

Ask HN: is Mac or Linux the choice for a modern web hacker? - BadassFractal

Let's say you're a lean mean startup web app writer heavily relying on the latest OSS techologies and frameworks to get your job done. You don't care so much for the MS .NET-based stack, you like your various rails, djangos, scalas and nodes and need to get stuff done fast and efficiently.<p>What would you choose? What are some good arguments in favor of using OSX (I generalized it to "Mac" in the title) over Linux and vice-versa?<p>Thank you!
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jemeshsu
No difference. OS X has Unix underpinning so its close to Linux. Choose the
one that makes you happy. If you're looking for excuses to buy a Mac, don't,
just go out and buy.

~~~
achompas
I disagree. Package management is a nightmare on Mac--bad enough that I work
on a Mint VM at home for my OSS contributions and on a Ubuntu VM at work. This
is a significant consideration for any dev.

Note: I know MacPorts exists, and I'm not a fan.

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andrewjshults
Homebrew (<http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/>) is a significant improvement
over MacPorts. The formulas also seem to be updated much quicker as well, as
far as I can remember from when I last used MacPorts.

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mattbillenstein
Develop on the same platform that you deploy on - which will probably be some
flavor of Linux...

That being said, I usually develop in a Ubuntu VM running on OSX -- so you get
the best of both worlds, a system that just works, and a development
environment that's the same as what you'll end up deploying on.

~~~
BadassFractal
Do you ever feel that the Ubuntu VM isn't fast enough and you wish you had a
real installation of the OS to work with, is the VM more than enough?

Also, what software do you use to manage that VM?

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signa11
> Also, what software do you use to manage that VM? could you please clarify
> what you mean by _managing_ a vm ? are you looking at running 100's or even
> 1000's of vm ? are you running your vm on dedicated h/w (most likely not !)
> which would most likely involve migrating running vm's across server blades
> etc. etc. for development needs, a handful of vm's can be very easily
> 'managed' by your virtualization solution...

~~~
BadassFractal
Managing is a bit of an overloaded term, I agree that it could be
misunderstood.

I was only asking about the software used to boot, save, load and configure
one or two VMs on a dev box.

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robertdempsey
If you look purely at what is needed to build a web app - the programming
language you'll use, an editor and a web browser - and you're a lone developer
(not working with a team with existing tools that you too will need), it's
hard for me to come up with a solid argument for buying a Mac purely for that
(though I'm a huge Apple fan). You can also use apps like Gimp on Linux to
create graphics.

Just about all business-ey apps you might need can be gotten for free from
Google Apps if you aren't worried about the big G having all your information.

If you already have a Mac though...

I also agree with the points of other commenters here. If you're working on
the same OS you're deploying to and have the exact same software installed
changes of FUBAR'ing the server by accident are reduced.

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SamReidHughes
It doesn't matter. Your life will only be marginally enhanced, no matter which
is better.

~~~
dextorious
Yeah. Except if he starts to work with multimedia. Edit video, make
professional grade midi/audio sequencing etc. Which with Linux will be a world
of pain and/or deadend.

Same if he wants to work with a CMYK design workflow, or in a professional DTP
environment etc. A world of pain again and/or deadend.

~~~
dextorious
Downvotes, really?

I can understand "religious" flames, but people at HN also disagree with
_statements of fact_?

Fact: Linux/OSS has bad/lacking/non-existent support for video editing. The
fact that you can point to 2-3 half-finished NLE projects that no professional
uses doesn't change this. There are the plugins, the drivers for capture
options, other supporting software, etc missing.

Fact: Linux/OSS had bad/lacking/non-existent support for MIDI/Audio
sequencing. The fact that you can point to 2-3 half-finished DAW projects that
no professional uses doesn't change this. There are the plugins, the drivers
for capture options, other supporting software, etc missing. No, some semi-
abandoned VST wrapper is not a solution.

Fact: Linux/OSS has bad/lacking/non-existent DTP/CMYK support. No Scribus
doesn't exactly cut it professionally, and the fact that GIMP got CMYK doesn't
change the lack of other parts of the CMYK workflow much.

~~~
SamReidHughes
While it's true that that's a reason for some people not to use Linux, it's
not a reason for _him_ not to use Linux, and it doesn't discount the point
which you replied to, that this decision probably doesn't matter. Everybody
already knows that you can only do some things on some operating systems.
Also, since we've established that listing statements of fact cannot be
downvoted...

Fact: Yo momma/guardian is so fat/obese/lardful, she added two and two and got
four!

Fact: Yo momma/guardian is so fat/obese/lardful, strip had a stack overflow!

Fact: Yo momma/guardian is so fat/obese/lardful, she crushes ants when she
steps on them!

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bigjohnman
While there are tools, usually the same tools, for both OS's... I personally
have found that anyone who is serious about hacking should have a working
knowledge of both OS's. Usually when I do any serious hacking, I use
BackTrack. This is a Linux OS that has all the tools and tutorials that I need
to crack a system. The problem I find with Mac OS X... The hacking tools are
readily available on the internet if you know what you are looking for, and
where to find them. So to put it simply, it takes more time to research how to
hack if you are using a Mac. I just want people to know, I love my Mac. I
upgraded to Lion the day it came out. I love my Ipod touch 4G, and my Ipad.
However I also love my Linux desktop. I can hack just about anything with it.

