OS X/Ubuntu/GnuLinux and cost

[David]

On Sun, Oct 09, 2005 at 02:16:16PM -0700, Daniel Robitaille wrote:
> 
> The other sticky point for me for OS X is the price tag.  To get the
> latest and greatest version of it (and Safari, and Mail.app, etc), you
> need to shell out 100+ $ every 18 months or so.  If you don't, then you
> have something that become slowly more and more obsolete, until it is
> not security supported in ~3 years.
> 
> While Ubuntu's deadlines for upgrade come more quickly (except for
> Dapper next April),  at least Ubuntu is not aiming at my wallet every so
> often :)

<soapbox>
What's the problem with shelling out $100 for an OS? Are you suggesting 
that there is no value in the work that goes into them? (even windows!). 
Do you also want your meals delivered for free? Do you want your hardware 
sent from the factory for nothing?

Getting Ubuntu or any other Gnu/Linux for nothing is a bonus, but not the 
point. OSX allows you to run lots of FOSS software and my understanding is 
that the kernel is open source, which is far more important.
</soapbox>

Returning to the topic... I run both Hoary and OSX, and OSX is still in 
front for usability, but Ubuntu is slowly catching up. It's the common 
non-free software that is going to be the stumbling block in the medium 
term in my opinion. For someone looking for flexibility, I think Hoary is 
now actually better because of Linux's easier access to the nuts and bolts 
of the system, especially the window management.

David.