The story of two Mac geeks switching to Ubuntu Linux has been a topic of discussion around the Mac Web for the past few weeks. It all started back, oh, about a month ago when well-respected Mac guru Mark Pilgrim announced his switch to Ubuntu Linux. Soon thereafter, blogger and Mac geek Cory Doctorow also decided to make the switch. Somewhere in between, Jason Kottke of kottke.org wrote the following: “If I were Apple, I’d be worried about this. [...] Nerds are a small demographic, but they can also be the canary in the coal mine with stuff like this.” Kottke has since offered up a clarification on his position, one that I personally agree with — this isn’t necessarily going to mean we’ll see a mass-migration from the Mac, but this isn’t something to ignore.

Of course Crazy Apple Rumors hopped on the bandwagon and announced that they were going to become “Crazy Ubuntu Rumors Site” (or CURS of short), but changed their minds when they realized that there really aren’t any rumors for Linux. Ahem.

At any rate, there seems to be some out there who do feel that this is indeed a sign of things to come. From where I’m sitting (at a desk in my bedroom with an Indigo iMac G3 to my left, an iBook G4 directly in front of me, and a Mac Plus in the closet to my right, if that matters to you at all), I don’t see this as two Mac heads making the switch; I see this as two intelligent, conscious, competent buyers who just happened to realize that there was something out there that did what they needed a computer to do even better than what they used before.

These people, ladies and gentlemen, are called smart shoppers (and both Cory and Mark opted for ThinkPads or ThinkCentres, which are probably what I would own if I didn’t own a Mac).

First of all, let’s take a quick look at Mark Pilgrim’s switch. he switched for some reasons I don’t necessarily agree with:

I use Safari because it is less obnoxious than Firefox. Camino is a close second for me, and it’s Mac-only.

I use iChat because it doesn’t have the annoying quirks Adium has. That is,iChat handles direct IM better than Adium.

I don’t see where an open file format will be any less obsolete in 50 years than a proprietary one, and I value the output quality of my work more than I value openness (which is why I opt to use Keynote, unlike Pilgrim.

Obviously, Pilgrim doesn’t share my opinions on these matters. And to be honest, I suspect that if openness is such an important point for him, the Mac probably wasn’t right for him in the first place being Apple’s priority has never been openness, even though some parts of the OS are open. But I can’t speak for him, and that’s the point. I can’t speak for him. Nobody can, except for himself. And that’s why I find it so galling when I read comments to stories like this — not this one in particular, but stories where the Mac just didn’t satisfy the user’s needs in general — and see comments along the lines of “Don’t let the door hit you on your way out” or such asinine stuff.

It’s a computer. It’s not a religion.

If anything, the fact that some Mac users — people who often value elegance and good design (design and elegance goes much farther than just looks, mind you) — are willing to go Linux, I take that as a sign that Linux either is at long last — or will soon be — ready to be a viable alternative, at least for some people.* It’s probably not ready for your grandmother yet, but if demanding Mac users find it fit to use as a primary operating system, then it must be almost ready for prime time. It’s not a sign that the Mac is slipping or is doomed to failure. There are millions of computer users out there who might find the Mac to fit their needs. I’m one such person. I outlined some of my reasons for using the Mac in a previous article, and I can probably add a number of reasons to the list. And I wouldn’t be against running a Linux distro using Parallels whenever I upgrade to an Intel-based Mac. I am a firm believer that if you can’t come up with a sound reason to justify your platform choice, you better start looking elsewhere. No, saying “I use Platform A because everything else sucks” without using everything else extensively doesn’t count. Mark and Cory found that the Mac simply wasn’t cutting it for them. I know of a good number of Windows users who have gone to the Mac (or Linux) because it wasn’t working out for them. You use what works best for you, and if your justification is sound to you, then that’s all that matters. It’s that simple, really.

Oh, and bonus points if you got what I’m referring to with thus article’s title

*I have very little Linux experience, but I’ll be installing ubuntu 6.06 on my old iMac and will write an article on my first impressions. Stay tuned.