blech:
posted on 2006/07/04 09:36
Slashdot talks about Tim O'Reilly talking about Jason Kottke talking about Mark Pilgrim switching to Ubuntu.
I think that means that far more people are talking about unswitching (or the maclash, if you prefer) than are actually doing it.
Yes, I deliberately didn't mention Cory above. He hasn't started using Ubuntu, he's just pre-announced it.
It's vapour until he posts the first crappy cameraphone picture of his Thinkpad.
muttley:
As someone who gamely attempted to predict a MacLash (tm) a couple of years ago, this is mixed news to me
On the one hand I feel slightly validated.
And its nice to see Mac 'people' panicking about the same kind of hype they're so used to basking in.
And there's a certain satisfaction borne of watching people who jumped on the FOSS bandwagon because it was trendy and convenient for them and then jumped ship to Macs when the magpie urge hit them (yes, 90% of people at conferences, I'm talking to YOU)
watching the reverse happen
But on the other hand, the reason why I never switched (despite keep an old black, clamshell Lombard running OS 9 around)
and the reason, I suspect, why people like jerakeen kept going back to try different distributions
is that OSX is not for every one
The:
Because all software sucks?
muttley:
Well, yes that too
Personally it just rubbed me up the wrong way. I kept finding myself needing to to do stuff that I could sense was possible but OSX would tell me "NO! I know better than you what you want!"
This is fine for most people, and I'm happy for them
but for me it quickly became restrictive
It's the same reason I have problems with Java for what it's worth
so, with all this 'hype'
although I hesitate to call two blog posts (one a preannounce) and then two layers of meta references above that (hey! the echochamber^W blogosphere is as deep as it is wide, how ... crap)
those who follow these blogs (who, it appears to me are inherently swayed by hype)
are going to dive into Ubuntu thinking that it does everything that OSX does just ebcause some Alpha Blogger did it
and they're going to be disapointed
because, precisely because it's more flexible, it's never going to be quite as slick as OSX
not least because when you aim to run on generic white box hardware you have exponentially more hardware configurations to run on
The ability to run on a tightly controleld hardware spec has always been one of Apple's not so secret weapons
and it's notable that the moment that they hit a not so tightly controlled environment (like, say, phones) they start to fall down.
So, in summary - it's like buying a Kit Car and expecting it to be exactly like an MX5. They both have advantages and disadvantages and choosing based on hype alone is going to bite you in the arse.
And .... breathe
blech:
Ever thought of getting your own blog?
muttley:
This way I can maintain plausible deniability
We hate you all. Yes, especially you. Sod off and DIE