[Info-vax] Happy 25th birthday Macintosh !

[Bill Gunshannon]

In article <00A8632F.C649C070 at sendspamhere.org>,
	VAXman-  @SendSpamHere.ORG writes:
> In article <6u61emFdre68U1 at mid.individual.net>, billg999 at cs.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon) writes:
>>In article <b645284e-f1f6-443b-b02d-d5b2ddaef880 at z28g2000prd.googlegroups.com>,
>>	"johnhreinhardt at yahoo.com" <johnhreinhardt at yahoo.com> writes:
>>> On Jan 26, 9:18 am, billg... at cs.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon) wrote:
>>>> In article <mailman.3.1232924503.16357.info-vax_rbnsn.... at rbnsn.com>,
>>>>         bradhamilton <bradhamil... at comcast.net> writes:
>>>> > Apple's done a pretty good job of bringing U*NIX to the desktop/laptop,
>>>> > in a way that's accessible to the average Joe.  To my mind, *that's*
>>>> > something to write home about.
>>>>
>>>> How many years after Linux had already done it?  
>>>>
>>> That's impossible to say since Linux still hasn't managed that yet.
>>> Maybe another 5 years?  Ubuntu is getting close, I suppose, but it's
>>> still not there yet.  Whereas OS X has been doing it since 2001.
>>
>>What?
>>Stick in Live CD.
>>Boot.
>>Select Install off the first menu you see.
>>Wait.
>>Reboot from hard disk.
> 
> Dick about with getting wireless ethernet working.  

My Mac user (a faculty member) spends more time trying to get wireless
working on his Mac than I did on my Eeepc running Ubuntu Linux.

>                                                    Then, dick about
> with getting sound working.  

Can't commenton this as I don't know if he had any problems or not.  I
certainly didn't on Linux.  I should probasbly mention that we got a
brnad new HP Laserjet with the network card built in and it took him
over a week to get the Mac to print to it.  And he did that by installing
MS Office on the Mac.  :-)  None of the Windows, Linux or even BSD systems
had any problems.

>                              Then download applications which require
> support libraries.  

Well, if you start downloading strange apps, you should expect what you
get.  I can't see how the Mac would be any different.  And the Linux
Live CD's usually have many times the number of pre-compiled, installed
(or ready to install) applications than any Mac I have ever seen.

>                     There's invariably one added bit of software that
> will require you to revisit one or both of the aforementioned.

Funny, our Mac fanatic has much more trouble with this than any of my
other users.

> 
> FWIW, I've spent the past two weeks working to get my new ExpressCard
> (Sierra Wireless AirCard 597E) working under Mac OSX and Ubuntu 8.10.
> Not because there was any real problem supporting such hardware; the
> issue is that there is not activation software available for the two
> platforms and the support dweebs at Sprint can only mutter one word:
> WEENDOZE.  If anyone is interested, drop me a line.  This new card is
> blindingly fast compared to my old Curitel Comm. PC-5740 PCMCIA EVDO.

So then, what is the advantage of a Mac over Linux?  I would bet there
is a lot more hardware supported by Linux than by the Mac.

> 
> 
>>The only thing that makes a Mac easier is it usually comes already
>>installed.  But then, you certainly pay for it!!
> 
> ...and it works with the hardware out of the box.  I like Ubuntu but
> it is NOT the install it and run with it OS that everyone touts it to
> be.

If you buy a box with it already installed, the way the Mac does it, yeah,
it is.  And probably less than 50% (or maybe even 25%) the cost of a Mac.
I will admit that I could not get Ubuntu to work on an old Toshiba laptop,
but then, I doubt OS-X woudl work on it either.  Heck, I have a real hard
time getting Windows installed on it. (It says there is not enough memory
to support the install of the Adobe Reader and it is fully loaded!!)

By the way, let's say you loose the disk in your Mac.  Just how easy is
it going to be to load OS-X from scratch?  (No, I have never tried it or
even seen it done, but I would bet that, too, is no easier than an Ubuntu
install and probably a lot harder.
 
bill

-- 
Bill Gunshannon          |  de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n.  Three wolves
billg999 at cs.scranton.edu |  and a sheep voting on what's for dinner.
University of Scranton   |
Scranton, Pennsylvania   |         #include <std.disclaimer.h>