Zen of Mac and Linux users annoy sometimes.

According to Noah Gift the Zen of Mac goes:

Don't think. It just works... You are more productive on solving your other problems when you don’t think about your computer, it just works.

Some Linux users are too anal. They want to be able to tinker right down to the core of the operating system. They criticize that the Mac OS is locked down, it's too slow, and they can't get "too technical" with it. Most Linux users is they want all to be mechanics. They have forgotten how it is how to get behind the wheel. Most people in the planet do not know what's making their car run. They don't care as long as it takes them to where they are going. On the same vein, a computer should be like that. You're not supposed to worry what's making the Mac OS run, it just works. This idea is exemplified by Gift's story while he was a sys admin at Caltech.

Back in 2002, I was a systems administrator for the administration building at a Caltech, and I was solely responsible for providing support for Dr. Baltimore. Dr. Baltimore is smart. He received a Nobel Prize in his 30’s, he went to MIT, and he was the President of Caltech at the time. He is a mac guy, and that is partially why I was hired to do that job, as I have been into Mac computers for quite some time.

It was my responsibility to design and build his OS X laptop and make sure that it was an easy transition. When the time came for me to actually deliver the laptop... I finally decided to show Dr. Baltimore the terminal. I think I mentioned something like, “One of the nice things about OS X is that it has a terminal and you can do nice things like……”.

The look on his face was priceless. I don’t remember the exact specifics of the conversation, but it was roughly, “Why would I use a terminal, it is a mac, that is the whole point!”. That taught me quite a bit, as here was one of the most successful and intelligent people on planet earth and he “got” Mac. He didn’t want to think about his computer as his thinking time was spent in other areas like making sure Caltech continued to be one of the top Science Universities and doing research on curing AIDS.

What's more interesting other than the article are the comments Gift received from Linux users. Just read the comments and you will get an idea what a typical Linux user is.

One Linux user told me that us Mac users are smug. Well Linux users are snobs and clueless for most part. They have become to enamored with the machine they have forgotten what a pleasure it is to drive.