Quoting Jean Jacques jj@wanadoo.fr:
Thank you Pall, Marc and CK for your answers. I'll get a pc and a install a Debian in it.
I'm leaving max Msp for the world of Open Source !!!
: )
Wait a second - you already have a Mac then right? Have you tried Pd on it yet? That seems like a way to avoid buying all new hardware and switching to a completely different OS just to try some software out.
PCs are great values these days no question, but in your case you might
want to consider the time investment involved with switching platforms.
I don't know if you've dealt with Debian before, but the installation
is not a nice straightforward GUI installer, and there are plenty of
ways to completely ruin the installation compared to a RedHat, Suse or
Mandrake system. If you don't have any prior x86 and Linux experience
then moving from a Mac OS9/OSX to Debian is like falling off a cliff.
Debian is great for building custom installs if you really know what
you want - I work with some guys that have it down to a science (after
years of working with it), but I don't think anyone who has dealt with
that setup process would recommend it as a migration path for a Mac
user. I know several new Linux users that have gone the Red Hat and
Planet CCRMA route with good success and very few problems with basic
setup.
cgc