Linux vs OS-X

I hear people raving about the iPad and the iPhone on a daily basis.  A lot of my friends, including my fiancée, actually own iPhones.  An old friend of mine liked to tell me how great everything Apple was, like owning an Apple product was some kind of religious experience.  To be honest, I can see how using a Mac could be likened to an epiphany, certainly if Windows is the only alternative you know.

In fairness, the last time I used a Mac was under System 7, and it was a Macintosh LC.  It was a different operating system and a different architecture to modern Macs - Apple have changed the processor architecture twice since the days of the LC.  In those days, my own computer was a Commodore Amiga 1200, which I still remember fondly.

I did like the LC, though.  To my mind, a computer is a tool you use to get a job done, nothing more.  It felt like System 7 had been designed with that idea firmly in mind.  I knew nothing of free and open source software at the time, and I looked seriously at the possibility of owning a Mac.  When I discovered the financial implications of Mac ownership, however, I quickly changed my mind.

I am not totally against OS-X, or modern Macs.  I think that Apple's decision to borrow so much BSD code showed great intelligence on their part.  I'm not going to get into the whole Linux vs BSD argument, because they are both extremely robust and each have their merits.  What I will tell you, however, is that I intend to never own an Apple product.

I respect that some people love Macs, and I fully support your choice.  That is the whole point, though - choice.  Using a Mac pretty much limits you to the Mac interface, unless you get a Mac version of Linux and dual-boot (which, I believe, Apple have made increasingly difficult to achieve).  I heard recently that the next version of OS-X will not run on Macs sold before 2009, only three years ago.  The iPod encourages you to buy music from iTunes.  I heard someone say that Apple locks people into Apple products in a way that Microsoft could only dream of getting away with.  It's hard to argue with that one.

The reason I instantly fell in love with Linux is that it positively encourages choices.  The focus is very much on freedom of distribution and the other freedoms enshrined in the GNU manifesto, but freedom of choice is one of the most positive aspects of free software.  If I wanted to, I could make my Linux system look and behave like OS-X, but I choose not to.  For me, a minimal desktop environment, very much in the mould of System 7 or the Amiga Workbench, suits the way I work much better.  Linux gives me the freedom to make that choice (as would BSD, I'm sure).

Maybe free and open source software has instilled certain values in me.  When my Apple-loving friend demonstrated his MacBook running OS-X, he clearly expected me to be impressed.  All I could see was a manifestation of Apple's attitude towards its users, which I consider to be roughly the same as my impression of Microsoft - this is our vision of what a computer should be, and how it should be used, and you just have to accept it.  Actually, I don't.

Any lawyers reading this should note that it is a personal opinion, not a statement of fact.  If you want to sue me, the onus is on you to prove that the opinions I have expressed are untrue.  Good luck with that.