Hey Mac Lovers, Please Talk Me Off The Ledge….

[devilock76]

In addition to MacPorts there is also Fink which brings apt to OSX.

How well does that work. I ask as when I look at the Mac directory structure it is much more BSD like than Linux like. That being said there should be a project for pacman (the Arch package manager not the gobbler game) to Mac.

Ken

[sgreger1]

I was forced to switch to mac when I married my wife who only had a mac, I am glad I did. Some bulletpoints:

*They last forever, like you will break it from dropping it before the thing dies on it's own. For this reason, it's less likely to take a dump and destroy your hard drive w/ all of your precious files.

*They don't slow down after 6 months like most PC's. After about 2 years, every single PC I ever owned or a family member has owned got slow. I don't care if you reformat the whole thing and delete every file, there is just something about it that causes them ot get slow. Maybe this is just my experience, but Mac always performs like you just took it out of the box

*At first the interface took a little getting used to, but now I prefer it over windows. My only gripe is I am into the oldschool folder tree thing and while that is available on macs, it's not really the default setup. It's made to be "easier", which for me makes it harder, but not unuseable.

*They don't really get viruses. Hackers tend to not target linux, and they constitute a smaller marketshare relative to PC's so resources are better spent hacking PC's. Keep in mind though, MAC's are actually the least secure of all computers. They have an annual convention each year where they see who can hack something the fastest, and the Mac is always the first to get hacked, usually in under a minute or two. But as an owner, you will never get a virus so it doesn't really matter to me.

*The MAC mouse has a 2 button mouse (contrary to popular belief), and it works better than the PC mouse if you ask me. It is also more expensive ($70, MagicMouse), but it lets you use gestures and things too.

*Most things can be pirated for Mac too. If it won't work on MAC, you can install windows on a seperate partition and just run it on windows.


Now for the cons:

*Not made for gaming. Most games will play, but a $3,000 mac might not run the newer games as well as a $1,000 PC does. It's not about processor speed, it's that the MAC is built for design and video rendering, photoshop, etc. It's set up in a way that isn't always optimal for real time 3d graphics like a PC is. I have no trouble playing my favorite games, but if you are building a gaming station than forget a mac as it will cost you a fortune to compete with PC's.

*Less software available, though any decent software dev makes a mac version too, I have yet to run across anything I wanted to buy that wasn't available for MAC, except for a few older games. Speaking of which, you can play most windows games or software using MAC's bootcamp feature, which allows you to run windows software from within OSX Lion. Havn't done much of this myself but I hear it's hit or miss.


*More expensive. BUT IT IS WORTH IT. My mom bought a $700 HP laptop and it got slow and she already had send it in for warranty issues after only 6mo's to a year. My last laptop was the same way and eventually died and took all of my childhood photos with it. MAC's are indestructible and will last for 5, maybe even 10 years. They will ALWAYS run like new. They require NO configuration or regular maintenance, no virus scans taking up space in the background etc. You pay more, but you buy it once and it works until you decide to buy a new one, they are extremely worth the money because they are built so solid. It's like buying a car that costs a few thousand more but that doesn't need oil changes and can run to 500,000 miles.




Keep the Mac, you will not be dissapointed. Once you become familiar with the interface it becomes easier. Best tip is in the upper right hand corner there is a little magnifying glass. Click on this, than type in what program you want to run. "Word" or "Excel" for example, it appears instantly in the list and you can launch it from there. It's fast and means you don't have to navigate it's weird folder system that I hate.

[Darwin]

Yeah Chad since OSX came on the scene, almost a decade ago now, the folder system seems quite inferior to previous OS iterations--much more like Windows. Fail on that issue at least.

[internope]

How well does that work. I ask as when I look at the Mac directory structure it is much more BSD like than Linux like. That being said there should be a project for pacman (the Arch package manager not the gobbler game) to Mac.

By default Fink installs software under /sw, thereby avoiding conflict with the OSX installation or other package managers.

[devilock76]

Yeah Chad since OSX came on the scene, almost a decade ago now, the folder system seems quite inferior to previous OS iterations--much more like Windows. Fail on that issue at least.

From my limited experience the file system is basically an "enhancement" on top of BSD. I quote enhancement as opinions will vary on the nature of the changes.

Ken

[devilock76]

By default Fink installs software under /sw, thereby avoiding conflict with the OSX installation or other package managers.

Does Fink use an kernel module for Linux Compatibility like the BSD's use? One day I will have to add a mac to the fleet here. Main reason is to have Xcode and be able to program IOS apps if I so choose.

Ken

[chadizzy1]

expensive. BUT IT IS WORTH IT.

Like divorce.

[devilock76]

Like divorce.

Once you go Linux you stop buying marketing hype, hook, line, and sinker...

Ken

[devilock76]

PS. Chad's endorsement of Mac is proof positive that they are for you if you are gay. hehehehee

[lxskllr]

PS. Chad's endorsement of Mac is proof positive that they are for you if you are gay. hehehehee

[justintempler]

I got my first PC in 1996, been online since 1997, and have only ever had PCs. I like to get "under the hood" and play with the new toys way too much to be restricted to what is available on a Mac. (I'm too lazy to learn unix. )

You can stop most all viruses by using; a firewall, software only from trusted sources, and the use of a "host file". http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
Windows doesn't like large host files, but there's an easy solution for that. http://www.softpedia.com/get/Network...ptimizer.shtml
With a host file you don't even need to use an adblocker.

[internope]

Does Fink use an kernel module for Linux Compatibility like the BSD's use? One day I will have to add a mac to the fleet here. Main reason is to have Xcode and be able to program IOS apps if I so choose.

Ken

Fink binary packages are just open source software compiled to run natively on OSX, no compatibility layer required.

[internope]

I got my first PC in 1996, been online since 1997, and have only ever had PCs. I like to get "under the hood" and play with the new toys way too much to be restricted to what is available on a Mac. (I'm too lazy to learn unix. )

You can stop most all viruses by using; a firewall, software only from trusted sources, and the use of a "host file". http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
Windows doesn't like large host files, but there's an easy solution for that. http://www.softpedia.com/get/Network...ptimizer.shtml
With a host file you don't even need to use an adblocker.

I realize that it is only part of the solution, but using the hosts file for blocking ads and malware isn't all that great. The one you linked to is over 16k lines and was last updated almost a month ago. The worst offenders create new host names and register new domains constantly. If you want that type of protection a better solution is to use something like OpenDNS. You choose categories to block and they take care of updating their DNS servers as domains are found and classified. They can easily block whole domains without having to worry about creating separate records for each new host within a bad domain.

[devilock76]

Fink binary packages are just open source software compiled to run natively on OSX, no compatibility layer required.

OH ok, I was thinking there would need to be some remapping for shared libraries and the difference in file structure between Mac's BSD base and the typical Linux system file structure.

Ken

[devilock76]

I realize that it is only part of the solution, but using the hosts file for blocking ads and malware isn't all that great. The one you linked to is over 16k lines and was last updated almost a month ago. The worst offenders create new host names and register new domains constantly. If you want that type of protection a better solution is to use something like OpenDNS. You choose categories to block and they take care of updating their DNS servers as domains are found and classified. They can easily block whole domains without having to worry about creating separate records for each new host within a bad domain.

And to add before a host file I strongly recommend not logging in as admin all the time. This is defacto practice in the *nix world and a place where typical Mac install breaks that convention from what I see. The thing is from Windows Vista on, Windows allows an almost SU type of switch to admin. This will make a huge difference in protecting any Windows machine.

Ken