Bubye OSX!

[mtnbkr]

I tried, I really tried to make it work, but it just wouldn't do what people claimed it would do.  On top of that, it was just too...weird for me.  I didn't like the interface at all.  I tried to take solace in the Unix underpinnings, but it felt more like Unix's "special little brother".  The entire time I thought I was using a "toy" because all the commands and features I'm used to are absent or dumbed down.

All I wanted was to run a file/print server and a web server to share pics with my family.  The file server and web server parts were easy.  Printing never worked as expected.  I could print from the Cube and I could see the printer from my laptop, but I could never print from the laptop to the printer via the Cube.  No error messages, print jobs just spooled and disappeared.  An Apple consultant I know says printing via shared printers under OSX is flaky.

I also wanted it to be a headless box.  That wouldn't even work right.  Apple consultant recommends VNC.  It wouldn't connect.  Much research later, I confirm everything is set right, but it won't connect. 

I tried something else today.  I installed a larger harddrive I had on hand and installed Ubuntu for PowerPC.  In no time at all I had the file sharing, print sharing, web serving, VNC accessible box I wanted.  I'm loading my files to it right now.  The interface doesn't feel broken and it does what I tell it to do, rather than assuming I'm too stupid to do it myself (and folks though Windows was bad).  I don't even have to settle for VNC, I can load a remote XWindows program and execute apps on the box and have them display on my laptop via the network, letting the Cube do all the processing.

So much for that experiment...

Chris

[roo_ster]

Same thing happened to every Mac I ever got my hands on: blow away MacOS and run linux.

[Manedwolf]

An Apple consultant I know says printing via shared printers under OSX is flaky.

I have never had a single problem printing to any of over a dozen printers on a Windows network at work.

To each their own. Engineering professionals seem to like raw Unix better, creative professionals seem to like OSX's Aqua better. YMMV. 

[Regolith]

An Apple consultant I know says printing via shared printers under OSX is flaky.

I have never had a single problem printing to any of over a dozen printers on a Windows network at work.

To each their own. Engineering professionals seem to like raw Unix better, creative professionals seem to like OSX's Aqua better. YMMV. 

It's because "creative professionals" aren't usually computer people.  They wantneed an interface that holds their hands for them.  Engineering professionals, on the other hand, are control freaks, and prefer an interface that gives them the greatest amount of control over their computer.

OSX serves up the former, Unix/Linux serves up the latter, and Windows occupies a niche somewhere in between (though it is closer to the hand-holding of OSX than it is to the freedom of control of Unix/Linux).

[mtnbkr]

I think you misunderstand.  The printer was attached to the Mac, shared out to my network.  My Windows laptop could see the printer attached to the Mac and even thought it could print to the Mac connected printer, but nothing came out of the printer. 

The mac, on the other hand, could print to the printer all day (it was connected via USB).

Because the Windows laptop is mobile (and one of two laptops that could be online at any given time), I wanted my external drives and printer accessible via the network (attached to the Cube) so I could get to them regardless of where I was in the house.  I just couldn't get OSX to do that even though it was configured exactly like the various online guides said to do it.

Chris

[Manedwolf]

It's because "creative professionals" aren't usually computer people.  They wantneed an interface that holds their hands for them.  Engineering professionals, on the other hand, are control freaks, and prefer an interface that gives them the greatest amount of control over their computer.

It's nothing to do with handholding. It's a desire to turn the machine on and immediately start getting billable work done without having to fight with the machine for hours. Creative professionals need to turn out all the commercials and shows on TV, all the ads in magazines and newspapers, without a hiccup, because they're on tight deadlines. They can't be bothered with a machine that causes the workflow to have a derailment in the middle of a group effort with artwork and layouts being handed back and forth at high speed. They don't want to have to configure things, or tinker. They just want the machine to work from the moment it's turned on. That is OSX Aqua.

As for control, the dotcom I was at actually canned a few hardcore linux sorts, because they were continually messing with their machines instead of getting billable work done. And that isn't the priority.

The goal of the creative professional is to not live up to Thoreau's statement of "We do not ride upon the railroad, it rides upon us." In other words, to not WORK ON the machine, but do WORK on the machine.

To each their own needs.

Because the Windows laptop is mobile (and one of two laptops that could be online at any given time), I wanted my external drives and printer accessible via the network (attached to the Cube) so I could get to them regardless of where I was in the house.  I just couldn't get OSX to do that even though it was configured exactly like the various online guides said to do it.

One of the work printers is on an Apple Xserv and works okay like that, for PC users. I'm not sure if that was a hardware issue unique to how the Cube works with OSX's Bonjour printer finding, or what...either way, glad it works for you now!

I just get annoyed when some people like Regolith refer to OSX as "hand-holding". It is not. It just meant for a specific purpose, fast creative workflow without tinkering. If you wanted a server, Linux might have been better for you, yes.

[mtnbkr]

It's nothing to do with handholding. It's a desire to turn the machine on and immediately start getting billable work done without having to fight with the machine for hours. Creative professionals need to turn out all the commercials and shows on TV, all the ads in magazines and newspapers, without a hiccup, because they're on tight deadlines. They can't be bothered with a machine that causes the workflow to have a derailment in the middle of a group effort with artwork and layouts being handed back and forth at high speed. They don't want to have to configure things, or tinker. They just want the machine to work from the moment it's turned on. That is OSX Aqua.

Once a machine is set up, nothing else needs to be done.  I spent less time getting Linux to do what I wanted than OSX (that includes installing the OS from scratch), so which one is more productive?

As for control, the dotcom I was at actually canned a few hardcore linux sorts, because they were continually messing with their machines instead of getting billable work done. And that isn't the priority.

Linux wasn't the problem here.  Their inability to focus on their true work was the issue.  Prior to computers, they would be the ones continuously organizing their desktop, sharpening pencils, etc.

Anyway, all that's left to my task is to get the data copied to the new system.  That's gonna take time regardless of the OS...

Chris

[Harold Tuttle]

you are either a mac guy

or you are not

the machine makes the choice though