Dug up a blog post on Loud Thinking

[rob]

http://www.loudthinking.com/arc/000433.html

This really bothers me. I know this is a post from 6+ mos ago, but I just ran across it, and this really bothers me.

Let me explain why. David is seeming to say that anyone that is using Windows is automatically less of a programmer than one using a Mac. He even gave Linux a brush aside, saying that Mac was just the best way to go, and he'd have a hard time hiring anyone who used Windows.

Does this bother anyone as much as me? I use Windows and Linux, and am very familiar with both. Does this make me a worse programmer because of this?

And, why is the Mac the best? Is this just one person's opinion? Why bring OS wars into open source programming.

This just seems silly to me.

Thoughts, anyone?

[steve_d555]

I've actually noticed that. It seems every video I see of Ruby on Rails is on a Mac. That post, however, bothers me too. He may feel that the heavily modified FreeBSD is better than Linux, but he shouldn't insult their personal opinion by saying that they are worse programmers. Open Source is about choice and we can't have that when people say things like this.

Also, many programmers are not as rich as some. Macs are incredibly expensive, the cheapest is the Mac Mini which is still a hefty 500$. Most people nowadays can buy a complete Athlon computer for ~400$ with a monitor and printer included.

Personally, I like Macs, but having to constantly work with them day in and day out would frustrate me. The GUI, although beautiful, is really the biggest thing that Mac OS X has going for it. I would even venture to say that some of the best programmers work on Linux (Torvalds, Morton to name a couple) and saying that just because they work on Linux they are inferior to OSX programmers is just plain ignorant.

I wonder what OS Matz uses?

[jeriko]

Hmph. I've heard many rants by die-hard Mac fanatics saying that Mac's are superior. It's really not uncommon. I respect all programmers equally; they all have talent. The reason one may be better than the other is only measured by their skill and experience in the field, not what Operating System they use. I run FreeBSD, Slackware, OS X Tiger and Windows 2000, so does that make me a good and not so good programmer?

Jeriko

[rob]

Absolutely.

In fact, it could be argued that one who would choose to use a proritary operating system of any kind without some kind of open source backup might be stunting their agile programming skills.

I'm sorry, but Mac OS is a propritary operating system, and no better off than Windows.

Why do the Mac zealots ignore this fact?

If you really want to be open and free from corporate influence, monopolies (Microsoft), and Quicktime, lousy digital rights media protection (AAC), and a "we're the best, how could you use anything else" attitude (Mac), Linux / UNIX is the only safe way to go.