[Tfug] Roll your own Mac

[Mr Brevity]

On 9/23/2014 1:14 PM, Zack Williams wrote:
> On Tue, Sep 23, 2014 at 9:27 AM, Matt Jacob <matt at jacobmail.org> wrote:
>> It's relatively easy if you have the right hardware.
>
> You might get it installed once, but there's no guarantee that your
> hardware will continue to be upgradable with future versions of OS X.

Not an issue, see below.

> Highly technical people can make it work.

This suggests that it's not a straightforward operation:  install
gets you keyboard and display but most other I/O's won't work
(would be fine for me); OTOH, "getting ANYTHING is a significant
time investment" means its not worth pursuing.

["Playing with a Mac" isn't high on my bucket list!  :> ]

> That said, if your time is
> worth anything, it's probably better for you to buy hardware from
> Apple - if you don't like OS X, you can always run another OS on it.
> It isn't inexpensive - Apple does make some incredibly opinionated
> hardware (SSD's, Thunderbolt, high resolution displays, custom heat
> management, small form factors, etc.) which is obviously costs more,
> and you may or may not like depending on if your hardware values match
> theirs.  It's more likely to match in the laptop form factor than
> desktop.
>
> Also, using OS X on non-Apple hardware is a violation of the license
> agreement, if that's a concern.

I want to *play* with a Mac just long enough to see what it's
all about.  I have no desire to install apps, *use* the machine,
etc.  I.e., any "purchase" would be throwing money away for no
real gain.  I could just as easily buy one and RETURN IT (which,
I am sure, would piss Apple off far more than running an unlicensed
install for a week!)

E.g., install Windows, play with it for 10 days, uninstall and you're
still in the "preactivation grace period" of the license.

A neighbor recently purchased one.  *Borrowing* it is impractical
(I'm sure HE would rather get to know how it works NOW than loan
his brand new toy to me!  :> ).

And, if (eventually) he loaned it to me, then I'd have implicitly
acknowledged that I have SOME experience with a Mac (HIS Mac!).
That makes it disingenuous to later claim I can't help him solve
problems that come up with it (I have no desire to take on
more "maintenance" activities for friends/relatives/neighbors/colleagues)

The Hackintosh route seemed the least imposing on anyone else
(including Apple!)