Geeks Gone Bad: Switching from Mac OS X to Linux

You’ll first note my lengthy and highly entertaining post from December 2005 entitled Celebrity Deathmatch: Windows XP vs SUSE Linux. In that article, I talked about my switch from Mac OS X and Windows XP over to SUSE Linux 10.0. Mark Pilgrim, who you might know as one of the maintainers of the Feed Validator for Atom and RSS among other things, made his own switch to Linux last month from Mac OS X and wrote about his dissatisfaction with Apple. Cory Doctorow of bOINGbOING followed in short order and claimed he too was going to switch to Ubuntu Linux instead of Mac OS X, although it remains to be seen whether he will go through with it.

For Mark it makes some sense. He works for IBM for one thing, which has been a big supporter of Linux. Plus he doesn’t have an Apple logo tattooed on his body (as far as I know) like Cory. My own credentials for switching to Linux are as follows. My first computer was an Apple ][+ circa 1981, and I first installed Linux back in 1994 with the Slackware distribution, which was big at the time. I downloaded the entire distro over a 14.4K baud modem, and wrote it all out to about 70 or 80 3.5” floppy discs (this was long, long time before the advent of consumer-level CD burners). So I’ve paid my dues.

In 1997, I switched back to Mac OS 8 from Linux with the return of Steve Jobs to Apple. But in the past year I’ve gotten interested again in Linux. This past December, I tried Debian, which appeared to be stuck in an early ’90s timewarp, and a few others. I liked SUSE Linux 10.0, but I really love SUSE Linux 10.1, which was released in May. In my opinion it’s far superior to Ubuntu especially if you’re going to run it on a laptop. With Ubuntu it’s a lot more work because you have to go out and find drivers, but SUSE Linux has lots of that stuff built-in. Plus the wireless client in SUSE 10.1 is leaps and bounds better than the Ubuntu equivalent.

As far as the software goes, the difference isn’t big between, say, Ubuntu and SUSE. Ubuntu and SUSE are completely open-source. Ubuntu works on a model of a minimal initial download CD and then you install apps through a web-connected installer. SUSE has you download the whole kit onto either a DVD or 5 CDs. You also have the option with SUSE of downloading an additional CD of proprietary software including the Macromedia Flash player for Firefox and a few other things.

Ubuntu is okay. I ran it on my laptop okay (except for the mediocre wireless support), although it wouldn’t install on my desktop. But once SUSE Linux 10.1 came out I’ve been using that as my primary operating system on both my laptop and my desktop. It’s very slick and has everything you’d expect of a modern operating system.

I’ve been singing the praises of Linux again and to me that feels good. I tried KDE for a while, but I much prefer Gnome. KDE and Gnome are different window managers. KDE is to Windows, as Gnome is to the Mac OS X. If you’re going to run KDE, you might as well run Windows because there’s little difference. Gnome though feels more unique and a lot better designed. A lot of thought went into making it a good user experience.

So six months into my switch to Linux, I’m still using Linux on a daily basis and loving it. I’ve switched all of my web development, writing, and other project work to Linux. It gets the job done. But after six months I’ve backed away from my December claim that it’s a good choice for most people. I think for the mainstream user, it’s still too technically oriented. For me, I use and enjoy Linux, but I think if you get off the beaten path or have to install drivers, than having technical knowledge will greatly enhance your Linux experience. With Linux though I feel more invested in the operating system, and I tend to use it in very different ways than I use Mac OS X or Windows. For one thing, I use the command line a hell of a lot more. It’s just a good way to get stuff done in Linux.

There’s a lot to love about Linux, and I have suggested Linux to a lot of people. Ultimately though I don’t think it’s an appropriate choice for non-technically oriented people. So I think the man or woman on the street will still run either Mac OS X or Windows. But if you’re at all technically inclined, I would highly recommend Linux, especially SUSE Linux 10.1, which is available for free download from openSUSE.org. Ubuntu Linux is available from Ubuntu.com.