Am I hip enough to be a Mac guy?

As many of you know, I’ve become quite the avid Linux user. Lately, however, I’ve been feeling kind of conflicted about my decision to embrace it. To cut a long post short (you can see the rest of it below), I’m considering saving up for a Mac.
Specifically, I’ve been having some compatibility problems lately that are really getting to me:

For one, my Pocket PC. The Synce suite should allow my Pocket PC to effortlessly connect… but that’s not the case. After hours of reading support docs and playing around with it, I managed to get it to coonect once… and have been unable to replicate the feat since. This is a big problem, since I keep my life on my Pocket PC and I need it to sync to Evolution (a product like Microsoft Outlook).

Also, my scanner is no longer recognized, and… Well, no need to endlessly bitch about it.

So, basically, I’m torn about what to do about my computer issues. I’ve tried switching back to Windows, and customizing the hell out of it. I can make it look very pretty, and make it a lot more robust and secure. But it’s MUCH less customizable… For example, in Linux I easily wrote a little script to randomly select a Simpsons episode and play it. I have no idea who I would even DO that in Windows. Also in Linux, I have Apt-Get for free access to thousands of excellent programs, all of which I can customize to me.

…All of this leads me towards my current feelings– Maybe a Mac is just right for me, with my combination of interest in getting down and dirty, and my desire for things to “just work”. The new generation of Macs have Fink, which allows a huge number of Linux programs to run Macs, and support Apt-like functionality. I’d have a secure UNIX base system with easy command line access. Plus, I’d have a beautiful interface that “just works”, compatible with all my peripherals and software. Plus, I’m increasingly comfortable on Macs, since my previous lab used Macs exclusively.

So, what do you all think?

6 Responses to “Am I hip enough to be a Mac guy?”

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You need us to say something? It sounds like you’ve already made the decision for yourself…

(And until you do give it a try, you’ll probably keep wondering if you should.)

Teisha - September 10th, 2004 at 9:29 pm

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True enough, Teisha. I guess my mind is fairly made up. But the act of writing this post helped me articulate to myself my reasoning for my feelings, which is quite useful.

Paradoxdruid - September 10th, 2004 at 9:43 pm

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I suspect that you “should” get one, though I think the other computers you have should probably be sufficient for your needs. But, to each their own. 🙂 I know that for me, personally, neither Linux or a Mac would really be a good choice. But, you’re a technology addict and you deal a lot more with the “technical” side of stuff, so if you think a Mac will help you explore, go for it.

And, frankly, Druid, why do you “need” a program to randomly select a Simpsons episode? Couldn’t you live without that?

ShortSpeedFreak - September 11th, 2004 at 11:56 pm

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The better question is, “how can anyone live without such a program?” 😉

Basically, it’s just another way to express my geek-lust. I can write a little script to do that? Neat!

Now, I just need to figure out my budget, to see how long saving for one will take… probably a long time.

Paradoxdruid - September 12th, 2004 at 1:55 am

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the time it takes to save the money depends on a few factors.

1. How much stuff your willing to part with. If you sold some of your used stuff you probably could make a pretty penny.

2. How much your willing to steal from people

3. How much work your willing to do above and beyond the 80+ hours you’ll need for school

Gilvoro - September 12th, 2004 at 8:39 pm

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You forgot about how much weight one’s willing to lose…

Teisha - September 12th, 2004 at 9:37 pm

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