First, so you can see where my perspective comes from, a little bit
about my x86 vs. ppc experience: I am a Gentoo/macos developer. The
first computer in my home was the MacSE my dad purchased for
compatibility with his work machines (I think I was about 7 years old at
the time). In Jr. High, I started hanging out with "computer nerds" who
were amazed that I had 1) never touched a PC and 2) knew as much about
Macs as they knew about "wintel" boxes. This led into a growing desire
to investigate "the other side". With the help of my friends, I built
the first x86 PC to enter my home (AMD K62/350) and started my
education. I used x86 hardware exclusively through HS and started using
linux once I moved into the college dorms (and finally had high-speed
internet access). I purchased the 12" powerbook I'm using right now in
June. I still have my x86 desktop.
Javier Marcet wrote:
>
> Hi guys,
> I'm about to spend my hard earned bucks in a new laptop.
> Before spending the money, though, I have to decide whether I buy a SONY
> Vaio like this one
> http://www.rm.com/Primary/Products/Product.asp?cref=PD298047
> A comparable IBM T2 or I better go the Mac route.
I've had bad first-hand experience with laptops in general. The Dell I
bought used was a POS (Latitude cpx, iirc). A co-worker purchased an
IBM thinkpad and had it serviced 4 times in 6 months. A friend
purchased a iBook about 3 months before I bought my powerbook and has
had that machine back to Apple for repairs/screw-ups 3 times. The Sony
Vaio my employer owns has worked well, though once it did break, Sony's
proprietary hardware is expensive to service/fix/replace. Laptops are
problematic and a bad computing investment in my experience.
I wanted another laptop because I wanted mobility in my schedule. I
bought the powerbook because of the exceptional hardware for the money.
I find the system as a whole (RAM, cpu cache, hdd throughput, etc.)
has far more effect on the computing experience than the cpu itself (see
"MHz Myth" [1]). I promptly purchased an additional 512MB of ram from
crucial [2] after buying the machine. My original intent was to run
linux exclusively on this machine. More on that later.
> I've used Macs in the pre OS X time (performas and such machines with
> 680x0 cpus), although I never owned one, I used emulation on my Amiga
> computers.
I was never a fan of the original MacOS. I started using it with 6.x
(on the SE) and saw it through up to OS9. I don't use Classic in OS X
and have no need (or desire) to use OS9 applications. My personal
preference.
> Now as a long time Linux and for over two years Gentoo user, and since
> whatever laptop I get I'll definitely install Gentoo on it, I thought
> this might be the perfect place to ask for advice.
I had no trouble installing Gentoo on this machine. There's not much in
the way of modern docs on the process, esp. if you plan on setting up
a dual-boot system, though I can send you some information if you'd like.
> From the Mac side I'd probably use some video editing and DTP apps,
> while on Linux I'll keep hacking the kernel and coding.
Sorry, I'm not a video guy. Don't know what's available in linux, if it
exists for linux/PPC, or how it compared to Windows apps.
> I see it as so a big dilemma that I need some outside opinion, or user
> experiences.
The internet is certainly a good source of opinions. Good luck
filtering the substance from the soil. :)
> I don't know if I'll be able to use all the hardware on the PB (mostly
> the AirPort card (can it be replaced?), or if I'll later be having to
> choose all the time whether using OS X or Linux...
No airport card support in linux yet. Broadcom won't release anything
substantial about the product. I do know that you can get a USB
wireless adapter which does have linux support for ~40USD.
Also of note (esp. if you're interested in video) is that lack of NVidia
linux/ppc drivers. The linux/x86 drivers are binary releases and won't
work on ppc. Some powerbook models have NVidia cards, other have ATI
cards; just be aware of what you're purchasing. As a side note, you'll
also notice that there is no linux/ppc Macromedia flash player. I
haven't tried the modem in linux as I never had a reason. No problems
with USB, firewire, ethernet, or disk drive. Also haven't tried the
second video out in linux (though I do love plugging my 12" powerbook
into the 18" LCD).
> BTW, this will be my first personal (mine and for my exclusive use)
> laptop.
Good luck making your decision.
> Thanks for anything you might tell me to help ease the decision.
MacOS X vs. Linux
- I get better battery life running linux than osx. If I'm being
conservative, I can get about ~5 hours from linux as opposed to ~4 hours
in osx. Granted, I run a pretty lean linux rig and most likely have
far fewer processes running.
- In osx, I can close the lid of this machine and walk away. I didn't
investigate the matter very far in with linux (the lack of a wifi card
made travel less appealing in linux) though my iBook-toting friend did
and (I think) met with some success. I understand there to be a couple
(at least 2) patches to the 2.6 kernel which implement this kind of
feature. Again, I'm not an expert in the matter as I didn't investigate
the subject fully.
- You know what to expect out of gnu/linux applications on gnu/linux.
The Darwin basis of osx is not the same as linux/ppc. Look at all the
bugs going through bugs.gentoo.org assigned to osx@g.o and see for
yourself. For the most part, it's not too bad, but there are some
sticky points (like Libc vs. glibc).
- "Mac OS X is impossible to use." A claim made by my iBook-owning
friend. He finds he has zero productivity and can't get anything done
in osx so runs debian on it full time. I find it to be quite a pleasant
computing experience, once you turn off all of the "idiot-proofing". In
comparison, my opinion of Windows is that once you turn off all of the
"idiot-proofing" you can get access to, you have nothing more than a
spam-relay waiting to happen.
- Mac OS X is not "free software" (as in freedom). I don't know if
you have any personal ideals in regard to Free Software [3], but it is
something to consider. What you get from osx is a system of proprietary
software built on top of the Darwin base. For a closer look at the
matter, see what the Free Software Foundation has to say [4]. Oh, and
so far it's been a pain in the ass to build a darwin system from Apple's
source. If anyone has any suggestions/experience with this, please let
me know off-list.
At the cost of brevity, I hope I've answered some of your questions (and
maybe raised a few more). Why did I buy a powerbook and why am I
running osx right now? Why am I involved in porting gnu software to a
non-gnu platform? More than I believe in free software, I believe in
choice. If someone wants to be sucked into a proprietary software
experience, let them. It is not my place to tell people how to use
their machines (or what to do in general). I find osx to be quite
innovative in comparison to the Windows competition and I also want to
support a company which is moving toward open development practices. I
also found the hardware packaged in this little gem to be superior to
what competitors offered for an even larger price. Finally, I am a
student of computer science, specifically Operating Systems and Software
Systems (currently). The challenge of moving an infrastructure
(software system) from one architecture to another is fascinating to me.
Besides, how else will I be able to run clisp on the osx platform and
learn a bit about the new operating system environment at the same time? ;)
Finally, if you decide to not go down the PPC route, I'd suggest
checking out Los Alamos Computers [5]. I have not had any personal
experience with them, but if I were buying a new x86 today, I would buy
a box from them (as opposed to building it from oem components as I've
done in the past). Just a suggestion.
Good luck,
-Nick Dimiduk
[1]
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/editorials/article/1465.1/ [2]
http://www.crucial.com/ [3]
http://www.fsf.org [4]
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/apsl.html [5]
http://www.laclinux.com/ --
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