[CS-FSLUG] Macs replace university's Linux desktops

[Timothy Butler]

On May 27, 2005, at 11:03 PM, 國產 Wei-Yee Chan (Made in Chinar)  
wrote:

> Yes, the GUI is very impressive indeed, but like you've said,  
> there's a
> lot of open source software underneath.  My personal stance is that  
> it's
> not right for them to charge so much for an OS that's mostly built  
> upon
> other people's efforts.

     Well, $199 for a 5 computer license of Mac OS X (full, Apple  
doesn't do "upgrades") is pretty decent. It may be that it has much  
FOSS stuff underneath, but unlike Linspire or Xandros, its  
proprietary layer adds significant value rather than merely hooks to  
keep people from installing the software on a bunch of computers.

     When I pay for Mac OS X, I'm not paying for the FOSS stuff --  
that's all rereleased in a complete package by Apple under the name  
Darwin. What I'm paying for is the stunning Aqua GUI, Mail, Safari,  
Finder, Address Book, Sherlock, iLife, Dashboard, Spotlight, iCal,  
improved drivers, etc., that make Mac OS X a different system from  
GNU/Linux. While *nix is underneath and I take advantage of it, many  
users would never see the similarities, because Apple has spent so  
much time engineering a non-*nixy face onto the system. And, for that  
matter, much of the core has been drastically changed by Apple (and  
rereleased as FOSS) -- including the Mach Microkernel with BSD  
enhancements, the new init system, etc.

     -Tim

---
Timothy R. Butler | "Turning and turning in the widening gyre
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