Can't We All Just Get Along?

The Apple ecosystem is very different than the open source and free software movements documented in Revolution OS. The Apple camp and the open source camp may be very different, but there is a place for both of them in this world. I've been in both camps. My freshman year of college I was introduced to Linux, and spent hours trying every flavor I could download. This last summer I interned at Apple, and I'll be going back when I graduate. Apple runs an exclusive club and locks down its devices and software. But even at Apple, where everyone naturally uses a Mac, the server rooms are filled with Linux servers. Mac OS X shares a common ancestor with Linux, Unix, and so a lot of the GNU software like emacs runs and even ships with OS X. In fact, Apple's developer software Xcode is based on emacs. After becoming addicted to programs like vim, ssh, and bash, I thought I could never leave the Linux world, but I was delighted to find that all of these programs run natively in OS X. As a result, I get the best of both worlds, and I honestly couldn't do without either of them. As a software engineer and computer power-user, I need both camps to get along. There's room for everyone to play, even Windows. How else would I know just how great OS X is?