Mac OSX

Started by benthehutt, March 30, 2005, 05:26:54 PM

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March 30, 2005, 05:26:54 PM
Does anyone know anything about OSX?  Actually, I mean does anyone use it?  I'm thinking about buying a mac so I can learn about 'em.  I was just wondering if anyone was a fan...

If you're a OS or "PC v. Mac" bigot, please do not respond--I hate you. ;D
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
March 31, 2005, 04:11:02 PM #1
My girlfriend runs OSX on her extremely expensive and very nice mac, it seems to be pretty cool. It's not that hard to get to the command line and you can use it for a lot of cool things straight out of the box. I've heard some horror stories about getting most open source software running though, something about the dependencies, but I haven't tried myself. Let us know if you give it a try!
Godaigo
All's fair in Love and Brewing.
April 05, 2005, 12:56:03 PM #2
We will be demo'ing Mac's here pretty soon... I actually want a Mac Lappy... OSX is based on the BSD kernel and natively can do a ishload! OSX is pretty cool... I know Taz feels the same way... still got that sweet lappy, Taz?
*** Sleep: A completely inadequate substitute for caffeine. ***
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April 05, 2005, 05:05:16 PM #3
BSD!!  That's everyone's favorite, so it must be good!

I've only used RedHat 8, which I love....(*swoon*) ::)
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
April 05, 2005, 05:07:10 PM #4
Yes, Metgod, I know Linux and Unix are different.  But they're alike in many a way, so you don't need to go off on your "Unix isn't Linux" extravaganza.

just thought I should clear that up... ;)
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
April 06, 2005, 11:18:31 AM #5
hehe

no problem

I was actually meaning to reply to this post but forgot.

I actually think that Macs are good for things like graphics etc (over PCs). But again I think it's a matter of what works for you. So, you won't hear me being a bigot about this one (although I must sadly say I used to). But my step mother uses a mac and she's an artist and she loves it. So I guess it just depends on what you need.

I personally would like to (at times) have a GUI for unix or linux, but unfortunately, with only one monitor, I dedicate it to my win box (then switch the monitor with a data switch when I have to do maintanence and can't remotely connect).

So I'd be interested to see what you think of OSX.
"My Terminal is my Soul"
April 06, 2005, 12:01:50 PM #6
Do you know anything about mac hardware (other than it's horribly expensive)?  Right now I'm looking into a new G4 Mini.

I guess what I really mean is do you know anything about computers apple makes, since I don't really have a choice of customizing the hardware in a particular machine.

Dirty Apple......wants money for all their stuff....grrrr...... >:(
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
April 06, 2005, 03:54:19 PM #7
Wish I did.. Uneek might ? not sure though
"My Terminal is my Soul"
April 06, 2005, 05:31:08 PM #8
Well I know that the architecture is different RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) I believe. Also I think that before all of Apple's hardware used to be SCSI which was why it was so expensive, but with the newer boxes they've gone to the less expensive regular IDE's (I think?) but again I've basically only read about them, not really worked with them. I think that if you googled mac mods or something it would probably give you a good overview of what you could do with the hardware.
Godaigo
All's fair in Love and Brewing.
April 06, 2005, 05:45:00 PM #9 Last Edit: April 06, 2005, 05:45:55 PM by Tazinator
I use/support/program for OS X. I had to learn Mac's at my old job and ended up buying one as a secondary machine at home. And Mac's arent primarily SCSI or RISC anymore, that was olden days (90's). What questions did you have?

The XServe's are "schweet" servers. Got to set a few of those up at my old job too.
"A well known hacker is a good hacker, an unknown hacker is a great hacker..."

I don't care what your parents told you, you aren't special.
  • https://github.com/tazinator
April 06, 2005, 06:24:31 PM #10
I'm looking at getting just some cool "desktop" with OSX, not a server or anything...

Anyway, I'm just wondering if the apple systems are actually different or better, or are they just in different cases?  Like does a mac mini have the same hardware (different size) as a cube or imac or emac?

I'm looking at a mini right now--they seem cheaper on average than the other boxes.

Also, I was wondering if you can actually "customize" harware on mac systems.  I know you can't really upgrade and whatnot like a pc, but can you really do anything to mac harware?  (Eg.- overclock, buy some other companies hardware, etc.)

Any help would be cool.... ;D
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
April 08, 2005, 11:13:59 PM #11 Last Edit: April 08, 2005, 11:16:24 PM by Tazinator
Well, in regards to reliability, Apple's are very high. Thats mainly because they control tightly hardware and software certification. Thats not to say you cant sabotage the stability of the system by installing grassroots apps and all, but overall, its nice and stable.

Word of warning tho, when OSX goes down, it goes down hard. Intricate knowledge of BSD or Macs arent usually enough to save you. hehe. I have had to help pull many a dying Mac from the brink from very Mac and OSX saavy people. A good understanding of BSD will help you out a lot in customizing the system more so then just what the GUI will allow you and help in many bad situations you may land in.

Upgradability, the Mini's from what I have seen there isnt a whole lot you can upgrade simply because theres no room. The G4 and G5 towers tho, you can upgrade damn near everything and install a slew of add-ons. The self contained systems (Imac, Emac, Mac Mini) theres not a lot outside of HDD, Memory and sometimes *-ROM drives that you can upgrade only because they are designed that way.

Its a "different" type of machine, not nessisarily better or worse although it may exceed windows or linux in some areas, it is beaten in others. Id say it makes for a solid OS foundation with a simplistic but flashy and customizable GUI. Unlike Windows which seems to have a more complicated GUI with every new version.

Also, in regards to security, Apple is being heavily critisized for downplaying a lot of its vulnerabilities to its users and being slow to patch. They are often not forthcoming about how bad the holes really are when you go to update. Good example is when they had a big hole in Quicktime that allowed code execution and called the update a "performance enhancement" to thier users. Just an FYI.
"A well known hacker is a good hacker, an unknown hacker is a great hacker..."

I don't care what your parents told you, you aren't special.
  • https://github.com/tazinator
April 10, 2005, 07:02:46 PM #12
Thanks alot for the info!  I think I'll proabably get a mini g4 cause they're pretty cheap (a tower costs a buttload).

Also, is it true that Mac OS is somehow integrated with the BIOS and harware--like way more than a PC?  I heard that somewhere...
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
April 12, 2005, 04:21:42 PM #13
What you heard is somewhat true. Since Apple only makes a few types of machines and all their mother / daughter boards are pretty much the same, they can write better calls to the IO subsystem is all. Windows and Linux kinda need to be a little more generic in that respect as they dont always know what they will be running on. Thats the benefit of controlling the hardware and OS distribution.

They are trying to achieve the same thing with NetBSD. They have a version for damn near any hardware platform.
"A well known hacker is a good hacker, an unknown hacker is a great hacker..."

I don't care what your parents told you, you aren't special.
  • https://github.com/tazinator
April 12, 2005, 08:05:30 PM #14
Do you know if there are any open source mac OSes?  Has anyone ever tryed it or is it illegal?
Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
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