT one of them. Yes, it might be easy for YOU but it's not going to be easy for MOST PEOPLE.
Mac OS X, on the other hand, is terrifically easy to use. Want an alternative to Windows that most people can use? Mac OS X is the only game in town.
I see you have lots of unmoderated posts and relatively few replies. You've been an active poster -- several a day. You have a rather recent member number. I thought you might be young, perhaps either a teenager or a child. But I read a few of your posts and it appears you have at least SOME clue. I decided that your either a 1) remarkably ignorant Linux geek, or 2) a very clever troll.
.... hmmm.
Life as a troll
All sorts of errors in your last reply. I have a Gateway, not a Dell. Dells aren't expensive, etc. But that's sort of your point, isn't it? Want to keep me coming back for more. You can't find a more productive way of entertaining yourself than this?
> but you attempt to install Linux on unsupported hardware.
I don't know if it was unsupported or not. I tried to get it running on an aging Gateway Pentium III. I had Linux on the machine once before and it worked. I tried both the latest Mandrake and SuSE releases and it wouldn't go. Problems early in the process. I suppose I could've spent a few hours digging around on the net looking for solutions but it just isn't worth that kind of effort for me. I just wanted a stand-alone Apache/PHP/MySQL server. I got one running on my Mac in about 15 minutes.
> Yes, that's what you should realize: just because you have gotten used to the graphical gibberish on your Macintosh, Windows, Gnome, or KDE screen doesn't mean it's "intuitive". It's, in fact, something that takes everybody a long time to master.
Oh I'm quite certain there's a large body of evidence to show that graphical user interfaces with mice are easier to learn than command lines. Common sense points in that direction too. Nothing to memorize, for one thing. Plus, mouse pointing mimics the real world. Want something? Put your hand on it and pick it up.
> Yes, and having watched enough regular people struggle with Macintosh and Windows
I've seen people struggle with it too. I've also seen people struggle with VCR's and answering machines. A lot of these people are from a generation that didn't grow up surrounded by such gadgets so they feel intimidated. The thought of these sorts of people working with a command line interface is laughable.
> You know why those things work on a Macintosh? Because they are preinstalled on the Macintosh.
On my very next comment I suggest installing a couple of applications. You didn't quote that part. Must've missed it.
> And you know what? A good Linux distro comes with even more end user software preinstalled
And thank goodness it does!! Because you know what? If I had to go and install all that crap myself I would have never used Linux in the first place. Those pre-installed apps at least allowed me to be marginally productive with the system in a relatively short period of time. The 4 or 5 additional apps I needed were still painful to install. But better 4 or 5 than 20 or 30.
> you put a preinstalled, preconfigured Linux machine on someone's desk, and chances are it will just keep running and doing every job the user needs to get done until the hardware finally dies.
No argument from me there. Linux is indeed stable. But that's not what this discussion is about.
> If you want to know where this "bullshit" comes from, look in a mirror: it's people like you that create it and people like you that keep it alive.
Now you're just being silly. Sure I've written some lousy code, especially when I first got started. But somewhere along the line I developed an end-user sensibility that seems to be lacking with most computer programmers. I figured out that what a computer programmer really is is the person who's responsible for making that all-importantt connection between the computer on one end and the human being on the other. In that respect, it is equally as important to understand humans as it is to understand computers. Most computer programmers focus on the computer side and ignore the human factor. That is why we have so much non-intuitive, undocumented, shit code out there.
> It's because people like you think that Apple's hacked up version of NeXT's poor copy of the look of a Xerox PARC research system is the best we can do that things don't get better. Sadly, like most people, you lack the imagination to think beyond what some company's PR department sells you.
Wow. I now realize I'm giving you a better reply to your post than you really deserve. You're trolling. Ah, well, there's a sucker born every minute!
Oh man you are so full of it I can smell it across the internet. But before I get to you, did anybody else find the whole "Linux users are spoiled" thing actually laugh-out-loud FUNNY! I did. OK, back to you.
... well more power to you. But beware: Just because it all seems easy and intuitive to YOU does not mean that it's easy or intuit
> If you want an OS that "just works", Linux is actually a better choice
Wrong. You are wrong. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong.
Empirically, objectively wrong.
And I'd like to believe that you know your wrong.
*sigh*
OK, maybe you don't know your wrong.
I've used Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X as my primary platforms at different times. My last install (correction: attempted install) of Linux was actually quite recent. Nobody can accuse me of lack of exposure. I've been exposed all right.
Have you ever actually *run* OS X? Have you used it? I cannot possibly fathom how anybody of sound mind and body could possibly conclude that Linux "just works" more so than Mac OS X. You've been smoking something? How could you POSSIBLY reach such an absurd conclusion? Wow. I'm stunned.
Run it. Use it. But please don't have a stinkin' geekfest with it though, OK? Fire it up, browse the web, check your email, install a few commercial apps, run Software Update. Import some photos into iPhoto. Make a movie. Use it like a normal human being uses it. Forget FINK and Terminal and all that and just freakin' USE it, OK? IT'S FUCKING BEAUTIFUL, MAN! It is the most satisfying, unified, uncomplicated user computing experience I have ever had. Nothing fights me. Stuff works. I can focus on other things. Get real work done. It's the closest thing to computing nirvana I have yet to experience.
Now go try Linux. The very first time you drop to the command line the game's over because command line anything isn't user friendly for 99% of the population. In fact, it's absolutely out of the question. Even WITH the command line it's a pain in the ass to get shit going. Maybe it's fun for some folks to mess with dependencies and config file changes in vi and shit but it ain't for me. It SUCKS. I hate it. And don't you dare accuse me of being non-technical or a newbie or whatever; I've been programming professionally for 21 years and I'm sick and tired of dealing with mundane technical BULLSHIT all the time. Which is precisely what I have to deal with anytime I get within 20 feet of a Linux box. It's HORRID. Man oh man does it suck. First time you have to Google for info I cry foul because Google is no substitute for either 1) Application Help Menu, or 2) Being intuitive enough in the first place to not require help. Even if the documentation exists and it's verbose it still likely sucks because the author doesn't know how (or doesn't care) to communicate effectively.
(A side note: I once visited the website of some open source project [name long forgotten] and found ample documentation. I trolled that documentation for an HOUR and nowhere was I able to ascertain what the said software project actually WAS. Web software? Networking stuff? Application software? No clue. I don't know because he didn't tell me. That's a clear indication that the author of the documentation was either 1) Clueless enough to assume that everybody must know what his software does, or 2) Arrogant enough to assume that everybody must know what his software does, or 3) Both clueless enough AND arrogant enough to assume that everybody must know what his software does.)
Even Microsoft Windows absoutely SMOKES Linux in terms of usablity. Windows is substantially easier and friendlier than Linux can ever hope to become. Microsoft sucks royal ass for other reasons which makes it no longer an option for me as a computing platform. And it's usability could use some work too. But compared to Linux from a usability standpoint it's absoutely no contest. It's obvious.
If you are a command-line junkie and geek and like messing around with this nonsense