Advice

I just installed Ubuntu Hardy Haron through a Virtual machine on my mac, and I have some questions. First what can it do that mac can't. I know that it is entirely open source, and can run windows applications through Wine, but what else? Second, what applications do you think I should install?

It can right click; which Mac can't do... well, you might need to buy a new mouse though.

Aside from that...
Lots of useless eye candy which mac can't do, youtube for Compiz Fusion...
Apps are usually free (legally)
Lighter on CPU compared against Windows, not sure about Mac
MUCH MUCH MUCH more developer friendly if you're planning to code anything


Problems you'll encounter:
* No iTunes, cannot sync iPod Touch / iPhone via USB cable.
* Lots of programs won't emulate properly
* "I can't get used to it"

Personally, I stick with the moto of if you're not sure why you're changing OS, then don't do it. If you're changing OS for the eye candy, don't do it. If you don't have a very specific and valid reason, don't do it. Oh, and if you're a noob who can't even control mac / windows properly, for the love of god, and linux user help community, don't do it.

Many people make the jump only to go back after a while with nasty back-taste in their mouth because they don't know how to use the system. And then they start to bad-mouth the OS leaving bad impression for everyone else who is genuinely interested and can use it proper... Don't be one of them idiots and repeat their mistake ;)

It can right click; which Mac can't do... well, you might need to buy a new mouse though.

Aside from that...
Lots of useless eye candy which mac can't do, youtube for Compiz Fusion...
Apps are usually free (legally)
Lighter on CPU compared against Windows, not sure about Mac
MUCH MUCH MUCH more developer friendly if you're planning to code anything


Problems you'll encounter:
* No iTunes, cannot sync iPod Touch / iPhone via USB cable.
* Lots of programs won't emulate properly
* "I can't get used to it"

Personally, I stick with the moto of if you're not sure why you're changing OS, then don't do it. If you're changing OS for the eye candy, don't do it. If you don't have a very specific and valid reason, don't do it. Oh, and if you're a noob who can't even control mac / windows properly, for the love of god, and linux user help community, don't do it.

Many people make the jump only to go back after a while with nasty back-taste in their mouth because they don't know how to use the system. And then they start to bad-mouth the OS leaving bad impression for everyone else who is genuinely interested and can use it proper... Don't be one of them idiots and repeat their mistake ;)

To add on -

It will be very hard on you to start most Linux (BSD, Solaris, etc.) Operating Systems with no knowledge whatsoever of command line, but lucky for you, Mac OS X and Ubuntu both use bash as command line. So, if you've ever used command line in Mac OS X, you're in luck. However, (Ubuntu in particular) most Open Source Operating Systems are VERY well documented and troubleshooting is simplified by a lot.

What I really like about Ubuntu is it's customization, you can make it fit for yourself so you can work in an environment you like. Like Andy said, you can have lots of Eye Candy, with themes (for the entire Operating System most of the time), multiple workspaces, etc.

Also, like Andy said, most Applications for Ubuntu are Free and (frequently) Open Source. Getting to work with these applications is hard, but is worth it. In the end (take GIMP for example), it can do as much as it could if you had to pay for the application (like Photoshop). But, it takes time to do this, so you have to be devoted to your Operating System.

About Andy Huang's comment on the lightness on the CPU, the Operating System itself is very light on the CPU, however, once you run the Applications (sometimes FireFox is a memory hog)and have X11 and a Graphical Manager running, it can really use a lot. Take KDE for example, it uses up 256 MB of RAM just to run, which can be strenuous on people like me who only have 516 MB RAM or so. However, you can use GNOME (which is default Ubuntu), KDE (Kubuntu), XFCE - which is very light, but not the lightest (Xubuntu), etc.

Yes, Ubuntu is VERY developer friendly, just recently, I began writing Perl and it was amazing that the Text Editor itself had inbuilt functions for writing Perl already! It really accelerated my Perl experience and impressed me. :)

You can emulate any Operating System, and dual boot also. Even if it is crappy, it works. :)

Another thing I really like about Linux (again, Ubuntu in particular) is its driver support, it has MANY native drivers, and if those don't work, you can always use ndiswrapper (project evil) for Window's drivers. It is (normally) built for many processors - and the fact that mos of the Operating Systems are Open Source (if you ever learn to code) you can modify the code. I think, that the single best part about these Operating Systems is their community and foundation behind them.

The downsides..

Well, I think a biggy (like Andy said) is the no syncing via USB cable, but you can easily use WINE with iTunes and have it run decently and natively with Ubuntu/Linux (I don't know if support for 7.5 + is out yet though), or you could emulate Windows/Mac. Another alternative is SSHing, but that's a bit of a complicated process that I don't really know.

Another downside would be the lack of some applications you would normally see (and use). Example: Photoshop. Adobe doesn't make Photoshop for other Operating Systems like Linux, BSD, Solaris, etc. the reason, I don't know, but I believe it's because they're not kind to Open Source communities.

Getting used to the interface, and UNIX in general is tough! You'll be using command line a lot (usually) and it takes patience. However, this really allows you to expand and enhance your knowledge of UNIX and Operating Systems in general.

That's all I can think of for now, if I have more time, I'll edit and post more. :)

I just want to add on that you shouldn't be scared, and that sshing is made extremely easy.

There are tons of websites that offer tutorials and explanations for every situation imaginable. You will most ofterln find commands written out for you on the net, allowing you to copy/paste and learn very easily.

Sshing is a matter of entering your ipods ip address and password and adding it to the the keychain. Then you can browse it just as a local hard drive. A nice plus about amarok (the most popular Linux music program) is that it can sync via ssh. I dont see why you guys think this is a problem - it is actually really convenient.

And, Linux has cool themes and nice eye candy. You'll be impressed.

So, good luck if you decide to switch!