I Joined The Cult

An Apple a day...

Published on March 17, 2004 By DesignGuy In Blogging

Yikes!

At least it feels like I've joined a cult.

I've been a diehard PC user since, well a long time (DOS 2.06 is where I became proficient ). I discovered UNIX in the early 90's and I'm a UNIX nut. I absolutely LOVE that operating system - it is everything I have ever wanted and more. So anyway, when a friend gave me a Mac G4 for free I accepted it - but with some trepidation.

I don't like Macs. I've worked with Macs since forever also, starting with the first Macintosh. I always wanted to boot the !*@# things out the window when the little bomb would come up with "OK" as the only option. Don't get me started on that little "Happy Mac" icon. Thankfully about 4 years ago we finally got rid of the last Macs where I work and I've been happy ever since.

Then came the offer. I couldn't turn down a free computer, especially one that is close to cutting edge. Anyway, I took the stupid thing and promptly put it in a corner swearing not to hook it up until I cleared some room for it on the desk. It is a big desk and it would take some time.

A couple of months passed and I started feeling guilty about having the Mac just sitting there so I cleared the room and finally hooked it up to the second input on one of my monitors. Booted her up the first time and... discovered my friend had stripped all the memory out of it and put just enough back to let it boot (128 Mb).

Ok, off to the computer store, discover there are 31 different flavors of Mac G4's and promptly buy the wrong RAM. Figures, it was too cheap and would have fit just about any G4 other than the one I have. Back to the store, trade the existing RAM and another $100 for 1 Gb of the right stuff.

Finally, with the RAM sorted and being able to actually OPEN something on the computer I discover that it is running OS 9.something. This won't do - too much like the old hated OS. I was expecting the new OS 10 software with a UNIX soul and the ability to actually play nice with a Windows machine but got THIS! OK, shut her down again.

A couple of weeks pass and I finally get my round-2-its to buy version 10.3 (OK for your Mac fanatics - it's OS-X Panther OK?). Now I'm $300 into a free computer and getting ready to install the new operating system. I'll let you know whether there will be a cheap Mac for sale probably later tonight

I haven't decided what I'm going to do with this thing yet, but it will give me something to play with. I should be able to run some open source UNIX based software on it (I've done a little research) so we'll see. I'll bet I end up having to buy another hard drive for it next.

Beware of free computers.

Comments

Jamie Burnside

on Mar 17, 2004

I work at a public school. There are Apples all over the place. What a pain-in-the-ass to use them if you're not familiar with all of the particulars.

Those i-books seem to have been designed by Satan himself.

I have PCs in my own personal office. Thank goodness.

BigFire

on Mar 17, 2004

You want a cult? Amiga is a cult.

Angloesque

on Mar 18, 2004

Too bad. I love my mac. But --and no offense-- I don't do all kinds of crazy programming stuff with it. I just do a bit of design and word processing and other miscellaneous programs.

Hey, if you're serious about selling it...well, I can't afford even what you've put into it. But if you give it away, page me.

Mark Wynne

on Mar 18, 2004

DesignGuy, at least give it a try. You'll like it if you love unix. The underpinings of 10.3 (panther) are BSD 5.0 based. All your familiar unix tools are there. X is included right with the OS by apple. If you install fink (via sourceforge) you even have an automatic package management system for your familar unix software like GIMP, KDE, etc...

I look at mine as unix with a decent face on it. It's a great computer system. You can use it as a Mac that even your mother could use or as a unix power user's box.

Mark.

messybuu

on Mar 18, 2004

Clearly your only option is to sell the G4 (to me).

Honestly though, I'm sure you'll like it eventually.

DesignGuy

on Mar 18, 2004

Oh yeah - my main machines are PCs, but it is nice to have what I consider to be a cute UNIX box now

DesignGuy

on Mar 18, 2004

Amiga fanatics are definitely a cult... I've got a friend that fits the category - still can't give them up!

Thanks for the comment

DesignGuy

on Mar 18, 2004

I don't think I'm going to spend the money to get Photoshop for my mac just yet. I'm mostly going to get use out of it playing on the UNIX side and maybe using it to capture photographs off the camera directly.

I'll keep you in mind if I give it away

DesignGuy

on Mar 19, 2004

yeah - that was the reason I took the machine. It is a little bit difficult to get used to the Mac side of things but the terminal window felt friendly

I'm thinking about using it as a file server, too. Thanks for the comment.

DesignGuy

on Mar 19, 2004

Thanks Super Baby - I'm going to give it a shot. My major complaint is solved - I can finally get to a real operating system when something goes wrong.

Welcome Guest! Please take the time to register with us.
There are many great features available to you once you register, including:

Richer content, access to many features that are disabled for guests like commenting on the forums.
Access to a great community, with a massive database of many, many areas of interest.
Access to contests & subscription offers like exclusive emails.
It's simple, and FREE!