> Convenience is a subjective term. Yes, but not in this case: the on-topic issue is the convenience of accessing accelerated OpenGL graphics hardware, as required by PyMOL. General platform discussion leans off-topic, as you correctly point out.
> Everybody has probably good reasons why he uses osX osy and osz. Agreed. But if you seek the flexibility to run all three, there is only one hardware brand which can support that. Cheers, Warren -----Original Message----- From: pymol-users-boun...@lists.sourceforge.net [mailto:pymol-users-boun...@lists.sourceforge.net] On Behalf Of Martin Höfling Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 8:01 AM To: pymol-users@lists.sourceforge.net Subject: [PyMOL] OT: platform discussion Am Samstag, 20. Januar 2007 00:55 schrieb DeLano Scientific: Hi all, > Of course not: cost is a pragmatic consideration, but cost should not > solely be defined in terms of purchase price. You must also include > costs in terms of your time and frustration. (However, having once > been a graduate student, purchase price alone can be THE overriding > factor at that time in your life...) I agree with you that cost in terms of money is a minor factor. But frustration can also be greatly due to the closed source character of the software. E.g. IBM ships no native intel mac client for Tivoli Storage Management. Same is the case for linux but here, you can easily set up a 32bit library set or java-vm which satifies the requirements. > By ideological reasons, I mean, for example, preferring Linux over > MacOS because it is pure "free software" as per the FSF dogma whereas > OS X effectively combines open-source software in synergy with proprietary code. At least for me, noble motives aren't the reason why i prefer linux. I need a flexible system that adapts to my workflow and not the other way round. I am using kile as my favourite tex editor. We tried to install that thing for a colleague of me on his mac. It was pain in the ***. Although macos root's are those of an unix system installation of not precompiled software is not as easy as it sounds. > It is a very good thing that some noble individuals are willing to > accept less convenience and extra hassles in order to keep Linux alive > on the desktop, thus supporting the many positive long-term impacts > open-source code and "free software" have on society. Convenience is a subjective term. Everybody sees it's favorite system/editor/wordprocessor/... as the most convenient one. Habits play also a very big role in considering sth "convenient". One thing that is very often difficult to explain to otheres is that many people do not use linux for ideological or monetary reasons. If one thinks back two or three years or so, linux was the only pc-compatible 64Bit os. Or if you need a "supercomputer compatible" os for your reserarch work, most of them here run on linux and it's nice to have a compatible system for local tests. Mac OS always forces you to use Apple's hardware and not everyone is happy with it. Personally i like the "good old ibm-quality" of my t40 thinkpad. Others prefer ugly sony stuff etc. so mac os is not a choice for everyone. Several commercial sofware performs bad on mac os due to emulation through rosetta... Everybody has probably good reasons why he uses osX osy and osz. Cheers Martin ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Take Surveys. Earn Cash. Influence the Future of IT Join SourceForge.net's Techsay panel and you'll get the chance to share your opinions on IT & business topics through brief surveys - and earn cash http://www.techsay.com/default.php?page=join.php&p=sourceforge&CID=DEVDEV _______________________________________________ PyMOL-users mailing list PyMOL-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/pymol-users
