get a thinkpad t42 and install ubuntu (then install kubuntu-desktop).
you really can't go wrong with this combo - everything works (with the
possible exception of suspend/hibernate which i never use myself). if
you just gotta run windows apps, install vmware-player and run them in a
virtual machine. i don't do much multimedia stuff so i'll leave those
app suggestions to future posts.
jason
Tarus Balog wrote:
Okay, this topic is a little long, so let me apologize in advance.
My 12" Powerbook turned 3 last month, and it's time to think about a
new laptop. The Intel Powerbooks are too new for me (if I get one of
those I'll probably wait until this summer or if possible after the
Developer's Conference in August) although the one we have in the
office is screaming fast.
While I love my Powerbook, I am getting a little nervous about the
direction that Apple is taking with respect to DRM. I used to have an
Alfa Romeo, and when a saw one in a movie I rented (they still sell
them in Europe) I want to send the picture to a friend to figure out
the model. So I placed the DVD in my Mac, paused on the frame with car,
and tried to take a screenshot.
A dialog popped up saying that I couldn't do that.
What? I can understand taking steps to protect against ripping an
entire DVD, but a picture from it? Get real. I brought up VLC and took
the picture anyway, but it did tarnish the love affair I was having
with my laptop (no comments from the peanut gallery, please).
Next, Mac hardware is just so darn expensive. Even the switch to Intel
won't do much for that, and it looks like AMD is taking names in the
speed department in any case. We bought an AMD64 powered Shuttle for
demoes that is crazy fast.
Finally, the Linux desktop, quite frankly, has gotten much, much better
in the last three years. I usually run Debian on my servers and have
little interaction with a graphical desktop, but I find it easier to
use CentOS on 64-bit machines, and when I am using KDE on those systems
I have been pleasantly surprised at how nice it is.
So - before I buy my next Mac I was thinking about playing with using
Linux as a desktop again.
On to the questions:
1) What should I look at in terms of a nice, clean, powerful desktop? I
like KDE. Is there a distro out there that is stable enough to use in a
mission critical application (i.e. my desktop) that is current enough
to contain lots of cool, bright, shiny things? I think Debian is out
since I don't want to run sid. CentOS? Ubuntu? I doubt anyone has
duplicated the usefulness of Exposé, but one can hope.
2) Recommended apps? I believe I will have to have CodeWeavers just
because my job requires access to Office and I'd like access to iTunes,
but others:
Office: OpenOffice, KOffice?
iTunes: xmms?
Photoshop: Gimp
Mail: Thunderbird
Browser: Firefox
Widgets: ?
Calendar: ?
Address Book: ?
Adium: ?
iPhoto: Gallery?
iMovie: ?
iDVD: ?
3) Connectivity: How is the current support for wireless (I love the
"Location" feature of OSX) and bluetooth? iSync?
I make my living with open source software and I truly believe in it. I
think that the community has done a great job of porting standard Linux
apps to OSX and creating new open source offerings for the platform.
But there is something in the back of my mind that keeps nagging me
that Apple may be turning evil, and now would be a good time to figure
out if there are some alternatives. I may have grown too comfortable
with my Mac "just working" but it is worth a shot.
Thanks for any suggestions.
-T
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Tarus Balog
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