[ Thanks to Timothy R. Butler for this
link. ]
“Since it first surfaced a few years ago, it has been in vogue
to suggest that Mac OS X fulfills the promise that Linux first
made–a user friendly, powerful UNIX desktop. Linux is free now to
go off and play with the other servers; the UNIX desktop has
arrived and Linux need not apply for the job. It can be said with
complete certainty that Mac OS X is indeed a very user-friendly
environment, and enjoyable to work with as well. But does it really
displace Linux’s desktop hopes?“In a word, ‘no.’
“As always there are the naysayers who insist that Linux will
never make it to the desktop because of that other system known as
Windows. In this piece, I want to focus on the assertions of
another group, the one that insists that Mac OS X is really as
close to desktop Linux as we need or want, and that we should
support it rather than hedging bets on its Penguin-friendly cousin.
I think there are several problems that will keep OS X from this
supposed coronation to the throne of the Linux desktop, which I
will enumerate below…”