So I am still using my Macintosh. My excuse is that my client load is getting higher and I don’t have the same workflow under Linux. Over the last three weeks getting my work done and not having to think about the process and not having to learn anything about something outside the app are my primary concerns. The technical demands of my work are all filled by Linux, but the truth is that every time I look at my desktop I am amazed at the amount of finesse Apple developers have; which makes my workflow a whole lot smoother. Right now my favorites apps are the obvious Adobe products, but on the shareware side skEdit, chronosync and transmit (panic brings me back every time) have my heart.
That being said I hate the dependency I have on the developers of some of my favorite programs. It has happened more than once that the developer of an application I like has disappeared, leaving myself and many others SOL. I am not a developer but if those apps where open source then others could have kept our favorite app alive, but then again how many open source apps are just lines of numbers in some file that no one ever complies? Considering I am not a developer and being a creature of habit I tend to stick with my favorite apps (for work in my free time I’ll pay with anything I can get my hands on), the open source nature of an app is only ideologically important…not a technical demand. I am well aware of the benefits for open source software but they don’t apply to me. It would be foolish of me to deny the power house Linux is developing into; however I have it hasn’t gotten to the point to replace my desktop 100% of the time (but I don’t have a server that doesn’t run a *nix).
