Ruby on Rails

On 25/02/2014 22:00, 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.)

I "switched" from OS X to using Linux virtually full time after OS X
went from Snow Leopard to Lion. Apple's insistence on making the OS more
iOS centric & their slapdash approach to anything in the command line
area is, I find, infuriating. If it wasn't for MacPorts I'd give up
using it completely


The price I find, of course, exorbitant. For a new Macbook Pro (I have a
2008 model), I could buy a couple of servers, a desktop machine & a
laptop with the same money & I also find using CentOS/Debian for the
'ops' world & Fedora/Ubuntu for the 'dev' world far more solid &
flexible than anything Apple can offer.

Also there is far more work in the Linux world than the Mac world from
my perspective (systems administration).

I also find it irritating that OS X is FreeBSD based however small the
differences.

My two bob.

Cheers,

Phil...

--
currently (ab)using
Arch Linux, CentOS 6.5, Debian Squeeze & Wheezy, Fedora 19 & 20, OS X
Snow Leopard, RHEL 7, Ubuntu Precise & Saucy
GnuGPG Key : http://phildobbin.org/publickey.asc


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