Mark Pilgrim switches back to Linux from Mac OS X as well
Blog commenter James pointed out to me that the esteemed Mark Pilgrim has recently moved back to Linux for his desktop OS as well. Since Mark’s blog post doesn’t have to be conformed to fit conventions of a major technical publishing site, the style is more conversational. His take on the faux openness of the Mac platform is insightful. My favorite two paragraphs from the entry are the following:
I would like to point out that it is entirely Apple’s choice that their operating system does not run on my new Lenovo ThinkCentre. I’m not saying it was a bad business decision — they are a hardware company, after all — but it is particularly galling to realize that if I bought a new Mac, I would be subsidizing the development of an operating system that contains code whose sole purpose is to lock me into a specific hardware platform. I realize that most people don’t look at it that way, but there it is.
In many ways, the tale of my switch is more of the same old story. Mac OS X was “free enough†to keep me using something that was not in my long-term best interest. But as I stood in the Apple store last weekend and drooled over the beautiful, beautiful hardware, all I could think was how much work it would take to twiddle with the default settings, install third-party software, and hide all the commercial tie-ins so I could pretend I was in control of my own computer. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and to my eye Apple isn’t beautiful anymore. I’ve worked around it or ignored it for a long time, but eventually the bough breaks.
Spot on, Mark. I still kick myself for thinking it perfectly normal at one time to have to own a PCMCIA network card just to be able to use WLAN with my Aluminum PowerBooks equipped with “Airport Extreme”. Deciding to “switch back” was almost like realizing I was in this relationship with someone who was taking without giving back, and using manipulative schemes to win my allegiance.
Oh yeah, and more Mac zealot whinging in the comments, apparently enough for Mark to have turned off comments on that post.
I concur exactly. I moved from an IBM thinkpad to a 17″ PB (G4 model) about 8 months ago. There are some nice things, but I’ve been looking at trying to get back to running linux on a dual core HP in the near future. Most of my reasons are the exact same as his. I think the linux->Mac OSX move is harder than the Windows->OSX.
Comment by Rick — June 10, 2006 @ 10:41 am
I agree, Rick, particularly since most Linux users are accustomed to very mature package management systems and the ability to pull in non-trivial app servers and all dependencies with a single command-line invocation. After talking to a few Debian colleagues from HP, I am eyeing the HP NC subnotebook series for my next portable. I am told the X.org support for the Intel graphics hardware is pretty sweet, and that came from an X.org contributor.
Comment by Barry Hawkins — June 10, 2006 @ 10:53 am
Only because it’s my world: NEVER EVER set your webpage in a san-serif uppercase shadowed font. EVER.
man. techies.
crank!
Comment by crank — July 13, 2006 @ 5:30 pm
EDIT: Wait. No. Not because it’s just my world (design) . It’s my eyes. Who thinks that page in that font is easy to read? it’s gotta be tough on anyone’s eyes…
Comment by crank — July 13, 2006 @ 5:32 pm
What page?
Comment by Barry Hawkins — July 14, 2006 @ 9:24 am
Mr. Pilgrim’s page. Look at it.
Comment by crank — July 14, 2006 @ 10:37 am
I never really looked at it that way being locked into some code would effect the OS but I guess everyone is that is buying a new MAcBut I owna dell and run it with windows OS and use Macromedia Dreamweaver ooops Adobe Dreamweaver to make all my sites and always make sure the cod ei svalid so I never run into the problem of someone surfing my site.Funny he turned off commments on his post I wonder just how many he got?
Comment by ashley — October 6, 2006 @ 12:16 am