Just try Linux. You've got a Mac; run it in Boot Camp. Or buy VMWare or Parallels and run it right next to the Mac OS. There is no need to theorize about this.
If your idea of software is emacs, the command line, the browser, and a bunch of servers and compilers Linux will be just fine for you. Perhaps even better than the Mac. I am very, very close to this camp, so I was almost happy with Linux.
But if you do anything with graphics, audio, or video I predict that your free-software devotion will be sorely tested. In theory there are free alternatives to Photoshop, Illustrator, Cubase or Logic or Sonar or Performer, Final Cut, iMovie, Snapz Pro or IShowU or ScreenFlow, Lightroom or Aperture, the iWork apps, and the venerable iTunes. But based on my limited sampling of iTunes and Logic alternatives three years ago, you're better off just sticking with the Mac. Life is too short to spend fighting your tools instead of using them.
And now I'm hooked on 1Password, so I just can't leave the Mac. ;)
If your idea of software is emacs, the command line, the browser, and a bunch of servers and compilers Linux will be just fine for you. Perhaps even better than the Mac. I am very, very close to this camp, so I was almost happy with Linux.
But if you do anything with graphics, audio, or video I predict that your free-software devotion will be sorely tested. In theory there are free alternatives to Photoshop, Illustrator, Cubase or Logic or Sonar or Performer, Final Cut, iMovie, Snapz Pro or IShowU or ScreenFlow, Lightroom or Aperture, the iWork apps, and the venerable iTunes. But based on my limited sampling of iTunes and Logic alternatives three years ago, you're better off just sticking with the Mac. Life is too short to spend fighting your tools instead of using them.
And now I'm hooked on 1Password, so I just can't leave the Mac. ;)