Here's something I've been meaning to write about for a week now. It was big news that Edgar 'Gimli' Hucek was the first person to get Linux running on one of the new Intel Macs. That's all very hunky-dory, but I have a big question: Why?
There are two big reasons why I don't understand this:
1) Mac OS X makes great workstations and great servers, just like Linux. Because Mac OS X is based on BSD, it already has a lot (most?) of the power of Linux. As far as I know, you can compile and run darn near anything on Mac OS X that you can compile and run on Linux. Plus, not only can you run anything you'd want to run on Linux, you can also run anything designed for Mac OS X, too. Mac OS X is the best thing about the Mac, why would you wipe that off? The only thing you can't do is actually hack the kernel, but, with that said, let's move on to #2.
2) Now that Apple has switched to Intel chips, the hardware inside of Macs is remarkably similar to the hardware that you can buy from anyone, or that you can buy to build your own PC. Sure, you can't buy an iMac or mini chassis and have a super-sexy all-in-one, but is that worth the ridiculous price premium that you have to pay to get those parts in a Mac? Before the switch to Intel, you could have made some arguments about PowerPC chips and their speed, lower heat, etc, but that's gone. Why bother running Linux on a Mac when you can buy any stock computer for much less and get nearly the same hardware?
What's the allure? If you want to run Linux, save yourself a heap of money and buy any computer that meets your specs, or build your own. Why pay a huge premium for a Mac and then wipe off the best thing about having a Mac, Mac OS X? I just don't get it.
Why? One word MythTV.
The Mac mini could be a great PVR for your living room. MythTV is far and above the best PVR software I've seen; it is a Linux application, and no it wont run in OS X (not entirely, at least not yet). MythTV has been ported to OS X but only the front end, you still need a PC running the backend. Why the mac mini? because it is quiet, it is one of a very few computers I would wont in my living room and of those definitely the cheapest. There are a lot of cheaper computers out there but they are noisy, even the mac mini clones such as from AOpen is far louder then the mini. The ideal home-theatre computer should be as quiet as the rest of your stereo equipment.
http://www.mythtv.org/
check it out, have you seen any PVR software that looks as polished that can skip commercials and supports "backing up" your dvds and allows you to record HD tv via firewire so long as you have the right set-top box (motorola).