linux claims to be easy to use like OS X. in my recent experience, it isn't. it's still a total pain just to install stuff like Rails. tutorials happily tell me where to get RPMs of a dozen things. When I try apt-get (package manager) it can't find all the dependencies it needs to even install ruby. A tutorial tells me to compile and install rubygems from source.
Even the linux-like application package managers for OS X work better than the originals. I never had any trouble with Darwin Ports.
I'm not saying linux is bad. It's a good thing and it's improving. I'm just saying OS X is easier and more friendly.
and don't tell me i did it wrong. that's beside the point. i used google for a while. i still didn't figure out a pleasant way to install a rails environment. that's way too hard.
Messages (2)
tutorials happily tell me where to get RPMs of a dozen things
Elliot, Linux is a very general term describing either the kernel of, or a collection of different operating systems using it. Calling a Linux-based operating system 'Linux' is a bit like calling OS X 'BSD'.
If you had to download RPMs you're not using the most user-friendly operating system.
Ububntu, a relatively young distribution, based on debain (and maintained by one of the most user-focused companies out there) has a very polished user interface, a focused selection of great software and a very convenient way of handling software installation. When I want to install something (Rails, for example), all I have to do is select is from a menu - not only does it install the framework, but all dependencies will be satisfied as well (so if Ruby wasn't installed, for example, it will be downloaded and installed automagically). When the software I installed is updated (because the authors added new features or fixed bugs) I will get the updates downloaded and installed for me in the background. If Ubuntu is not as easy to use as OS X (it's hard to judge, since habit place a role here and I have switched more than a year ago), than it's definitely not far away. Give it a try!
I typed into Google: ubuntu apt-get
One of the snippets reads:
about apt-get - Ubuntu Forums
apt-get behaves the same in Ubuntu and Debian.
Is Debian's apt-get user friendly? Or is that wrong and Ubuntu changed it significantly?