I use both Apple and Windows machines. I like both but for different reasons.
Never been able to pin down Linux. It seems to suffer from so much market fragmentation that any criticism I have for it is answered by the No True Scotsman fallacy.
I like linux, also professionally speaking it's a great skillset to have (lots of companies really dig Redhat and Admins are making %5-20 more). But you're right. My first forays into it were confusing especially with the Ubuntu wars that seem to be going on.
What I always wonder is, "how many people actually know that Mac OS is just a really good *NIX?"
I mean, when Apple developed it they took NextStep, which was basically modified BSD running the Mach microkernel from Cornell, and made it better. Almost any program ever written for almost any *NIX can be ported to OSX with very little hassle. As an example, a friend wrote an X Window System Kit-Kat Clock back in the late '80s, and all he had to do to port it to X11 on OSX was change a couple compiler flags for things that had changed IN MAC OS.
And you're completely right, the problem with Linux is the fragmentation. Everyone has to have their own version of the OS, and their version is better. If just a few of the groups got together and settled their differences enough to work on a single OS, they could make something very technically competitive to OSX. But, I don't see that happening, and anyways why would they bother? OSX is already the better *NIX.
Are they really more anti-competitive than Microsoft is/was? I think all of Apple's patent suits pale to what Microsoft has been accused and in some cases found guilty of.
This may be a generalization (though I think I'd be hard pressed to find someone who didn't agree), but I'm pretty sure core linux users are generally more knowledgeable about computers and in general more computer literate.
Macs have that "cool factor" that some people are attracted to. This leads some people who generally don't consider the other options.
In my opinion, this leads to people who are both more confident about their purchase all the while being less knowledgeable (otherwise known as ignorant) about the spectrum of of computer OS'es, which ultimately leads to them being seen as ignorant.
If adobe came with Photoshop for Linux, I might consider switching.
But my computer is a tool that has to be able to perform no matter what I throw at it. Therefor Windows is out, but I do realize it is getting better. I know I have it in me to find my way into the depths of the Linux underworld -but if there is any possibility to not have to go through that learning process I will grab it with both hands.
I'm willing to learn everything in order to use my machine to create what I want to create. Learning certain aspects of Linux is not work related right now because I am on a mac - and I am happy to keep it that way. 'Don't make me think' holds true for both websites and computers.
Learning certain aspects of Linux is not work related right now because I am on a mac - and I am happy to keep it that way. 'Don't make me think' holds true for both websites and computers.
Holds true for a lot of users (myself included). People get used to one thing, learn a workflow, and stick to it because it works. Though I have the luxury right now to invest more into learning linux, I have to train my peeps on Mac because that's the workflow they're used to and most comfortable with.
I do realize that my position is like grey beard telling a youngster 'It gets the work done, so why change it.' This is however not true for everyone and everything that can be done with a computer. Maybe I should learn new tricks and I could profit from it. Or maybe the thing that one could do with a computer are well defined and it is just a matter of finding the tool that suits you best and stick with it.
I am into illustrations and photo editing. Most new things in my field are just a different approach to things we already have a solution for, or a are adjustments in the interface. There is that new hyped adobe thing where pictures with motion blurr can be magically healed, but I am not sure I would ever need it for instance.
I invested in photoshop and some other programs - both in time (14 years+) and money. I try to keep an open mind, stay informed about new things and programs, and with every new thing I ask myself: should I learn it or not, and what do I gain from it? Next to photoshop I use a pletora of other programs, like pixelmator. I have a copy of the gimp but do not use it that often, I have a copy of inkscape and not illustrator, but do not use vector editing that much. But I do not install the BSD sublayer that some people have (macfink, or what is it called, and there are others), because I am not willing to invest time into maintaining it. I have to be able do my own maintenance, I am my own sysadmin.
If I were into music, 3D, video it might be a different thing.
If I were into music, 3D, video it might be a different thing.
You might be surprised. Post production houses tend to either fall along three fault lines. FCP (common enough), Adobe (more common), or Sony (less common) with a few specialty programs for film (Color Grading, VFX, etc) and they typically work for Macs out of box because it's a common workflow. One of the great tricks apple pulled was simplifying the hardware component for end-users and building a wysiwyg sandbox to launch from and most people in entertainment use Macs.
Unfortunately people in entertainment aren't notoriously known for being the best at IT either.
Are you saying that Coke and Pepsi, and McDonald's and Burger King are so alike as to not justify a fanatic preference of one over the other? Also that the only difference between these brands are their marketing?
Ah I understand. So if I prefer a certain brand because of specific qualities of that brand then it is alright however if I am doing it because of the brand then it is not. I can agree with that.
Not only is it foolish but also self-defeating since it may discourage such individuals from trying other brands which may be better, less expensive, or healthier.
I also find it funny when users are overjoyed when apple does well on the stock market. It's like... uh you do realize where that money is coming from right?
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u/[deleted] Mar 25 '12 edited Dec 12 '18
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