Personal Opinion: Linux vs. Macintosh

Personal Opinion: Linux vs. Macintosh

Before I could pen down this post, I was cautioned about the “flames” I would encounter from Mac aficionados. It is indeed preposterous to assume that there could be anything better than a Mac. However, more than the software per se, I would argue on other counts- as would be clear to you all in just a short while.

Both of them trace their ancestry from Unix. That explains the robustness vis a vis Windows, which remains downright crappy and buggy operating system. The similarity ends there. Yet, Linux had its own proponents to speak of- prominent among them being Richard Stallman. There are n number of people who load up Linux- for ease of use or perhaps for ideological reasons and some people like me- because it’s getting refined with every release and it is free as in free beer.

Macintoshes have had Steve Jobs, not always but still most of the times. They made sure that their innovation curve stays right at the top and they continue to churn out top end hardware periodically. Ditto for iPods- which have become a phenomenon. However, in my opinion, they rode on the sales because a “buzz” was created around them- arguably better and cheaper alternatives exist. Notably iRiver- which does not block the songs in its own proprietary formats. This means that you can freely distribute to other users. Apple’s success is partly because of the strong sales it could generate out of these music players- it was able to tap in to the latent demand. In retrospect, it gave some degree of “halo effect” to its existing line of hardware.

Coming back to Linux. It does not boast of the top of the line corporation promoting it- yet for millions of users, it means freedom of choice. A Linux distro (distribution for the uninitiated) can run off a lowly 486 to higher end dual core processors and number crunchers. It can transform your old 486 in a powerful firewall in few minutes. I believe it is this freedom of choice that initially attracted me to it. Perhaps the fact that I could easily run Linux on my old AMD Athlon without any costly upgrade. Or high initial cost of the hardware. Giving me essentially the same peace of mind that Apple users claim.

There was a disturbing post online from the editor of OS X86 which is aiming to run a Mac on an Intel platform. Apple is resorting to locking in its OS updates to the current user base. Perhaps turning in on the same “evil tactics” that has kept Microsoft in a dominant position in the desktop market. I do not know how far its true- it is disturbing to say the least. Part of the reason is that it leaves out the old users who might not have compelling reasons to shift to the newer versions of the OS. Compare and contrast Linux. It is backed by a huge dedicated bunch of hackers and programmers who aim to deliver the best of the software for FREE. What motivates them for the selfless service?
I was reading in some newsgroup long time back that prior to the proprietary companies making their mark, it was the bunch of software programmers who used to make their software on the fly and then distribute the same. The same thing has persisted on a global scale now. Scores of people contribute their software on sites like Sourceforge- some of them have become instant hits with source code available. Notable among them is the Bittorrent client Azureus and chat client- Gaim.

I do not want to start off a debate between the proprietary and free software. Both of them have their merits and demerits. However, if we look it from the perspective of a developing countries or eponmously called as Third World nations, Linux is the only way to bridge the digital divide. Especially when the same functionality can be had for free. Why would a government school pay for costly license fees for say Microsoft Office when the same can be had for free as Open Office ( and arguably better ). The same can be argued for any other proprietary software where a free alternative exists. In some cases not as refined as the “closed source” one- yet reaching out to the same degree of refinement with every release cycle.

The holy grail of any Operating System is the server platform. The most widely used search engine Google (not necessarily the best one in my opinion though) runs on Linux servers. People have been swearing by the same- Linux needs no booting up- except for upgrading it. Arguably NetBSD or Free BSD would comparatively fare better, Apple Macintoshes have not been able to make a mark there. Linux rules the server market- it is THE standard. Windows is trying its level best by dishing out “paid surveys” and “benchmarks”- Linux provides ease of use. The same can be said about the Supercomputing platform. Mac OS has been used in some platforms- here too Linux scales up easily to terabyte calculations.

Linux gives the users a vast choice. You can boot up Linux from hacked PSP’s or 486’s or even USB drives. The choice of desktops. The choice of hardware- as already mentioned. On the other hand, even the choice of the source code- to make any modification you desire and depending on your choice- plough it back to the community. Linux evolves through user coordination and cooperativeness across a global scale. The newer versions of Linux are truly plug and play compatible. For example, I had to connect my Digital camera in the USB port. Click on Digicam- the KDE utility to view pictures and choose my camera. It downloaded all the pictures in a jiffy. No messy drivers or reboots or anything like that. All in all it took me just 2 minutes to set up the whole thing. This despite the fact that I was using it for the first time. Editing the pictures was easy enough with GIMP- the photo editor in Linux. In another instance, I connected a Bluetooth dongle to the USB port. In less then three clicks, it was ready to send across files to another Bluetooth mobile phone. This is what I would call as true plug and play compatibility. Apple Mac OS needs to have the drivers set up and you are left high and dry if the CD is corrupted.

To back up Linux users, there are host of newbie websites, IRC channels, forums et al where in someone would be there to solve your problem. Whether you are a newbie or an advanced user. There are host of Linux user groups all over the world who would be glad to make you feel as a part of the growing community.

This article was inspired because of ideological reasons. I don’t mind paying up for something that I am using- yet not in a manner that I have to dish out money for the “latest upgrade” once every 6 months or predefined release cycles. It still beats me to the fact the Ubuntu is shipping Linux Cd’s across the world free of cost. Why would they spend so much of money to do so? It comes with a support of 18 months- every 6 months they are committed to bring out improved version. In any case, being based on Debian, it is a snap to upgrade with huge repository of software.

The fact is that Linux is the perfect answer to proprietary software like Apple. For long, Apple has remained a closed group. They have over priced their hardware- that means privileged few are able to access the computing platform. That is the basis of their profits and existence. While I am not passing any moral judgments to the same- there is vast majority of users in the world who might not have seen a computer ever. There have been documented instances in South Africa and other extremely underdeveloped nations where the power of Information Technology has radically altered the way people access information. When it comes to donations, it is a strict balance between cost effectiveness and utility at the same time. I strongly believe that Linux has shown us a path to achieve that goal of bridging the digital divide. Apple could learn a few things from this.