UNIX Programs.

[coeus]

So Im gearing up to swap over the mac platform...OS X ofcourse. Been looking around the apps I want to use/need for everyday life. Found some, not others.

Im left pondering UNIX programs because they are free,stable and pretty decent. Like GIMP and OpenOffice. Can they run in OS X? Is there a program to run them in OS X?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Taft]

Ahhh...

This is one of the reasons I love OS X. XFree86 has been ported to Darwin (what OS X runs on) so most linux/Unix apps are only a compile away from being on OS X. Of course some programs run into compatibility problems because not all Unix's are 100% the same or there are library issues, etc.

But there are a ton of apps available--including Gimp and Open Office.

Go here: http://fink.sourceforge.net/

You can do a search or browse the categories of what's available. Also, fink is a great tool for downloading and installing opensource OS X software. You can get and install all of The Gimp in one command!!

Also, you might be interested in this:

http://wrench.et.ic.ac.uk/adrian/software/oroborosx/

Its a windowmanager and starts xfree86 and allows xfree86 to run rootless and interact with the OS X windowmanager. You can minimize windows to the dock and everything. Very cool to have Gimp running along side iTunes in the same environment.

Good luck! I hope you decide the Mac is the right platform for you.

Matthew