Mr. Page:
Matthew Page wrote:
This is not flame-bait.
Darn! ;-)
I am soon going to be going to graduate school to get myself a little more edumacated. I plan on following a parallel programming/data visualization track. (Just as background information for my question.)
I am not a programmer (though "data visualization" seems cool), so my opinion might be worthless. That will not stop me from having an opinion, however!
I plan on running Linux on a laptop, so my question to you is this... Is there a compelling reason to buy a Powerbook and put Linux on it instead of ordering a fat-bob x86 laptop and putting Linux on it?
I have about $3000 in the budget [...]
The answer is, as always, "That depends...." What do you plan to do with the laptop? What programs are required in your course of study? What are the other students in the program using? What are the faculty in the department using? You may even have to use Microsoft (spit) development tools. It is possible that this decision will be made for you.
Meanwhile, many "command-line gurus" have been migrating to the PowerBooks because it is Unix on a laptop done right. In Mac OS X, the command-line is there, the compilation tools are there, the languages are there. Battery management is there. Sleep *works* (not a trivial thing on a Linux-based laptop).
Other advantages of a PowerBook or iBook include: good value for the price (especially the iBook), light weight, convenient form, relatively sturdy design, *excellent* support for graphics, including external monitors or projectors (for presentations), native versions of Microsoft (spit) Office tools, generally high quality of software, including shareware, freeware, and Open Source (look at the Fink project). And, all of this is *before* you install Yellow Dog Linux or another distribution.
The downsides of a PowerBook or iBook include: inability to purchase a stripped down/low cost version, incomplete support for Linux (YDL or otherwise), *no* Open Source driver support for 802.11g wireless networking, fewer available ports of Open Source/Linux software, and so on.
and the laptop should be able to last me through a PHD without having to be replaced. (If possible... I'm not talking about theft here...)
If you need a laptop primarily for note taking, word processing, presentations, productivity, with less emphasis on Linux-specific tools or x86-specific development, then get the PowerBook (or iBook), install YDL on a partition, and dual boot. You may find that you can spend most of your productive hours in Mac OS X, with an occasional foray into YDL.
If, however, Linux will be your primary, if not sole operating system, then get a decent x86 laptop (possibly a Thinkpad, though I have little experience), and install Fedora, Mandrake, Debian, Ubuntu, or your favorite distro. Linux development greatly favors the x86 architecture, and you will struggle less if you accept this. Don't expect to get sleep or hibernation working in Linux without a struggle, however.
However, if you really have $3000 to spend, consider this option: purchase a tricked out iBook (US$1000-1200 at the Apple Store for Education), and spend the rest on a mid-range desktop PC onto which you can load Fedora or Debian. The best of both worlds. And, you can throw Microsoft (spit) Windows out -- well -- a window!
Good luck!
Best wishes, Clint
-- Dr. Clinton C. MacDonald | <mailto:clint DOT macdonald AT sbcglobal DOT net> _______________________________________________ yellowdog-general mailing list [email protected] http://lists.terrasoftsolutions.com/mailman/listinfo/yellowdog-general HINT: to Google archives, try '<keywords> site:terrasoftsolutions.com'
