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PRESS RELEASE: TUAW writer bucks trend, sticks with Mac OS X
Conrad Quilty-Harper, a writer for Mac site TUAW.com, has decided to continue using his Macintosh computer, countering the recent trend for high profile Ubuntu switchesFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECanterbury, Kent, United Kingdom (July 26th, 2006) - Conrad Quilty-Harper, a writer for the popular Macintosh blog, The Unofficial Apple Weblog, has announced a bold plan to continue using Mac OS X for the foreseeable future. According to Conrad, this move is partly in reaction to the recent trend for relatively high profile figures across the web to announce their plan to switch away from the Mac OS operating system to Linux-based operating systems, in particular Ubuntu.On the subject of Ubuntu switchers Cory Doctorow, Mark Pilgrim and now Bryan O'Bryan, the owner of Mac modding and hacking site ResExcellence, Conrad said, "I just don't care." He also poses the question, "Since when did a person's computing platform of choice become a matter that must be announced to the public?"As an example of his extraordinary resilience, Conrad says that he will continue to use the Mac until either his needs exceed the Mac operating system's capabilities, or he gets a life and decides that he didn't need a computer anyway. Conrad also states that he agrees with John Gruber's point of view regarding the Ubuntu switching trend. "I defend the right of others to switch to other operating systems, and even to point out the shortcomings of the OS they are switching away from, but please, can we stop the whole 'NEWSFLASH: random dude switches away from the Mac!' nonsense?"
Make Ubuntu look like OS X
Ubuntu is a Linux distro (that's distribution to you, n00b) that is almost easy enough for none techs to run on their desktops, but it isn't quite there yet. That's not enough to stop plenty of people from downloading and installing this most excellent OS on their machines (and I count myself amongst that number).What if you love OS X's looks, but don't like the closed nature of Apple's software (I'm looking at you, Mark Pilgrim)? Why not make Ubuntu look like OS X? Lauri Taimila has a guide that can get you started on that.
The race to get Linux on Intel Macs
ComputerWorld has an interesting article up about how the various flavors of Linux are working, or not working, towards running on the new Intel Macs. Since the chips in the new Macs use the relatively new EFI (the successor to BIOS) most Linux distros will not work on the Intel Macs, yet. Ubuntu, Novell, and Red Hat are all working on porting their OS's to the new Macs.One flavor of Linux that you won't be able to run on your brand spanking new iMac (ever) is Yellow Dog. Terra Soft will not be porting their OS, which was designed especially for the Power PC architecture.
Open source .Mac alternative?
This is pretty cool. Ubuntu, in case you haven't heard of it, is a flavor of Linux whose tagline is: "Linux for Human Beings." In other words, it is meant to be easy to use by everybody. Some Ubuntu members are planning on building a .Mac-Like service for Ubuntu that would offer Webmail, Calendar, Address Book, News Reader, Public Homepage, and Blogging services along with a slew of other features for free. This project has hardly started, but if it succeeds nicely in Linux land, it probably wouldn't be that difficult to adapt to OS X, thanks to the open source underpinnings of both platforms. A free version of .Mac that is scalable and usable by all? Sounds like heaven. [via Digg]
Where's the Linux Media Center?
If someone has the time to cook up the excellent Xbox Media Center modification, why isn't there a killer media center setup for Linux PC's? Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols investigates, pointing out MythTV and a few others, but seems mostly unsatisfied.Also for the interested is a rundown on how to get MythTV up and running with Linux (via digg) thats a bit less complicated that the guide we previously posted.
