

Ask HN: OSX vs Ubuntu for Ruby/Rails Development - zdzich

i use OSX since 5 years. Now i think about mac mini or PC. But i don&#x27;t know which one OS to chose . Any pros for leave OSX for Ubuntu? HELP ME
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kurt_
I never has a mac and i'm using linux-based distros for 8 years now. I love
rails and i'm happy with the following setup:

Elementary OS Luna beta (based on Ubuntu LTS
([http://elementaryos.org](http://elementaryos.org)), "rbenv" as ruby version
manager
([https://github.com/sstephenson/rbenv](https://github.com/sstephenson/rbenv)),
"bundler" as gem packages manager ([http://bundler.io](http://bundler.io)),
Sublime Text and vim as code editor
([http://www.sublimetext.com](http://www.sublimetext.com)) and SQlite as
developement database (or simply install PostgreSQL or MySQL throught apt-get
package manager)

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ndcrandall
I use Ubuntu. In a past life I was strictly a windows user. The thought has
crossed my mind to switch to a mac because of GUI nav speed and peer pressure.
It's not that trendy to haul around a 17" Dell XPS with a big power cable to a
coffee shop or ruby meetup. Luckily I realize that those good with macs could
be equally fast on Ubuntu with practice and being trendy is overrated. It's
all about getting things done and I like having a big monitor + power.

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lstrope
Ubuntu is a far better option for RoR development. \- apt-get is far better
than homebrew \- many things just work better in linux land (especially if you
are into emacs and the like). \- development on a system more closely
resembling production

the only thing OSX does better (for RoR) is development with GUI programs and
fonts... which most ubuntu-friendly developers are willing to do without.

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runjake
Both are fine. If you use an OS X-only editor like TextMate, that may be an
issue.

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roderick3427
I use vagrant on my mac that has Ubuntu loaded on my VM.

