Wednesday, February 26, 2014
On Tuesday, February 25, 2014 5:00:14 PM UTC-5, Jason Hsu, Rubyist wrote:
I realize this is off-topic, but I understand that an overwhelming majority of Rubyists use Mac computers and not PCs. I currently use Linux-powered PCs. Yes, I ditched Windows years ago just like many of you. Using Linux on a used PC is the cheapest way to compute. (I've been able to buy a 4 or 5-year-old PC that works for as little as $40-$50.)
I'm interested in purchasing a Mac to put myself on the same page as other software developers. (I'm used to Linux distros that provide the look and feel of Windows XP.) I will use the Mac for software development projects, but I intend to stick with my Linux-powered PCs for general computing. (I don't want to get locked into the Mac world, because it's so much more expensive. Also, there is a case to be made for being versatile.)
I'm thinking of buying a new mini (starts at $600), a new MacBook (starts at $1000), or a refurbished MacBook (starts at $850).
Some questions:
1. How much has OS X changed over the past several versions? Is something from 5 years ago obsolete? Linux, on the other hand, is free. Any current Linux distro will work very well on a 5-year-old PC, and there are even some Linux distros (like Puppy Linux and antiX Linux) that work well on PCs that are 10 or more years old.
2. Is it just me, or are used Macs so exorbitantly expensive as to defeat the point of buying a used computer in the first place? I looked at Craigslist and found a number of used Mac laptops selling for as much as a new one. Most of the Macs selling for a few hundred dollars or less were very old, such as G4s. (I understand that those are 10-15 years old. Good luck getting even $100 or even $50 from a 10-year-old PC.)
There are a lot of posts here already, so I really only have one point to add. It depends on the nature of your development. If you are slinging Rails code and that's the majority or all of your work, I don't really think you'll see an appreciable difference between mac and linux. In my work, for example, I would prefer to do as much back end rails development as possible, but it usually doesn't end up that way. I inevitably end up using Omnigraffle to develop storyboards and inevitably in development I'll end up with some Illustrator and/or Photoshop work on the front end, even if it's just modification to a design passed to me by a designer.
In these cases, in my opinion, a mac is worth having. I certainly wouldn't want to use Windows (I did for a whilte), and third party software options for Linux are limited (but they do exist). There are also online alternatives for some things such as project management. Just something else to consider.
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