Coming Home to Linux

Title inspired by the excellent Coming Home to Vim by Steve Losh. Sometime in 2002 I switched to OS X as my main OS. Until then I had used Linux as my OS but I had some exposure to Windows and OS X. I’ve been generally happy with it since then, but I have become increasingly concerned with the direction Apple seems to be going - “approved” developers, etc. So I decided to switch back. I previously used SuSE, debian, and Red Hat, but I’ve been using Ubuntu a lot when I build AWS instances, so I thought that would be my best option. I am not sure how the transition will go, so I installed it on an old laptop and plan to use that connected to my 30” display, and I’ll leave my iMac running right next to it. The plan is to completely abandon the Mac and only grab stuff from it when I need it. It has been about a week and I’m doing just fine without the Mac. If it continues to go well, I will get a better machine and migrate over some stuff and make the switch. There are a couple of things I am a little concerned about. Syncing - I’ve grown accustomed to using several different Macs and they all sync up just perfectly. The experience with Linux and Windows was never quite as seamless, and I’m not a big fan of using my laptop as my all-day machine. I want a desktop and a laptop, and I want them to feel like the same machine. Email - I prefer a desktop client and I don’t like my choices on Linux. For now, I’m just going to use the web interface for email. iMessages - I’ve gotten VERY USED TO sending and receiving text messages from my Mac. I sit in front of the computer a lot, and it’s very handy. Music and Photos - I stopped using iPhoto and iTunes some time ago, but I do have huge libraries and I need to find a way to manage those photos and music.