I Switched To *nix, I'm a Mac

I am always amused when people ask me when will Linux will be ready for the desktop and why has open source software not taken off. I am amused because for the past 4 years I have been using a Mac and OS X is Unix Certified. I am amused because I've been using an iPhone and that too has it's underpinnings in unix (Steve claimed that it was based on OS X I think that is pushing it.) I am amused because I'm typing this on a device that sold 1 million units in 28 days and nobody thought they needed it 60 days prior. Open Source software is here, it has been here, and it is the future. The problem with Open Source software is that openness gives you too many options, everyone can contribute code and modify it to do the task at hand. You then have open source projects that need a governing body to handle releases and they limit the scope of that project. For example you have Firefox, if you are feeling adventurous you can download he nightly snapshots or branch your own version. Mozilla will never support your branch but you're welcome to do it. If you take Drupal, this is a project that the White House has taken and they've even contributed code back. The release of Drupal 7 is just a group of selected features and not the whole collective knowledge and improvements that the community has made to it. The underlying tech for OS X and iPhone OS is Darwin. Darwin is an open source distribution of Linux (Now called PureDarwin), much like Red Hat Linux and Ubuntu. (Apple's OS X 10.6 open source projects) Apple's systems are closed, yes, but they're easily opened. As far as I know Apple has yet to go after any jailbreakers. Last year they claimed that it violated their copyright, but that was about it. I actually believe this to be proof that part of their contract with the music and movie studios requires them to take measures to secure their content and not that Apple is trying to stop it. I mean, any google search can give you a handful of ways to jailbreak the phone no takedown notices to be found. Do I agree with the App Store approval process? Absolutely not. My problem is not that there is a process however, my problem is with the secrecy. My problem is with apps that have played by the rules and have not been approved because Apple does not feel like it. Am I upset that all the boob and swimsuit apps are gone? Not really. Am I upset Google Voice isn't there? You bet. At the end of the day I am left at a decision I have to make. If Apple and Google go their separate ways, which one will I follow? At this point, Google Google has Android, and no matter how much I complain about how complicated I find it to use, its just because I have not given it all the attention I could have. If i had to use it on an everyday basis I'm sure I'd be more than happy with it. Having a choice in manufacturers also gives you the ability to pick a phone that you really feel is right for you (physical keyboard or not). Oh and Android is also built on Linux. I feel like I can give my iPad to my mom and she will be able to just enjoy it and not have to deal with settings and confusing dialogues. Things that I am okay dealing with, I do not feel "trapped", I do not feel "limited" and at the same time I do not feel entitled. One of Cory Doctorow's big hang-ups with the iPhone and the iPad are that they should have a "hidden setting" that enables me to jailbreak the OS and install any application I want and that way it would be sanctioned by Apple. While this would be nice I think its just cynical to believe that they do not do it because they want to hurt innovation. They do not put that setting there because then they'd have to support it. They'd have all sorts of people coming into the Apple Store complaining about how their phones got messed up and the reason for the mess-up was an app that was not on the App  Store. When I mess up my phone because I messed with it, I know I cant expect help from Apple, they warned me this would happen. Just like back in the day when I installed LiteStep on my Windows machine and it took over Explorer.exe and I couldn't figure out a way to get either of them to show up, it wasn't an option on Windows "install LiteStep" or I would have been tempted to call Microsoft for support. I have the best of both worlds on my phone, I have a very controlled App Store experience that has given developers like EA and Capcom the confidence on a platform to release excellent games on it (Go try out Street Fighter IV on the iPhone), and I also have a completely open environment where I can change anything I want on the phone through the Jailbroken app stores. I've had to do a complete recovery restore from my iPhone since I've been jailbreaking. I've also had to format my Windows machine when I was messing with it. These are things I am okay doing and everyone that is interested in how technology works should do. You know who shouldn't do it? My mom.