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

["國產 Wei-Yee Chan (Made in Chinar)"]

No doubt that it's $199 for the family pack, but I suppose not many
families own more than 1 computer.  Think of all the expensive hardware
that Apple sell and you'll see why they're willing to offer the family
pack to U for "a steal".  The package might suit U, but not the masses. 
I believe that most Mac users purchase the single user license, which
costs $129.  That's like almost double the price of an OEM Windows XP
Home edition.  And as U have said, unlike Windows, U don't get an
upgrade discount.

I agree that the Mac OSX is a "different" operating system due to all
the re-engineering work.  To each his own - I guess it all boils down to
whether you'd wanna spend heaps of time  building your own OS or buy it
off the shelf.  OS X is a great OS, but I prefer Linux over it  cos
Linux is free.  Feel free to call me a cheapskate if U want to.  :-)

Timothy Butler wrote:

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