Apr 29
And why not!? It runs Ubuntu beautifully!
PS: I bought this machine so that I can edit video, nothing I could find for Windows or Linux really did it for me. However, OSX is really terrible for me. It’s really way too oversimplified (and then some people complain about Gnome being too simple, really!). It’s default terminal font also hurt my eyes. When I have some spare time, I’ll run some things in Ubuntu and some in OSX and sees which performs better. Ubuntu certainly flies on this machine. Pity you can’t buy them without OSX tax. That would be awesome.
PPS: Any idea of platform independent benchmarks I could try?
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April 29th, 2008 at 10:05 pm
You could run Geekbench:
http://www.geekbench.ca
It runs on Ubuntu (open it in a terminal), Windows and Mac OS X.
On my pc Ubuntu get’s the highest score’s (around 2300 for Windows XP, 2980 for Ubuntu and 2936 for Mac OS X Leopard).
April 29th, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Surely it would be cheaper to just buy or build yourself a machine with equivalent spec (minus the Apple tax) or a better-specced machine for the same price?
The only real reason to buy an Apple machine is if you actually want OS X, IMHO.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:34 pm
I actually like the form factor of the mac mini. Maybe I’ll be able to get a good quality equivalent one day
April 29th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
I actually have been running a Mac Mini for a few weeks now , OSX on the internal 80GB and Hardy on a 160 External USB Drive, seems to run great in both modes.
April 29th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
I agree wholeheartedly - it’s that form factor!
April 29th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
There is no OS X tax, rather the opposite. Apple does not make money out of OS X, it makes money on Macs and iPods. However offering alternate operating systems is not compatible with their image nor their vision about how a computer should be[*].
[*] I find Apple’s vision great in many many ways, and we know that Gnome has taken many good ideas (HIG) from Apple. What I can’t stand is the iEverything, and that the free software library is more complicated to install.
April 29th, 2008 at 11:30 pm
Case in point for the opposite: The mac tax on OS X. What you wanted was a machine that runs OS X for some video application that probably does video work very well. So — that’s Mac tax, not OS X tax.
April 30th, 2008 at 9:50 am
What is “oversimplified” about the interface? I used a Mac Mini for a while, then sold it. There are several reasons why I finally sold the Mac, but I didn’t feel that the interface was oversimplified at all. It seemed to be very straight-forward, and I didn’t feel restrained. (And feeling restraint is something that I connect with the word “oversimplified”.)
FWIW, things I disliked about OSX:
It has a crappy window manager. There is no way to exactly juxtapose two windows, or to put a window flush against a screen edge. There is no way to make a window fill the whole screen.
I wasn’t convinced by either Fink or MacPorts. Fink didn’t have Aqua applications at the time, and MacPorts was lacking some software. Furthermore, the box was busy compiling stuff when I’d rather be using it.
Pros:
The best terminal program I’ve seen. You can mark text from the keyboard!
It looks great. I like its visual effects; on all other systems I can tolerate them at best. (I turned them off in Gnome, now all that’s left are visualization of urgent hints in the task bar and some iconification effect.)
The underlying Unix is well thought out and just makes sense.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:06 am
@Kai, well, a few things annoyed me. firstly, I couldn’t modify the top panel at all. I don’t use many applications, and would rather have one or two apps in my top panel and disable the big docker at the bottom. I also got annoyed with how ‘maximising’ works. I like my firefox to fill the display. The terminal has a horrible font by default, and it is rather limited. You can’t, for example, right-click on a link and click on ‘open link’ like you can in gnome-terminal. Highly annoying when you’re on IRC. Compiz fusion on Ubuntu has much nicer effects than OSX. Oddly enough, the Compiz Fusion effects often seem MORE apply than the OSX ones (like expo). I also miss the Debian package manager. I’m used to being able to type “apt-get install vlc” and it will be available for use immediately. Having to google for a program first, then download it, then install it!? Wow, takes me back to my Windows days
Maybe it’s just a personal thing and Ubuntu just happens to be a better fit for me personally. I like what Apple has done with OSX, but I think it needs a bit more work before I’ll be as satisfied with it as I am with Ubuntu.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:21 am
I do think Apple is not concerned about precise windows management or packet manager because people doesn’t need that.
why you should use a packet manager, when you can go to versiontracker, download the app and launch it right from the icon ? just put it in /Applications Voilà! it’s ready
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the top menu is not a “panel”, it’s the application menu and it will never change. Think of it as a beacon of stability.
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the compiz fusion effects are nice but with many bugs or lacks of thought.
try in os x to see in the same time “expose” and “spaces” : it works, and you can use the keyboard, you can move all windows from all spaces in one space with just the C touch , for example.
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simply that : compiz lacks polish.
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>I like what Apple has done with OSX, but I think
>it needs a bit more work before I’ll be as satisfied with it as I am with Ubuntu.
I think there are diametrically different philosophies here. Apple want to provide just the “good choice” and just the feature people needs. no more, not less, but never more. Because people are scared by computers. (and they are right :computers are horrible complex big electronic weird machine)
April 30th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I started off with a linux computer. Bought a mac mini as a semi portable computer. Now I have the mac and linux computer on my desk both set up with their own screens etc. I rarely even turn on my mac. Started a job where we were provided with mac computers. I bit the bullet for 2 months, but then had to take in my own linux computer. I think that says enough and I agree with OSX being over simplified.
April 30th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
[...] Jonathan Carter: I love my Mac! - He needed a new machine to do video editing and got a Mac, but he hates OSX so he put Ubuntu on it. Needless to say it works like a charm. [...]
April 30th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
I’ve got the same setup. I picked up a used G4-based mac mini a couple years ago and have been running Ubuntu on it. It’s hooked up as a “set top box” to a 24″ monitor, stereo system, and bluetooth keyboard and mouse to function as my primary entertainment system (my TiVo is hooked up to the same monitor and stereo, but rarely sees use).
May 1st, 2008 at 10:38 pm
On the other hand, I do not think Mac OS X is a good Unix. A true Unix would never name system folders with capital letters and spaces. I also miss the good old separate configuration .files.
The UI is very nice, though. Free software apps seldom have a UI that polished. However, Ubuntu makes it up with great package management and all the Unix tools at your disposal. Plus the great & free (as in freedom AND beer) software!
May 6th, 2008 at 7:58 pm
It certainly does seem that Apple makes good hardware, and the form factor of the Mac Mini is pretty great. It’s not user-serviceable though, which is a big bummer for us geeks. That one surprised me when I was looking to upgrade the RAM for ours here at work.
May 31st, 2008 at 9:47 pm
yup, the form factor of the mini is just awsome
i’m about to upgrade my 1.66ghz intel model upto a 2.19ghz dual core beast 
still gotta run windows for now tho, OsX & Linux don’t do so well with some of the more exotic high def video formats 
& the Mini is an amazing media centre 