Five Reasons I Would Switch (Exclusively) to Linux
by Wyatt WalterYesterday I took a look at some of the applications that I’d miss if I decided to switch away from Mac OS X to using Linux exclusively. I felt that wasn’t quite fair as there are some really compelling reasons to switch to Linux and I really didn’t give it much chance (publicly that is). Here’s five reasons I do want to make the switch.
Aptitude
Good package management is absolutely critical on any OS that one is going to be developing or serving data off of. Sure, you can download and install packages as needed, but if those packages aren’t bundled up nicely (as often happens with open source software ported to OS X or Windows), installing those packages become a pain. Need to install an application with its dependencies? No problem! Just do an apt-get install (or use yum or yast, etc. pick your poison). Sure, there’s projects like Macports, but let’s face it, you can’t beat a good native package manager.
Usable OpenOffice.org
Yes, I know that OpenOffice.org runs on Mac OS X. However, every time I’ve seen it run on OS X it’s much slower than running it in Linux on slower hardware. Even using the NeoOffice product, it seems like it just isn’t as responsive or load nearly as fast as running OOo on Linux.
Gnome / KDE (i.e. choice)
One could argue that the Linux desktop managers offer too many options, but being able to theme (nicely, not like those lame underwater themes everyone ran on Windows 98) and tweak everything is definitely a bonus. One Linux box can look exactly the same or dramatically different than the next. The important thing is, it’s all up to the user. OS X looks beautiful, but freedom is worth something as well.
Hardware Freedom
I don’t violate the EULA by installing Linux on standard PC hardware. That’s a pretty compelling argument for Linux right there. I will agree that the Mac hardware is pretty dang slick and nice, but having the freedom to run my OS on the machine of my choice is a very important deciding factor in choosing which OS I will use. I also only have to mention virtualization and Apple loses out big-time there as it won’t allow OS X to be licensed to run in a virtualized environment (except for the server).
Native X11
I know that you can run X11-based applications on OS X, but what a pain in the butt. They’re slow to start, the keyboard options change and the window management is terrible. Seriously, run GIMP on a Mac and then use it on Linux. You won’t go back.
- Sharing Printer from Ubuntu to Mac OS X Quite often we read about how small things are so...
- Five Apps That Are Keeping Me On OS X I've been a Linux and OS X user for some...
- Psystar's Threat to OS X Apple has only allowed Mac OS X to be loaded...
- Adobe Bringing Flash to More Platforms It seems that Adobe is seeing the threat of Microsoft...
- Low Or No Cost Blogging Tools Save Me Money And Time. Although this might not seem too "personal finance" related, it...
- Is open-source ip telephony dependable? Is open-source ip telephony dependable?Perhaps your business has made the...
- New Google Operating System Confirmed There have long been rumors of a Google Operating system....
- Free office suite Let me introduce you to OpenOffice, a free office suite....
Tags: apple, linux, os x, ubuntu, virtualization
Filed under Tech Trends :
Comments (0) :
Jul 31st, 2009
Follow whatan00b on Twitter
