(2006-06-15) Bray Pilgrim Vs Mac

Mark Pilgrim just dumped MacOs X for LinuxOS. I'm creating things now that I want to be able to read, hear, watch, search, and filter 50 years from now. Despite all their emphasis on content creators, Apple has made it clear that they do not share this goal. Openness is not a Cargo Cult. Some get it, some don't. Apple doesn't. (Open Format-s, Dead Media)

• an interesting follow-up on Data Migration and Open Format-s. In MacOs X 10.4, Apple deliberately changed MailApp to use their proprietary .emlx data format, apparently to work around the limitations of Spot Light... I started thinking about the risk factors that would increase the number of conversions. Data readable by only one application is a big risk factor, because the application won't be around forever. If that application only runs on one operating system, that's even worse, because the operating system won't be around forever either. If that operating system only runs on one hardware platform, that's even worse still... Open Source != Open Format-s, and there are many examples of undocumented and underdocumented data formats in open source applications. The GIMP is a particularly egregious example. Its default .xcf format can only be read by GIMP and is deliberately undocumented outside the source code.

Tim Bray is considering the same move.

Cory Doctorow also switched.

Tim OReilly discusses it. A couple commenters note that they have recently switched from Ubuntu to MacOs X.

Issues I have with my IBook:

• some apps not available, like great CVS/SVN integration into file browser (and some music-service apps)

• some online games don't work - not sure if this is due to MsIE-specific markup, or something else

• Jihi's not happy with OutlookWebAccess interface, it works better with MsIE.