Macs Again [was: Re: Old Hardware]

[Kurt Granroth]

Randy Melder wrote:
> Seriously, OS X is the best desktop available.

Well.. that depends on how you look at it.  OS X is probably the best
"consumer" OS available.  Things "just work" on it more than in any
other OS out there.  Everything just makes sense, too.  Really, if you
want to just use a computer as a means to an end (research, letter
writing, web surfing, video editings, etc), then it's very hard to beat
OS X.

BUT, if you are really into the computer *itself*, then the modern Linux
desktop takes the top prize.  An openSUSE 10.2 system running the latest
KDE with Beryl is untouchable.  Sure, OS X has whizzy effects... but
they look like baby steps compared to what Beryl can do.  And sure,
iPhoto and iTunes work well and work well together... but neither
touches the power of Digikam and Amarok.  Are you used to working a lot
on networked systems?  You'll soon be addicted to the KDE io-slaves
(like 'fish' for ssh).  The fact that any KDE app can access any
networked resource just rocks.

Say you want to set up your system with apache, mysql, php, squid,
postfix, clamv, spamassasin, etc.  Could you do it in OS X?  Absolutely!
 But it'll be a minor to major PITA, too.  Just compiling Courier IMAP
took more than a few patches to the code, if I remember correctly.  On
SUSE, all of those packages are click-click-click-done.

Add on a little Codeweaver action and you are covered for those few
Windows apps that you still need.  Really need a hard-core Windows app?
 VMWare Server is free.

So I am a gigantic OS X fan.  I'm eagerly awaiting the release of
Leopard and will buy a new Macbook or Macbook Pro when that happens.
But my main desktop... my POWER desktop, is a Linux box and will likely
remain a Linux box.

Kurt