“Linux creator Linus Torvalds said this afternoon that he’s now running an Apple Macintosh as his main desktop,” Renai LeMay reports for ZDNet [who] sought to question Torvalds on why the man who has single-handedly revolutionised the use of Unix on the x86 platform would move away from it, and where he had moved to.”
LeMay reports, “Torvald’s response came quickly and succinctly. ‘My main machine these days is a dual 2GHz G5 (aka PowerPC 970) – it’s physically a regular Apple Mac, although it obviously only runs Linux, so I don’t think you can call it a Mac any more 
‘ he said. ‘Oh, and part of it is that I got the machine for free,’ said Torvalds, ‘I’m really a technology whore.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Too bad Torvald doesn’t boot into Mac OS X (unless he does in secret), it might help him discover ways to fix Linux’s biggest issue: the user interface. Anyway, Linux users, now that the Great Linus has switched hardware, go get Macs to run Linux and, in a few weeks, after you get everything configured… oh, we don’t know… boot into Mac OS X and give it a whirl. You know, just for grins. No biggie. Just whenever you get a chance to play with it and poke around a little. It’ll be a goof, just to say you did it, ya know?
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Microsoft’s Longhorn mess opens window of opportunity; time for Linux users to switch to Mac OS X – September 02, 2004
As much as we would like to say that Linus should switch and OS X has a great gui. That isn’t what he is after. He wants a good computer, that he can work on the Linux kernel. What I would take from this is that PPC is a leg up on X86, since someone is willing to switch to at least the hardware when given to him. Only time will tell if he will stay on it.
There is only one reason to use LINUX over OS X and that’s if you have a significant number of old PCs and you need to get off Windows. It’s far cheaper to move to LINUX than to move to OS X.
It’s hard for a business with all that hardware in place to move to OS X (at least businesses perceive it to be).
I used to love LINUX before OS X. Now there is absolutely nothing that OS X doesn’t do and doesn’t do easier than LINUX.
1. Apple Mac mini helps make the hardware switch easier.
2. “If the desktop Linux people really cared about using a great operating system, they would stop trying to reinvent the wheel and rally around Mac OS X. It would be great if the contest were between two worthy operating systems, like Mac and XP/Longhorn. But Linux vs. Longhorn? You’ve got to be kidding,” David Coursey, 9/22/2004.
I bet you he has both OSX and Lunux on his G5 but won’t admit it.
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You think it might be in dual boot mode?
“Too bad Torvald doesn’t boot into Mac OS X (unless he does in secret), it might help him discover ways to fix Linux’s biggest issue: the user interface.”
As a long time Linux user and also a long-time OSX user (since it first came out), I have to say that remark is pretty freakin lame. They are very different beasties. While OSX is a very good GUI, it could learn a lot from KDE and e.g. Fluxbox, namely native multiple desktops and just plain *speed*. I love OSX on my 1.5 GHz PowerBook, but it’s no replacement for my Linux workstation, and neither is my Slackware box any replacement for my PowerBook. The 2 serve different uses. Linux and Apple have a lot to learn from each other, lets hope flame-o-rific rhetoric doesn’t color the relationship so badly that neither learns anything.
I think most Linux on PPC users use MOL (Mac On Linux), instead of dual boot. Run Linux and Mac software at same time.
Linux on a Mac ! It is not cheaper after all to switch to Linux, let ‘s say OS X costs 129 €/$ ..wich you get with.. buying a Mac.
You have to buy all kind off Linux plug-ins etc..
No, do not talk nonsense that Linux is so much cheaper on a Mac.
On an old coffeemachine PC that’s a different story. . .
I keep hearing about how Apple is trying to align Mac OS X closer to Linux with every new release (as witnessed by their choice to use bash as the default terminal shell). Maybe it’s moving closer to Linux than people anticipated? If Linus got the G5 for free, who gave it to him? Maybe Apple is trying to work closer with the father of Linux?
Or maybe I’m smoking too much weed…
Agree John – he’d be lynched if he admitted using OSX. Bit like Bill Gates would if he were really honest and owned up to using OSX too!
Bill shouts to the next office:
“Hey Monkeyman? ..this OSX is real cool, you should try switching too, you’ll like it!”
More evidence (as if we needed it) that the Mac is now slap bang in the middle of the UNIX family.
I’m betting he’s got it dual boot too, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if OSX developers in Cupertino have dual booting going on as well. Linux stuff is being incorporated into all the BSDs, OSX included.
Gulf of difference between Jobs and Torvalds of course.. but could OSX and Linux ever really be merged? Commercial differences alluded to above aside…
I wonder what distro he’s using. My bet is YDL. TerraSoft is an Apple authorized reseller.
NoPCZone
This is Linus remember. Debian for sure, and I bet he’s compiled all his own drivers.
Yaaaay. Best thing about this is that Macs will no longer be 2nd class citizens in Linux. You can’t submit a kernel patch to Linus that’ll break compatibility outside of x86. Also in the long run this leads to a better PPC version of GCC which OS X directly benefits from. Believe me, someday when your machine feels a bit too slow for OS X, Linux will give it a new beginning.
I’m glad to see Linus using a G5. The Power platform is very underrated in the Linux community. In fact, I’m typing this on my iBook which is running Ubuntu Linux.
Don’t give me crap about user interface. There are some things I like better about Linux than OS X. Virtual Desktops, ability to add gradient to a solid color background. Burning CD’s with Nautilus is 100% better than Apples way. Many more options throughout.
I run OS X on my G5. I use my G5 for video editing. Other than that, I can’t think of any reason why I prefer OS X over Linux. There are way more applications available for Linux than OS X. Sure, you can spend $500 here, $500 there for apps on OS X. But for the typical home user, Linux offers a lot more. Until there are more open source apps on OS X at least.
By the way, I just bought a Mac Mini last night. I’m going to use it as a small server for home for web, subversion, dns, PostgreSQL and mail. Will I be running OS X on it? Nope. Its going to run Debian Linux. I don’t really care for OS X’s Unix underpinnings. Apple doesn’t upgrade them enough for my tastes and they don’t use the typical locations I expect.
Apple needs to get out of their user-centric mode of desktop application development. iPhoto and iTunes need to be family friendly. They should provide the user with a choice of location for storing photos and music.
Using OS X is like a dog being in a backyard with no fence, but being tied to a tree with a rope that lets the dog make it all the way to the edge of the yard.
Apple gives you this sense of freedom, but I always come across something in the apps or OS that reminds me that Apple ultimately decides how I use their OS not me.
I can see Linux devotees points but I still get the impression they forget the ‘normals’ use computers too.
Most can’t figure out basic stuff and would be lost with a Linux setup.
OS X is still way ahead of the curve there. Still if Apple made more strides to incorporate Linux into OS X there might be something to that.
Still, with all the free Apps out there for Linux I doubt Apple would want to shoot themselves in the foot.
The Linux business model is all wrong for a company to survive and flourish in the long term. Free software/OS/Updates? How would Apple or any company survive that way? It’s somewhat socialistic in some ways.
I don’t doubt Apple can learn something from Linux but aside from the geeks the majority doesn’t want to be able (and shouldn’t in most cases) be able to get under the hood the way Linux advocates tout as a advantage. Maybe for business but home users? I think not.
Still if Apple used Linux flavor as a base for OS X instead of BSD I wonder if most Linux users would have come on board. Somehow i doubt it.
jeff… very true. which is what stops many from switching.
Steve Jobs… the Karl Macs… hehehe
I may be wrong but don’t you need OS X on a Dual G5 to run the cooling? Without OS X don’t all 9 fans roarat full power all the time? Wouldn’t he have to Dual boot just to hear himself think?
You guys saying you think he is running OS X need to wake up and fast. Linus HATES OS X with a passion, not because of the GUI, not because of Apple, and not because he hates you personally. He hates it because OS X uses a microkernel and if Linus hates anything, its microkernels. If you don’t understand what a microkernel is, then you don’t understand Linus.
Al
Yellow Dog Linux can control the G5 fans quite happily, so the source code must also be out there.
Jack: I agree, I was speaking from a user’s standpoint. As a point of reference, my mom has been using Linux since 1998, and it took her some time to adjust to the “simpler” OSX interface on my PowerBook when she comes out for a visit, so it’s all a matter of perspective. I’m still trying to sell her on a G5 iMac as a replacement for her aging Linux PC (“but, Mom – Mozilla is Mozilla everywhere!”) …
Apple and Linux/BSD have their strengths and weaknesses – my complaint was really with MDN’s turgid rhetoric, not OSX, but then I suppose that’s why we’re all here
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I’m sorry, but who really cares? Lets be honest, 98% of the population doesn’t know or care who Linus Torvalds is, nor will any of them ever use his OS either for that matter…
I bet he has 8 GB of RAM too
The news is the “free” PowerMac G5 Linus got. The “BIG” news would be if Linus came out and said, “Mac OS X is da bomb.”
I’m not holding my breath!
Still… Thank God for Photoshop!!
Tera Patricks
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