14 DAY TRIAL // Linus Torvalds, the founder of Linux operating system, was in Melbourne last week for the linux.conf.au conference. He was invited to express a few thoughts regarding OS X versus Windows Vista in a wide-ranging interview. According to smh.com.au, Torvalds reckoned that Apple's overhyped operating system, OS X Leopard, was in some ways worse than Vista.
"I don't think they're equally flawed - I think Leopard is a much better system," said the creator of the Linux kernel. "(But) OS X in some ways is actually worse than Windows to program for. Their file system is complete and utter crap, which is scary," he added.
Torvalds also expressed his discontent towards Apple's and Microsoft's attitude of constantly rolling out updates in a celebrating manner, according to smh.com.au, so that people are forced to upgrade, if they want to continue using the respective operating systems.
"An operating system should be completely invisible," he said. "To Microsoft and Apple (it is) a way to control the whole environment ... to force people to upgrade their applications and hardware." Which is of course true, but then again, nobody has to be like everybody else. Microsoft has its own way of turning things to their advantage, while Apple has a different yet almost equally successful approach. Apple folks, just as Microsoft's Bill Gates, started in the business driven by passion. Wanting to make a buck while at it isn't something to blame. Getting greedy, however, is. Think this is what Torvalds was hinting at?
Torvalds was proud to speak of his own operating system and its improving green credentials, mentioning the push into mobile devices (such as the One Laptop per Child project) and Asus' ultra-cheap Eee PC.
Linus believes that Asus' PC may be a sign that Asia's hardware makers are starting to bypass Western commercial operating systems, so they can get more control over their products, according to the same source.
"That's the primary area that open source (software like Linux) is useful. Software is really expensive to produce and takes years. If you're a hardware company you can't really afford that, you either have to be controlled from the outside or take a pre-existing software stack that you can make changes to."
Torvalds also stated that, although Linux has always lacked a good UI (user interface), he and his fellow programmers modified almost all of the operating system's core to improve power management, since "Everybody wants to be power-aware."