Mark Pilgrim's list of Ubuntu essentials for ex-Mac users

Mac guru and software developer Mark Pilgrim recently switched to Ubuntu Linux after becoming fed up with proprietary Mac file-formats and the increasing use of DRM technologies in the MacOS. I've been a Mac user since 1984, and have a Mac tattooed on my right bicep. I've probably personally owned 50 Macs, and I've purchased several hundred while working as an IT manager over the years. I'm about to make the same switch, for much the same reasons.

I thought about buying a MacBook Pro anyway, since they're nice computers, and they run Ubuntu, but after pricing them out, I realized that I could get a lot more bang for my buck with a Lenovo ThinkPad T60p. If I'm not going to run the MacOS, why spend extra money for Apple hardware? I ordered the machine last weekend, loading it to the max with two 120GB hard drives, 2GB of RAM, and the fastest video card and best screen Lenovo sells: it was still cheaper than a Mac, even though Lenovo makes me pay for a copy of Windows XP that I plan on pitching out along with the styrofoam cutouts and other worthless packaging.

Once I'm settled in in LA, I'm planning on getting Ubuntu running on the machine and exporting all the data from my Mac to the new box. I'm also going to get Ubuntu running on my spare PowerBook. I get computers in pairs, and use one while the other is — inevitably — in the shop; the other Powerbook will remain my spare machine.

I'm planning on documenting every step of my switch here, and for starters I thought I'd link n to Mark's list of Ubuntu essentials, a kind of guide for Mac power-users who switch to Linux. I'm looking forward to applying some of the excellent advice here.

Link

(via Hawk Wings)